THURSDAY
Schedule At-a Glance
| 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm |
LUNCHThe Big Picture Collaboration & Networking |
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TRACKS |
Land Conservation |
Organizational Governance |
Fundraising & Communications |
| 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm | Land Acquisition Roundtable | Strategic Planning & Visioning I: The View from the Mountain | Invigorating and Expanding Membership |
| 3:30 pm – 3:45 pm |
BREAK |
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| 3:45 pm – 5:00 pm | Land Stewardship Roundtable | Strategic Planning & Visioning II: The Nitty Gritty | Crafting Social Media Messaging that Gets Noticed |
| 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm |
RECEPTION |
Session Descriptions (listed alphabetically)
Crafting Social Media Messaging that Gets Noticed
3:45 – 5:00 pm
With millions of people now using social media tools like Facebook and Twitter to communicate, it’s easy for your message to get lost in the crowd. In this session, we’ll focus on writing effective social media messages to help your cause get noticed and get the word out.
Speaker: Cindy Leonard, Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University (BIO)
Invigorating and Expanding Membership
2:00 – 3:30 pm
Memberships are the life blood of land trusts, and it’s critical to keep your finger on the pulse. This session will explore strategies for recruiting new members, maintaining their interest, and cultivating leadership within your member base. You’ll leave with ideas that grow your capacity, and yet are manageable without paid staff!
Speaker: Evie Gardner, Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University (BIO)
Land Acquisition Roundtable
2:00 – 3:30 pm
This interactive session will offer structured and unstructured discussion opportunities for conservation professionals and volunteers working specifically on acquiring land.
Moderator: Andy Loza, Pennsylvania Land Trust Association (BIO)
Land Stewardship Roundtable
3:45 – 5:00 pm
This interactive session will offer structured and unstructured discussion opportunities for conservation professionals and volunteers working specifically on stewardship of eased and owned properties.
Moderator: Andy Loza, Pennsylvania Land Trust Association (BIO)
Strategic Planning & Visioning I: The View from the Mountain
2:00 – 3:30 pm
Everyone knows the old aphorism – “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there”. But how do you determine together where you’re headed? This session will leave you with tools to help your land trust determine its vision and identify its unique contribution. Participants will also leave with an understanding of a range of processes and resources that can ground that process in reality.
Speaker: Wendy Burtner-Owens (BIO)
Strategic Planning & Visioning II: The Nitty-Gritty of Strategic Planning
3:45 – 5:00 pm
What is the difference between strategic plans that sit on the shelf and plans that become reality? Part is widespread buy-in on goals, part is a robust implementation plan, and part is attention to evaluation! Learn how to move from your assessment data into specific, motivating actions – and how to identify metrics that work for you, instead of the other way around.
Speaker: Wendy Burtner-Owens (BIO)
FRIDAY
Schedule At-a-Glance
| 8:30 am – 9:00 am |
COFFEE |
||
TRACKS |
Land Conservation |
Organizational Governance |
Fundraising & Communications |
| 9:00 am – 10:30 am | Walking Trip: Venango Trails (2.5 mile roundtrip) | Meetings that Work | Fundraising Basics |
| 10:30 am – 10:45 am |
BREAK |
||
| 10:45 am – 12:00 pm | Acquiring Land for Conservation | Land Trust Standards & Practices
OR Embracing Change |
Expanding your Fundraising Vocabulary |
| 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm |
LUNCHAdvocating for Land Conservation Collaboration & Networking |
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| 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm | Conservation Easements I | What’s in a Board? | Volunteers – a Renewable Resource |
| 3:00 pm – 3:15 pm |
BREAK |
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| 3:15 pm – 4:45 pm | Conservation Easements II | Building Brilliant Boards | Negotiation Strategies |
Session Descriptions (listed alphabetically)
Acquiring Land for Conservation
10:45 -12:0 pm
Are you making best use of the tools available to make land acquisitions happen, tools that can be adjusted to match the varying commitments and issues faced by both the landowner and organization? What are the critical steps in any acquisition project? Whether you are a board member who will be deliberating the merits of a potential project or the person charged with implementing a project, this session will help you be better informed in your decision-making and actions.
Speaker: Patricia Pregmon, Esq., Pregmon Law Offices (BIO)
Building Brilliant Boards
3:15 – 4:45 pm
You don’t necessarily need high ranking leaders or celebrities. You need a diverse set of leaders with great skills that they want to leverage on your behalf! Come learn how to identify and recruit the right people for your board of directors, and then create an orientation and paths to involvement to help them find a lasting place with your organization.
Speaker: Warwick Powell (BIO)
Conservation Easements: Part I
1:30 – 3:00 pm
What is a conservation easement? How does it work practically speaking? Few people—land trust staff and board members included—understand this tool. You will come out of this session as one of the few. You will understand when a conservation easement is the appropriate tool. You will know its strengths and weaknesses, what it can and can’t do, and what financial and management obligations it creates. You’ll review the easement development process from the point of view of both the landowners and land trust. You’ll see how a successful easement project melds the objectives of both into an easement plan. You’ll be walked through the key features of the Model Grant of Conservation Easement and Declaration of Covenants and how it can best be customized to particular projects.
Speaker: Patricia Pregmon, Esq., Pregmon Law Offices (BIO) (BIO)
Conservation Easements: Part II
3:15 – 4:45 pm
What is a conservation easement? How does it work practically speaking? Few people—land trust staff and board members included—understand this tool. You will come out of this session as one of the few. You will understand when a conservation easement is the appropriate tool. You will know its strengths and weaknesses, what it can and can’t do, and what financial and management obligations it creates. You’ll review the easement development process from the point of view of both the landowners and land trust. You’ll see how a successful easement project melds the objectives of both into an easement plan. You’ll be walked through the key features of the Model Grant of Conservation Easement and Declaration of Covenants and how it can best be customized to particular projects.
Speaker: Patricia Pregmon, Esq., Pregmon Law Offices (BIO)
Embracing Change
3:15 – 4:45 pm
We often know what we would like to change in our organization, but actually implementing that change is another story! Join us to gain a deeper understanding of how change occurs within an organizational system. You will practice skills that generate buy-in to change processes and be better positioned to leverage your own power for transformation.
Speaker: Susan Loucks (BIO)
Expanding Your Fundraising Vocabulary
10:45 -12:0 pm
Fundraising is more than sitting down for “asks” with deep-pocketed donors – effective fundraising is built on a cycle of deepening relationship. In this session we’ll build variety in fund- or “friendraising” – identifying a range of ideas in each part of the fundraising cycle that can build your resource network. We will also discuss a fundraising planning tool that identifies and sets goals for diverse kinds of income and contributions.
Speaker: Warwick Powell (BIO)
Fundraising Basics
9:00 – 10:30 am
Do you need to fundraise, but don’t know where to start? Join us for an energized discussion of options, ranging from the pluses and minuses of special events to an analysis of the traditional annual appeal. We’ll be covering new fundraising options, such as crowdfunding, as well. Leave with a sense of a few paths forward that make sense for your size.
Speaker: Wendy Burtner-Owens (BIO)
Land Trust Standards & Practices
10:45 -12:00 pm
Andy Loza, executive director of PALTA, who served on the Standards Advisory Team, will review the major changes made for the new edition and what is expected of land trusts. He will also dedicate substantial time for Q&A. All staff, board members, and other volunteers of PALTA member organizations are invited to participate.
Speaker: Andy Loza, Pennsylvania Land Trust Association (BIO)
Meetings that Work
9:00 – 10:30 am
Everyone comes to a meeting with something that can make it better – and yet we still often feel our meetings don’t evoke innovation and good thinking, don’t create widespread participation and engagement, and don’t leave us feeling satisfied with the outcome! Join us to learn tactics for preparing, moderating, and concluding meetings that increase creativity, buy-in AND positive results.
Speaker: Susan Loucks (BIO)
Negotiation Strategies
3:15 – 4:45 pm
Worried you’re not ready to negotiate, whether it’s with a landowner or your board chair? This session will share guidelines that make this tricky form of communication feel more intuitive, straightforward, and principled. Come prepared to practice!
Speaker: Susan Loucks (BIO)
Volunteers – A Renewable Resource
1:30 – 3:00 pm
Why do some volunteers burn out, others drift away, and so many others never fully engage? Volunteers can indeed be a renewable resource with the right kind of planning and attention. Participants will discuss volunteer job descriptions, supervision, and recognition systems, and leave with a short plan of action for their volunteer network.
Speaker: Susan Loucks (BIO)
Walking Trip: Venango Trails
9:00 – 10:30 am
Venango Trails is an 88-acre conservation area that was donated to Allegheny Land Trust by a residential developer in 2012. The property is surrounded by a residential development and is adjacent to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The historic “Venango Trail”, also known as the Venango Path, is a Native American trade route that led from the Forks of the Ohio (Pittsburgh) north to Presque Isle in Erie. In the 1700’s, Washington and company walked this historic path, which proved to be crucial for correspondence and movement during the French and Indian War. The historical and conservation value of the property will be discussed as well as the ongoing partnerships with the developer and Turnpike Commission and the site’s unique stewardship challenges. The Trust’s educational team will provide an overview of the organization’s environmental education curriculum and how the site is being utilized in public outreach efforts plus offer hands-on activities for participants.
What’s in a Board?
1:30 – 3:00 pm
Not just for newcomers! Many longstanding board members are confused about their roles and responsibilities under the law. This session will include a discussion of best practices for boards, effective ways to understand responsibility (with and without staff), and possible committee structures. Participants will leave with a draft customized job description for board members, ready for discussion and refinement at home.
Speaker: Warwick Powell (BIO)
