Fall 2006

Statewide Natural Resources Reports Aid Conservation Efforts

Three new tools are now available to aid land trusts' conservation efforts around Wisconsin. Released by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources this past year, the Wisconsin's Land Legacy Report, the 2005-2010 Wisconsin Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP), and the Wildlife Action Plan can serve as a compass, blueprint and road map to guide land conservation and outdoor recreation for the next 50 years. We encourage land trusts to review these extensive reports and to integrate them into your planning!

For an overview of these reports and information on obtaining copies, please visit our website.

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Understanding Your Supporters

In April 2006, over 900 surveys were sent out to Gathering Waters Conservancy’s members in an effort to help GWC better understand its member demographics, to get feedback on our work, and to learn more about what is important to our supporters. In the end, we heard back from nearly a third of our membership, gained constructive and invaluable feedback … and learned a lot about how to craft an effective membership survey!

For an organization to be successful in its communication and development strategies, it must be in tune with its members’ attitudes and interests. You should be able to answer questions like, ‘What demographic are we successful in reaching and what demographic are we not reaching?’ ‘What aspect of our work does our membership find most valuable?’ And, ‘What is the primary reason that people choose to support us?’ Membership surveys can be one of the best ways for an organization to assess the sentiments and demographics of its members. So, if you can’t answer these questions, maybe its time for your organization to consider conducting a survey of its members.

For more information on the dos and don’ts of a successful membership survey, please contact Sara DeKok, GWC’s Member Relations Director at 608.251.9131 x 10 or sara@gatheringwaters.org.

To read more about the results for Gathering Water's members survey, visit our website.

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Fundraising Tips
by Sara DeKok, Member Relations Director

It’s that time of year again when donors are making their year-end giving decisions and you may be thinking about the best way to approach major donors for large year-end gifts. Here is a step-by-step guide that offers tips to help you make those phone calls, set those meetings and be successful when you’re asking for that major gift:

SETTING THE APPOINTMENT:

1) Begin with your most sympathetic prospect. Start the conversation by mentioning your mutual interest or involvement with the organization.

2) Explain your role as a volunteer or staff person and tell the prospect that you want to meet with him/her to discuss the organization and its plans. Make the prospect feel that he/she is important to the organization and his/her guidance is needed.

3) Give the prospect the choice of two positive options. You might say, “Would you prefer to meet with me at your home or office?” (your meeting place should be someplace private) or “Is Tuesday or Wednesday morning more convenient for you?”

4) Firmly resist getting into a discussion of a gift on the phone.

5) Have a pen and paper handy during the conversation in order to take notes; (i.e. change in status, attitude toward organization, willingness to meet with you, specific objections).

6) End the conversation as quickly as possible after the appointment has been set.

CONDUCTING THE VISIT:

1) Attend the meeting in a team of two – preferably a volunteer who knows the prospect well and a staff member. Brief each other before the meeting so it is clear who is going to make the ask.

2) Determine specific objectives for the visit; (i.e. discuss the specific project/program, ask for the gift, confirm a pledge of support or firm plan to follow-up).

3) Start by breaking the ice. Talk about topics of mutual interest. Discuss the organization or other things you and the prospect have in common.

4) Then describe the project, emphasize what it will mean to the future of the organization.

5) Let the prospect talk and listen carefully to determine if he/she has an interest in some special aspect of the organization’s program or project.

6) Describe, if appropriate, the naming opportunities and the various ways of giving.

7) Be sure to ask for a gift. Look them in the eye and confidently ask, “Could you consider a gift of $________?” The question allows the prospect to think for a minute and invites a positive response without a definite commitment. Once you have made the request, be quite. Let the prospect respond.

8) Remember that you are not asking for yourself but for the organization.

9) Stress what the gift will accomplish – not the dollar amount of the gift.

10) Challenge and stress the prospect in diplomatic ways. It is a compliment to ask for a significant gift; few prospects will be offended by the suggestion that they can make a larger contribution.

11) End the visit at a logical stopping point. Do not talk incessantly or bore the prospect. If the prospect has not reached a decision, set a firm date for another meeting. Agree on next steps that allow you to act; (i.e. follow-up phone call, date of next meeting).

12) Before leaving, be sure to leave the prospect any materials that are relevant. Ask him/her if he/she has any questions or needs additional information before making a decision. If you cannot answer his/her questions or do not have the information requested, promise to get back to him/her within the next few days.

AFTER THE MEETING:

1) Make sure to do a report of your visit as soon as possible so you don’t forget the details.

2) Write the prospect a personal note of thanks restating his/her commitment or confirming the date of the next meeting.

3) If the prospect makes a smaller gift than you expected, do not feel defeated. A small gift now may lead to a bigger gift later.

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Rally 2006 Hightlights

Karen Bassler, Gathering Waters' Conservation Program Director, recently attended Rally 2006. Download her conference summary and highlights here, including more about LTA’s Standards & Practices Core Curriculum; Federal Tax Policy; Land Trust Accreditation; and other highlights.

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Conservation Easement Costs

From “Determining Easement Stewardship Costs and Raising & Managing Dedicated Funds” Rally 2006 workshop led by Judy Anderson (NY) and Chris West (CO).

Comprehensive Approach to Determining Total Costs
Annual monitoring costs are only a fraction of the total costs to your conservation easement program. There are four categories of easement stewardship costs:

a) one time costs
• creating baseline documentation,
• ecological inventory
• hazards assessment
• recording the easement,
• educating new landowners about easement restrictions
• re-recording easement when property is subdivided and under new ownership

b) annual costs
• monitoring,
• landowner communication,
• reporting

c) programmatic costs
• training volunteers and/or staff,
• establishing and reviewing procedures and policies regarding conservation easement program,
• volunteer/staff time managing easement program

d) special circumstances
• ecological restoration,
• research projects,
• violation remediation
• easement defense.

An organization should have a rough estimate of the total costs per easement established to help guide their easement stewardship endowment fundraising program. The Vermont Land Trust analyzed its easement program in 2000 to determine this average cost, and determined that they needed an average endowment contribution per easement of $9,260 in order to generate sufficient interest to cover expected easement stewardship costs.

The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy developed a fee scale based on the size of the eased property, distance from the land trust office, number of permitted uses included in the easement, and a calculation of the likelihood of enforcement need. The scale also includes a flat fee of $650 per easement to cover baseline documentation preparation.

Determining Staffing/Programmatic Needs
A recent review of conservation easement programs among land trusts of all sizes, geographic scope and age found that having 90 -100 easements represented a “tipping point” for organizations, at which time they found it necessary to hire one full-time employee to manage their easement program. This program manager staff person is in addition to any staff or volunteers who were responsible for landowner contact and annual monitoring, and serves a coordinating role for those other staff and volunteers.

Organizations with fewer than 100 easements but more than 20 easements were also more likely to have both electronic and paper filing systems established to track easement stewardship activities.

Complexity of Easements
Several factors contribute to the total cost for easement stewardship. Size of an eased property, remoteness of its location, type of land cover can all increase the complexity of baseline documentation, time spent monitoring, and potential for violations.

In addition to those physical features, there are more intangible factors which can increase the total stewardship costs for a given easement:

• Number of allowable subdivisions of the property
o Each potential subdivision should be considered a separate easement, with accompanying stewardship costs.

• Number of reserved rights
o Grand Traverse’s calculations include $200 per permitted use included in the easement, based on the amount of time required to review and approve those uses when exercised by the landowner.

• Surrounding property ownership and uses
o The ownership or use of neighboring properties can affect the likelihood of 3rd party violations of an easement. If an easement is bounded by similarly protected properties, risk of violation is lower. If an easement is bounded by properties with high public use, risk of violations increases.

A Word about Defense
Until an organization is called upon to pursue remediation of an easement violation or defend a challenge to an easement’s legality, it will be hard to estimate the cost to the organization in attorney fees, staff time and program disruption. Despite this uncertainty, land trusts should make the best effort to prepare for such a situation. Many organizations ask for a contribution of a flat per-easement fee from easement donors, to go into a pooled defense fund. Some have engaged in fundraising campaigns targeted to building their defense fund or endowment. Others have developed working relationships with attorneys who would be willing to represent the land trust at a reduced rate or pro bono if they had to pursue their case in court.

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Conservation Tax Law Update Brochure Available

The Land Trust Alliance has created a new Conservation Tax Law Update brochure to help everyone understand the new law. Land Trust Alliance sponsor member land trusts and partners can have the first 50 brochures FREE plus shipping and handeling. Expect at least 2 weeks delivery time. Please contact Deanna Eastman at policy@lta.org or call (202) 638-4725 ext. 338 to place your brochure order). Quantities are limited! The brochure can also be downloaded in PDF format here.

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Ask an Attorney

Our question this time around has been answered by Brenda R. Haskins, Of Counsel at Hill, Glowacki, Jaeger & Hughes, LLP, in Madison, WI.

Q: LTA Standards and Practice 9H says that the land trust will investigate the title on each property (or interest in property) it acquires. For donations of property (or interest in property), should the land trust obtain title insurance for the full appraised value of the property interest, or with donations is there some lower amount that would be satisfactory?

A property owner's title insurance policy insures a purchaser that the title to the property is vested in that purchaser and that it is free from all defects, liens and encumbrances except those which are listed as exceptions in the policy or are excluded from the scope of the policy's coverage. This coverage can be used if there are challenges to the title or to clear any "clouds" on the title which may be discovered after the purchaser takes ownership of the property.

A: As professionals in the real estate business, land trusts need to take steps to ensure that they have current, accurate title information to guarantee clean, marketable title. Taking those steps ensures that the land trust can protect its assets, just like other commercial real estate professionals would do.

The risks and responsibilities of ensuring that the land trust has clear title are higher than for a private landowner. In the case of a donated property interest, significant land trust assets (personnel time and labor) are expended during the transaction. Squandering those assets on a property that has a defective title will reflect badly on that land trust in particular and conservation in general.

If the title work is completed early in the acquisition process, there is an opportunity to cure any defects that may exist in the title. It also gives time to understand the exceptions to the title and negotiate payment of the premium.

For a land trust that is paying the bill for the title insurance policy, it may only want to purchase a policy for a set amount, perhaps $15,000. A minimal amount will only guarantee minimal protection.

From the landowner's perspective the issue cuts both ways. If the landowner is providing the policy as well as a donated property interest, he or she may want to minimize additional cost and purchase a minimal policy, perhaps as low as $15,000. However, landowners would be wise to consider providing a policy that covers the full value of the donation to help substantiate the value of the donated easement.

The time, hard work and financial resources that the land trust pours into securing the donated interest need to be protected forever. In the case of a defective title, if the claim is resolved and the insured does not have clean title, you want to ensure that your financial investment is recovered. .

Send us your questions! Free legal advice! We’re looking for questions to be featured in this section. Send any questions or suggestions to Karen Bassler at karen@gatheringwaters.org.

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