8 Ways to Use Census for Outreach

We know it’s a busy time for land trusts, yet we wanted to offer you an opportunity to use the national trend data from the 2005 National Land Trust Census to secure coverage in your local media outlets. 

We want to make it easy for you.  After all, this IS a local story, so you are the ones to celebrate, take credit, and garner attention from the media and your friends (old or new) in Congress.

Here are some ideas of how you might use this information to promote your land trust:

1. Use the press release template to issue a state/local press release.  All you have to do is fill in your state data (provided to member land trusts on Nov. 28 - see yellow box above), and make it your own with a local face, local trend, or recent success story.  Then you can make a few calls or e-mails to your media contacts, pitching how your work is part of a larger national picture. See the great coverage we've received to date.

2. Adapt the state fact sheet template. The link we will provide on Nov. 28 to member land trusts will take you to a web page with a US map, similar to the “find a member land trust” map on our website.  You will be able to click on your state, and get a template fact sheet for your state with your state’s data already filled in.  There will also be a paragraph about the national trends, so all you need to do is add a quote and a local angle, and hopefully some pictures.  Is there a state tax credit or some other reason why your state has been successful?  Make the local connection in terms your folks care about.

3. Send your adapted release and state fact sheet, with a personal cover note, to your donors.  Whether individual supporters or foundations, everyone loves a success story.   Take this opportunity to thank them again for their support, before you make your year-end appeal.  It’s another friendly way to let them know the value of their donations.

4. Write and thank your Members in Congress.  For current Members, take our template letter and adapt it to show how the land conservation you are doing benefits your area.  Thank them for the Congressional passage of HR4, the new tax incentive, and give them an example or two of the types of projects that tax incentives make possible.   For new Members, this can be a positive way of introducing yourself, and stating how successful the current tax policy supporting conservation has been. 

5. Share the information with key partners—government agencies, private sector, etc.  Find a way to let your Governor, and key natural resource agencies know.  For instance if you are working on a joint project, or if state funding is a key impetus for conservation in your state, state officials may want to take some credit.  Or if a conservation bond initiative has just passed, how will that fit into the national trends shown by census?   Is there a local business that supported your latest project?  Tell them that their support helps add up to something bigger on the national level.  

6. Post your state’s data, and create a link to the national report on your website.

7. Send a celebratory e-mail of thanks to your membership base.

8. Have a party with your landowners, staff and volunteers.  Don’t forget to thank those directly involved in doing this amazing conservation work!

Again, we know this is the busiest time of the year for land trusts, so don’t feel obligated to do any more than you can in using the forthcoming Census data for local outreach.  It’s a great success story, so we hope you can use it to your advantage.  And with some pre-coordination of the national and local outreach like this, we can help convey more of a united, national message.

For more information, contact:

Jim Wyerman
Director of Communications & Development
jwyerman@lta.org
202-638-4725 x310

Rob Aldrich
Director of Information Services
raldrich@lta.org
202-638-4725 x334

Anne Garnett
Consultant
awgarnett@cox.net
401-423-3547

updated 12/15/06