Assessing Your Organization

Assessing Your Organization: Using Land Trust Standards and Practices Revised 2004 is a tool for land trusts to conduct a detailed assessment of organizational progress toward implementing Land Trust Standards and Practices.

Assessing Your Organization is designed to complement the 2004 Land Trust Standards and Practices and is created for land trusts and other entities that wish to undertake an analysis of their organization’s progress toward implementing Land Trust Standards and Practices.  Each organization should answer the questions as honestly as possible, taking note of areas that need improvement. It is likely that no one person in the organization will know all the information needed to respond independently to all of the assessment items. Sharing information and knowledge through discussion and dialogue will help members of the organization gain greater knowledge about its operations.  The completed assessment forms will provide an invaluable record of the organization’s growth and development.

For all-volunteer land trusts, this assessment is best completed by the full board with the aid of a facilitator (an experienced land trust professional, or Land Trust Alliance or local service center staff). Completing the assessment can take three to six hours, depending on the amount of advance preparation and the detail and depth of dialogue and notes taken during the assessment meeting(s).

Land trusts with staff use several approaches to completing the assessment. Some choose to have staff complete the assessment first and then share the results with the board in a facilitated discussion. In other organizations, the board may review or complete the assessment along with staff. If the board has active committees, each committee may review and report on those standards most applicable to their committee. 

Those organizations with a large staff and multiple departments may choose to have a staff leader who delegates completion of specific sections to an appropriate staff person. Because the board has oversight responsibility for the land trust’s operations, its review and consideration of the final assessment report is strongly recommended.

The time needed to complete the assessment and permit board review will vary tremendously.

For more information and/or assistance in using Assessing Your Organization, please contact the Land Trust Alliance program in your region.  The Alliance hopes that this tool helps your organization in its land conservation work!

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