Mergers & Other Collaborations of Land Trusts in Massachusetts Massachusetts Land Conservation Conference Worcester

1. Mergers & Other Collaborations of Land Trusts in Massachusetts Massachusetts Land Conservation Conference Worcester MA March 2012 Presenters: Panelists: Mark H. Robinson Jaci Barton Executive Director Executive Director The Compact of Cape Cod Barnstable Land Trust, Inc. Conservation Trusts, Inc. & & Kristin DeBoer Peggy Stevens Executive Director Executive Director Kestrel Land Trust Westport Land Conservation Trust

2. Mergers & Other Collaborations General Forms of Collaboration Information Sharing: listserv, get-togethers Resource Sharing: equipment, office, knowledge     Joint Venture: land acquisition     Service Agreements: MassLIFT, one-time or extended; mapping, etc.     Staff Sharing: potential conflicts can be avoided Group Purchasing: bulk discount; NonProfit Connect Fiscal Sponsorship: MLTC for many years Service Centers: The Compact, Coalition for Buzzards Bay Restructuring: mergers, affiliations, supporting organizations

3. Why get a partner? It just complicates things! • Answer: • They have something you don’t • They have something you need • Such as: $$$$ or expertise or clout or backup • Create a track record • Satisfaction of success shared

4. Mergers & Other Collaborations What comes first? The Project or the Partner? Usually, the project, but not always Ex: 1997 MV Conservation Partnership TTOR, TNC, SMF, VCS, MVLB Ex:current W. Mass Aggregation Project Mt. Grace, Franklin LT, BNRC, etc.

5. FIRST PRINCIPLES How to pick a partner: • Understand niches and needs • Identify interests (functional, geographic) • Don’t waste time: round pegs, square holes Examples: TTOR, MAS: adding to existing holdings or large new areas TNC: prime rare species habitats DFG: hunting and fishing access

6. $$$$ Land is ever more expensive Each pot is limited: (CPA matching grants way down; 25%) Fundraising in down economy likely to be tougher Partners enable you to reach higher and more often dollar stretching

8. Dennis Pond Deal, 2006-2007 PARTNERS: • Public: • Town of Yarmouth (OSC, CPC, ConCom) • State Self Help Program • Private: • The Nature Conservancy • International Fund for Animal Welfare • The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts • Yarmouth Conservation Trust • Each had a different reason to be involved

9. DENNIS POND DEAL, 2006-2007 March 2008 Town of Yarmouth $250K State LAND grant Dec 2007 $500,000 CR Deed Deed Yarmouth Conservation Trust pre-acquisition Seller $500K June 2007 $500,000 no-interest loan Intern. Fund for Animal Welfare $250,000 guarantee $250,000 guarantee The Nature Conservancy The Compact

11. A Service Center

12. The Compact is the oldest, self-sustaining regional service center for land trusts in the U.S. Land Trust Alliance, 2002: Compact “a national model of sustainable land trust cooperation on a regional basis” Source: Robert Bowers, LTA Board Chairman, letter to The Compact. Texas State University, 2005: Compact “an excellent example of how a grassroots effort of dedicated land trusts can build a sustainable service center that continues to evolve to meet the needs of land trusts.” Source: Rebecca Ann Blecke, “Land Trust Training and Technical Assis-tance Programs: A National Assessment,” M.P.A. thesis, TSU, Fall 2005.

13. “Models of Collaboration Among Land Trusts” by Sylvia Bates for Maine Coast Heritage Trust, June 2005 Conclusions: • Volunteers who manage land trusts find the full-time staff support of Compact crucial • Compact enables land trusts to do more work and more ambitious complex projects. • Compact’s philosophy: best way to keep Compact strong is to build capacity of land trusts • Compact does not compete with member land trust on fundraising • Compact cannot substitute for local leadership

14. KEYS TO SUCCESS

15. Ingredients of The Compact • Shared regional identity: an area that makes sense to people (Cape Cod, as opposed to MetroWest, whatever that is) • Scope: large enough to create economies of scale, small enough to be present in each community regularly • Create trust by time, familiarity • Longevity at the top • Create value-added for each member land trust; money being well-spent • Not just a clearinghouse, hands-on help

16. Vive la difference! Most land trust service centers founded with “top-down” approach or “other peoples’ money” Examples: • Connecticut Land Trust Service Bureau founded by The Nature Conservancy • Gathering Waters land trust coalition in Wisconsin funded by state operating budget • LTA funded statewide land trust centers in NY and WA. BUT, The Compact formed by local land trusts banding together and self-funding.

17. Members of The Compact, 2012 Association to Preserve Cape Cod Barnstable Land Trust, Inc. Bourne Conservation Trust Brewster Conservation Trust Chatham Conservation Foundation Coalition for Buzzards Bay Dennis Conservation Trust Eastham Conservation Foundation The 300 Committee, Inc. (Falmouth) Massachusetts Audubon Society The Nature Conservancy (MA Chapter) Orenda Wildlife Land Trust, Inc. Orleans Conservation Trust Provincetown Conservation Trust Sandwich Conservation Trust Three Bays Preservation, Inc. (Barnstable) Truro Conservation Trust Wellfleet Conservation Trust Yarmouth Conservation Trust Friends of Pleasant Bay Harwich Conservation Trust 20 Voting Members – $1,500 minimum for dues and service; entitled to direct service on projects, access to Land Fund loans and grants 3 Associate Members - $300 - $500 annual dues

18. GOVERNANCE Board of Directors - 18(each Voting Member land trust pays $1,500 per year and sends a delegateto vote on Compact matters; meets 5-6x/yr.) Nominating Committee – 3 Recommends officers, and annual award recipient Staff – 3 Executive Director Mark Robinson, 26 years Assistant Director Michael Lach, 12 years Senior Land Protection Specialist Paula Pariseau, 9 years (all full-time professionals) Thomsen Land Fund Managers – 5 (appointed by Board of Directors, including 2 at-large, non-board members; has separate decisionmaking on investments and requests by land trusts for mini-grants and low-interest loans; reports decisions to Board; meets as needed; advised by Exec. Dir.) The Compact also provides office space for a full-time administrator of one land trust and payroll services for 4 others

19. PROGRAMS

20. There are only 300 acres of American holly/American beech forest on Cape Cod, according to the Wildlife Conservation Project, a countywide GIS mapping project published by The Compact in 2003.

21. In 2003, The Compact published its Cape Cod Priority Ponds Project, which analyzed and ranked for protection almost 3,000 pondshore parcels totaling more than 12,000 acres.

22. In 2005, The Compact completed its Perceived Open Space Project, inventorying about 9,000 acres on Cape Cod, all unprotected lands used for recreation, agriculture or institutional use, such as the boy scout camp in Yarmouth shown here.

23. Charles H. Thomsen Land Fund for Cape Cod The Charles H. Thomsen Land Fund for Cape Cod is aThe Compact’srevolving loan fund,providing local land trusts with timely access to capital to purchase critical land. $560,000 in capital has been lent out and returned 39 times for a total of $3.55m since 1992 “A distinguishing quality of the Land Fund is the close connection between the Compact’s leadership and the client land trusts. The land trusts work together to guide The Compact, which creates a high level of trust and interchange. The commitment to shared risk developed through an awareness of the work of each trust, and the governance role that these land trusts play in The Compact, allow the loan fund staff and board to feel comfortable offering generous, flexible loan terms.” Source:A Field Guide to Conservation Finance by Story Clark, Island Press, 2007, p. 243.

24. Charles H. Thomsen Land Fund for Cape Cod • Working capital: $650,000 • Loan terms: 1% -4%, unsecured, short-term (less than 5 years) • 39 loans made since 1992 • Loans have ranged from $7,500 to $300,000 • $3,550,000 in loans made, all but $9,000 has been paid back so far. • $95,000 in small grants have also been distributed to local projects. • In total, grants and loans have resulted in the purchase of 681 acres worth more than $18 million. The Thomsen Land Fund provides money for land acquisitions by tree-huggers all over Cape Cod.

25. SERVICES

26. COMPACT REVENUES, 2006 Most of the funding for The Compact’s operations comes from the land trusts themselves, in the form of annual dues and fees for direct services on their local projects. Source: 2006 audit of The Compact

27. How Compact staff time is spent General and Administration 4% Member Land Trust Projects 76% Regional Projects 20% Source: Compact timesheets, 2005

28. Types of services provided to Member land trusts: • Landowner outreach and negotiations • Deed, conservation restriction drafting and approvals • Natural resource baseline & property inventories • Educational workshops for land trusts and landowners • Regional open space research & ranking • Land use management plans for conservation areas • Grant writing • Newsletter writing, editing, layout • Advice on public filings • Fundraising campaign structure • Membership development coordination • Liaison to county, regional and state non-profits & agencies, media • Cultivation of regional network of professionals available to assist land trusts at no or low cost • Whatever else land trusts want/need and cannot get done with their available help!!

29. All-volunteer land trusts can do land projects without The Compact. They cannot do multiple, complex projects simultaneously without The Compact.

30. SERVICES NOT PROVIDED • Land trust membership data base tracking • Envelope stuffing • On-the-ground land maintenance (i.e., driving around with rakes and saws) • Most tax filings • Local leadership