In Dialogue with Land Trust Professionals: Key Takeaways

Campbell & Company recently sponsored the Land Trust Alliance’s 2023 #rally4land in Portland, Oregon. We had the opportunity to attend learning sessions focused on land conservation topics, speak with land conservation practitioners, and celebrate conservation leadership. Here are a few takeaways:

1. The sector is open to and creating change at the ground level, in communities of all types around the country. Discussions in Portland revolved around community-centered conservation, climate resilience, relationships between people and land, and cultural access to lands. The intersectionality of traditional land trust goals spans several community priorities, such as community housing, public health and wellness, and education and youth programs. You can learn more about inclusive movements in the environmental sector here.
2. Many land trusts are exploring new and different kinds of funding strategies beyond traditional philanthropy to access more capital to fund their work. There is a significant amount of federal funding available to conservation organizations with recent federal regulations and appropriations creating new incentives and opportunities to advance environmental justice and leverage tax credits, for example. In addition, impact investing is increasingly in the toolkit. These can take many forms with varying degrees of risk and return but can be particularly helpful to leverage existing funding and provide bridge financing.
3. Land trust professionals and fundraisers are looking for strategies to promote equitable participation. Individual identities influence one’s engagement and organizations are looking for ways to proactively accommodate these differences and bring voices to the table that have been historically underrepresented. Advanced planning and proactive, transparent communication with all participants beforehand is a great first step to ensure the full inclusion of everyone willing to participate in your efforts.

To our clients that attended Rally 2023 – Jefferson Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy (a lead sponsor of Rally 2023), San Juan Preservation Trust, and Wood River Land Trust – we are proud to stand next to you. And to those of you that stopped by our booth at Rally to solve our puzzle, we sure love piecing together solutions with our clients and colleagues, one piece at a time.

For nearly 50 years, the Campbell & Company team has worked with organizations across the environmental sector to build philanthropic support, craft compelling cases for support, leverage donor analytics, and recruit visionary leaders. We’re grateful to play a small part in supporting the growth and effectiveness of the land trust movement. If you find yourself exploring these topics and considering how to increase your reach and impact, we’d love to talk with you! Please reach out to us to schedule a free introductory conversation today.

Sarah Marino

Sarah Marino brings to each engagement a tailored approach and an appreciation for the uniqueness of every cause and community. She is committed to helping organizations embed a culture of...

Kate Roosevelt

Kate Roosevelt brings to her work nearly three decades of experience working in and consulting with a wide variety of mission-driven nonprofit organizations. As Co-President of Campbell & Company, Kate...