Accreditation

Applicants for voluntary land trust accreditation must demonstrate compliance with a set of accreditation indicator practices selected from Land Trust Standards and Practices.  These practices are designated by the Land Trust Alliance and indicate a land trust’s ability to operate in an ethical, legal and technically sound manner and ensure the long-term protection of land in the public interest.

Indicator practices are chosen based on the following criteria:

• Responsible governance of the organization
• Protection of the public interest with sound and sustainable land transactions and stewardship
• Ethical operations
• Accountability to donors and the public
• Compliance with all laws, such as IRC §170(h) and §501(c)(3)

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission was established as an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance in 2006 to operate a voluntary accreditation program to verify that land trusts are meeting the indicator practices.  The Alliance encourages all land trusts to follow the entire set of Land Trust Standards and Practices and to adopt them as guiding principles for their organizations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Can I Get More Information?
The Land Trust Alliance has detailed information on how to implement the accreditation indicator practices on its online learning center.  You can access the learning center by going to http://learningcenter.lta.org.  More information on the land trust accreditation program is available at www.landtrustaccreditation.org.

How Will the Change Affect Pilot Applicants?
Decisions on the accreditation pilot program applications will be made in 2008.  While pilot applications provided evidence pertaining to all 42 indicator practices, the final decision of the Commission will be based only on the indicator practices in place at the time of the decision.  The Commission thanks the land trusts in the pilot program for helping identify these important changes to streamline the accreditation application.

Will the Application for Accreditation Change?
Yes, the Commission will adapt the application for accreditation to reflect lessons learned from the pilot program – including the elimination of questions related to the indicator practices listed above.  The Commission will complete its evaluation of the pilot program in mid-February 2008 and will release the revised application by March 7, 2008.