Deadlines for Rally, An Important Advocacy Opportunity

Register Today for Dozens of Policy Events at Rally 2009

Rally 2009 in Portland, OR, October 11-14 is the Land Trust Alliance's national meeting -- and it provides key opportunities to advance your land trust's advocacy skills. Learn how to tap new federal funding for land conservation, and network with your peers about important political and public relations opportunities and problems.  If you've put off making a decision about going, we want to encourage you to register before Monday -- because discounted early bird registration ends August 17th.

Rally includes hundreds of different events, including more than three dozen workshops and seminars on public policy.  In this email, we’re eager to highlight a few sessions where your participation, questions and feedback are particularly important to our policy success in the year ahead.  Click here for a full listing of policy related sessions at Rally.

A Key Session: Advocating for Success

SEM-29: Advocating for Success: How Do I Get There From Here?

Faculty: Reeves Brown (Club 21), Bettina Ring (Bay Area Open Space Council)

Monday, October 12, 8:30am-4:00pm -- Basic/Intermediate -- $140/$170

An ADVOCATES alert can teach you how to call Congress, but it takes far more than that to effectively advocate for the existing and potential programs that support your organization’s mission.  In these times of budget cuts it’s more important than ever that you develop effective relationships at all levels of government, with the press and among opinion leaders in your community.

“Advocating for Success” is a highly interactive daylong seminar that will aid in your understanding the political and cultural climate which provides opportunities and challenges for the cause of land protection.  Advocacy is truly essential to your mission, this session covers both the “how” and the “why” of fitting it into your already overloaded schedule.

Yes, this session costs money, but we hope each land trust will find a way to send a participant as it will surely pay dividends in the long run.  You will leave armed with a personalized organizational action plan and the necessary skills for advocacy and organizational messaging conducive to conservation initiatives at the local, state and national level.

You can sign up for this course when you register for Rally.  If you have already registered for Rally, you will need to e-mail rally@lta.org right away to reserve a spot.

And More Key Sessions: Help Chart Our Course and Benefit from the Results

Beyond the 9 workshops of the Public Policy track there are at least 38 sessions at Rally related to Public Policy.   The following are just a few highlights of sessions we hope you’ll find worthwhile:

• The 2009 Federal Policy Update where you’ll hear a comprehensive overview of our work over the past year. A-20: Tuesday, Oct 13, 10:00am - Noon.
• The Land Trust Alliance 2010 Public Policy Review where you can weigh in on what we should be doing over the next year.  Look for an email in September seeking your feedback whether or not you’re able to attend. B-22: Tuesday, Oct 13, 1:15pm - 3:15pm.
• Ten workshops and seminars on climate change, including one focused on Climate Change Policy. E-23: Wednesday, Oct 14: 1:30pm - 3:00pm.
• Get up early for our annual Working with the IRS panel discussion with IRS staff managing conservation easement issues: Wednesday, Oct 14: 7:30am - 8:30am or attend other IRS sessions including Doing the Right Thing? and Lessons learned in IRS Audits of Colorado Conservation Easement Donors.
• Special Sessions to help you discover partnership and funding opportunities with the Bureau of Land Management, Department of Defense, U.S. Forest Service and the National Fish Habitat Action Plan.  Other workshops explore Farm Bill Conservation Programs, Coastal Programs, Federal Highway Administration Partnerships, Clean Water Funding, and Federal Land Exchanges.

Click here for the complete listing of policy sessions.  For comprehensive Rally information and registration, visit www.lta.org/rally/.

Thanks for helping!

Important Reminder

If you receive a donation of land or a conservation easement, you must send a letter to the donor acknowledging the gift – or you put them at risk of an IRS audit! Click here for more on substantiation letters.

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