By the Numbers: Building a Better Board

Strong land trust boards of directors are vital to the success of conservation. But a strong board never happens by accident. An effective board of directors is the product of intentional effort that represents a significant investment of time and energy. While it is rarely easy, when done right, board development has a huge payoff.

A strong board provides diverse connections to the community. It extends the reach of the land trust and builds a stronger base of support. An effective board ensures continuity. It creates leadership bridges between one executive director and the next, between founders and a sustaining group of passionate volunteers.

The dynamics of a great board can be complex, but there are some simple, universal principles that can help build and sustain the best board possible.

1. Get the basics right. There are critical legal and ethical aspects of board governance that every land trust should ensure are part of its operations. Do we know the legal responsibilities and followed? Do we understand and effectively avoid conflicts of interest in our deliberations? The Land Trust Alliance course on “Avoiding Conflicts of Interest and Running an Ethical Land Trust,” developed by Konrad Liegal is an excellent resource for these critical aspects of board responsibility.
2. Define roles within the organization. Board and staff roles must be clearly delineated from the start. Breakdowns in the lines of authority nearly always lead to conflict and struggle. Great teams are defined by their understanding of each team member’s role and a commitment to each team member’s success.
3. Commit to diversity. The natural tendency for land trusts is to bring people together with common values and perspectives about land protection. But this can be limiting if the land trust fails to involve people with different values, experiences and perspectives. The strongest boards have diversity at all levels: skills, contacts and demographics. Such boards not only encourage differences, but accommodate them. Unless a land trust is willing to modify its own organizational culture to bring in new ways of thinking, meeting and deciding, the group may be giving lip-service to their belief in diversity.
4. Commit to quality improvement. Regardless of how good a team you’ve assembled, every board can be better. Training and development is a basic part of any good board development process. Assessment is needed at the front end to know which improvements are most needed. The Alliance’s assessment and training programs offer a number of opportunities to help land trust boards improve. From self-guided online curriculum to the big tent of Rally, there are many training options to fit the needs and schedules of a land trust. The land trust accreditation process is a further opportunity for a land trust to ensure its commitment to quality and permanence of land conservation.
5. Think big thoughts. The work of protecting land involves a hundred little details and land trusts can’t afford to miss any of them. But someone needs to be looking at the big picture and setting a long-term strategic vision, most often the board. The best land trust boards are visionary and bold. They look at the future as a well-spring of opportunity. For many, this is the most exciting and rewarding part of board service.
6. Put plans into action. The corollary to thinking big thoughts is a difference between vision and hallucination. The board needs to look to the future and define what difference it wants to make in the community. Then it needs to plan strategically to make it happen. Strong land trusts take the time to develop strategic plans, conservation plans, fundraising plans and specific implementation plans, all of which should be closely tuned to the mission.
7. Fear not fundraising. Few board members cite fundraising as their greatest ambition. However, fundraising gets a bad rap and land trust boards need to overcome that. Success is the best remedy for fundraising reticence. Fundraising is fundamentally about building relationships that can sustain an organization’s long-term health. It’s about giving people who already invest in the community to save the place people love. Building relationships and giving people opportunities to be a part of something special is completely different from shaking people down for money. Board members need to change their perspectives on how to help support a financially stable land trust, and do so in a way that draws on their commitment and passion for protecting great places.
8. Step up and lead. The best land trusts ride on the shoulders of great leaders. Land trusts need to identify leaders on their board and find a path for them to lead. At some point, someone needs to step up and drive the effort. Others need to be prepared to take their turn, so that leadership isn’t a lifetime commitment. The rewards of for those who serve. Those rewards, taken in the hindsight of experience, will always outshine the costs at the time of the service.
9. Be an ambassador to the community. Board members hold a respected position from which they can inspire their group and its supporters. Talk with passion about your special places, and tell how your land trust is helping other landowners save land and thereby benefit the community with the gifts of clean water, wildlife habitat and scenic views. The energy that board members share with their own network of friends, business associates and family might be the most important contribution they can make to the land trust. This energy will spawn energy from others and help draw a new pool of talent and resources. words are in building the credibility of a land trust.
10. Have fun. As the saying goes, “When you’re up to your armpits in alligators, it’s hard to remember that your original intention was to save the swamp!” Board members need to always remember their original sense of purpose. They need to connect to the land, get dirt on their shoes and see the plants and critters that remind them why their job is the best job in the world. Part of the fun of board service goes beyond connecting to the land — it includes connecting to each other. Have fun together. It’s not only nice to work with people you like, but it makes for better decisionmaking, greater accountability and longer tenure. While we work with the eyes of careful business leaders, let’s never lose the joy in the heart of a child who first discovers with a friend their own special place in the world.

There are a myriad of ways to strengthen your board, but these 10 make a good start. The only sure way to create a great board is to make it a priority for the organization and to work at it. In the end, the payoff will be well worth it.