Engaging New Audiences

How can land trusts attract new audiences and develop a broader, deeper base of support to best weather these uncertain times? The Colorado Conservation Trust (CCT) recently completed a pilot project with the Palmer Land Trust and the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust (RiGHT) that explored this challenge. The project, called the Community Engagement Initiative, successfully engaged local communities by reframing land conservation in a way that resonated with new audiences.

Gaining Deep and Broad Support

Palmer Land Trust and RiGHT were chosen through a competitive application process to participate in the two-year program, in part because the two organizations differ in size and focus: Palmer Land Trust serves an urban population around Colorado Springs while RiGHT works in a rural and predominantly agricultural area across the San Luis Valley.

The project revealed that the general public has a limited understanding of the many benefits of and opportunities to get involved in land conservation. It demonstrated to CCT that there is a serious need across Colorado and throughout the United States to identify priority populations, educate people about land conservation and engender support from nontraditional segments of the population. Without support that is both deep and broad, organizations cannot hope to achieve institutional sustainability in a difficult economic climate.

Executive Director of CCT Brian Ross and Program Director Jordan Vana stress that the following factors were critical to the success of the initiative:

• Enthusiasm of the staff and board
• Willingness of the board to take risks
• A board that models the value of inclusivity by recruiting new members from the constituencies they are trying to reach
• A two-way communication channel between the community and the land trust

Transforming Organizational Philosophy

Community engagement cannot simply be a public relations campaign or a new page on the website. For an organization to truly reap the benefits of this initiative, it must transform the entire philosophy of the organization. The board and staff must strive to fully understand their community and how it is changing, and educate people about the variety of services and opportunities that conserved land can bring to a region.

The Community Engagement Initiative provides a model for other land trusts from around the country to engender support for conservation that is broader, deeper and more lasting than traditional funding partnerships because it is truly developed and orchestrated at the grassroots level.