Promote your Field Trips...
It's one of our favorite ways to brag about Wisconsin land trust greatness!
Email links or invitations or quick notes to pam [at] gatheringwaters.org and we'll get your events on line.
|
Upcoming Training Opportunities
1. LTA webinars upcoming are listed on their site here.
Registration
is $50 for LTA members. Topics
include:
April 12 Conflict of Interest & Whistle Blower Policies
April 28 Conservation Easement Record Keeping
May 19th Easement Violations
2. If live courses are more your style, consider the workshop on May 24th,
"Beyond Baseline Basics."
3. Fundraising for Nonprofits, the WI School of Business has run this event for 15 years. The two day conference will be June 2-4 in Madison. Registration is $425. More information available here.
|
If you're a fan of Wisconsin landscapes, become a fan of Gathering Waters Conservancy. Join us on Facebook!
|
Remember the Wisconsin land trust Listserv!
There's a great deal of know-how and experience in Wisconsin's land trust community. When you have questions about land trust operations, remember our email discussion list, WILandtrusts.
Gathering Waters maintains an email forum for land conservation practitioners. Answers and ideas often come promptly from some of the most experienced organizations in the state.
Only registered list members can use the list -- to sign up visit this page and remember that the wisdom of 50 land trusts can be just an email away.
|
Thank you for helping protect Wisconsin's special places. For information on how to help even more by donating to Gathering Waters Conservancy, visit our web page.
Donate Here
:: |
|
Greetings! We're looking forward to seeing a record number of you in a few days at the 2010 Wisconsin Land Trust Retreat in Wausau. We're excited and honored, since we know you're busy -- easement monitoring, grant deadlines, volunteer work days, annual meetings and more! Those of you who can't make it, know we are grateful for all you do to protect Wisconsin's special places. We hope you find some of what's here timely and useful. If in the Table of Contents on the left you don't see anything relevant to your work this season, please, as always, let us know how Gathering Waters Conservancy can help make your organization stronger. Happy spring from all of us at GWC!  Pam Foster Felt Outreach Director |
|
1. New 990 Rules
It's Tax Season & You HAVE to File a 990 -- even if you haven't had to for a long time.
This year, the IRS is requiring that all non-profit organizations, regardless of size or revenue, file some version of a 990 return. Starting with tax year 2009 returns, any organization that has not filed for 3 consecutive years will automatically lose it's tax exempt status.
If you operate on a calendar year, your 2009 return is due on May 15th, 2010. (Returns are due on the 15th of the fifth month following the end of your fiscal year). Losing your exempt status would be bad news. The good news is that for organizations with smaller annual revenue, form 990 is no more than an electronically filed postcard. Here's a very brief description of the filing requirements. -
You must file a full Form 990 if for tax year 2009 your organization had gross receipts of more than $500,000 or total assets of more than $1.25 million.
-
Organizations with gross receipts of less than $500,000 and total assets less than $1.25 million, may be able to file the Short Form 990-EZ.
-
Organizations with 2009 gross receipts equal or less than $25,000 are required to file a 990-N (the e-postcard). Read more about the e-Postcard here.
For more about these requirements, visit the IRS website here. And happy tax season to you all!
|
2. Nominate your Conservation Heroes
 Surely, you know some one or some land trust that deserves an award. Please! Take less than an hour to send us your nomination for Gathering Waters' 2010 Land Conservation Leadership Awards.
Each year, we acknowledge the people and organizations that have made notable contributions to the lasting protection of Wisconsin's special places. We throw them a big party, share their story with our members, and thank them for inspiring us all.
We're looking for nominations for the 2010:
Land Trust of the Year
Conservationist of the Year
Policy Maker of the Year
and for our Harold "Bud' Jordahl Lifetime Achievement Award
If you're reading this, then you probably know some of the men and women who are responsible for the remarkable, great energy of Wisconsin's land trust movement. Nominate 'em!
Nomination Materials are available on our website. Nominations will be accepted until Friday, May 21, 2010
And, of course, SAVE the DATE! The 2010 Land Conservation Awards Celebration will be held on
Thursday, September 30th at Monona Terrace in Madison. We're looking forward to seeing you there.
|
|
3. Working Lands Initiative PACE Workshops this month.
If you're interested in the fate of Wisconsin's working lands, you should know that the law passed last year created, among many things, new opportunities for lasting conservation of Wisconsin farmlands.
The best way to keep track of the Working Lands Initiative's progress is via an electronic newsletter distributed by Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). To sign up to receive that newsletter, visit DATCP's working lands page here.
PACE WORKSHOPS
Wisconsin's new program funding conservation easements on working lands is accepting applications through June 1st.
To encourage a first round of strong applications, the is co-hosting three workshops this month (and a 4th as a free webinar) on Wisconsin's PACE program.
These all-day sessions are for farmers, landowners, local government
officials, land trust staff and board and anyone interested.
Co-sponsors include American Farmland Trust, Gathering Waters
Conservancy, the Wisconsin Counties Association and Wisconsin Towns
Association.
Workshops are scheduleded:
Wednesday, April 14th, Grand Chute
Monday, April 19th
, Oconomowoc
Tuesday, April 27th, Bangor
Thursday, April 29th there will be a free webinar version available on line.
For more workshop adgendas, times, locations and to register on-line, visit DATCP's site here.
For other workshop information or to register off-line, please contact
Lisa Schultz at LisaJ.Schultz[at]Wisconsin.gov or 608-224-4604.
For More on Wisconsin Working Lands Protection Including answers to Frequently Asked Questions, new Agricultural Enterprise Areas, an updated list of local PDR and PACE programs and other material about working lands protection visit http://wisconsinfarmland.org.
|
|
6. Accreditation Update In response to feedback from
applicants and their experience to date, the Land Trust
Accreditation Commission has made a change important to note for any organization considering an application.
The "indicator practices," the subset of Land Trust Standards and Practices the Accreditation Commission evaluates, has changed to avoid some redundancy (there are 26 now instead of 37). The revised list and an explanation behind the revision can be found on the Commission's Website here.
They are accepting around of registrations for 2010 applications through April 22. The Commission expects that registration for 2011 applications will open in May or June this year.
The Commission staff will host a free webinar on the application process on April 13, register by this Friday, April 9th, registration information is here,
And if your land trust is considering an application soon, there maybe some money to help you. LTA has funds to help fill "the
accreditation pipeline" and for organizations ready for 2010 applications,
there may be modest grants available to help compile applications. If you think your land trust is ready but
concerned about the cost of preparing the application, contact MaryKay
O'Donnell at the Midwest Office of the Land Trust Alliance.
Finally, if you're interested in an introduction to Accreditation for you board or supporters, the Accreditation Commission produced a video, Keeping the Promise: Perpetuity and the Land
Trust Accreditation Program
featuring several land trusts that have successfully navigated the accreditation
process. It's linked
to the Accreditation Commission's website.
|
|
7. Directors & Officers: are you covered?
We received similar questions from three land trust last year and decided to share an answer with all Currents readers.
The question was this, "as a Wisconsin
nonprofit, aren't we afforded some protection liability for our directors and
officers under state law? Do we need to
carry Directors and Officers liability insurance? If so, what kind of coverage should we
consider?"
The answer we collected is from Johanna Allex, an attorney and former land trust president. She wrote:
Under Wisconsin law, directors and
officers of a nonprofit corporation will generally not be held liable for failing
to perform the duties of their office.
This protection from liability does not apply if the director or officer
is found to have engaged in "culpable conduct" associated with the breach. In addition, the protection does not extend
to certain types of actions filed by a governmental agency or created by state
or federal law, and to problematic loans or unlawful distributions made by the
nonprofit corporation.
Directors and Officers liability insurance ("D&O
Insurance") is a good idea for a nonprofit corporation to carry. When a person becomes a director or officer
of a nonprofit corporation, he or she assumes a level of responsibility for the
organization. With this responsibility,
comes exposure to possible claims for not running and managing the nonprofit
organization appropriately. These types
of claims can be filed by various persons and they are generally categorized as
a "breach of fiduciary duty". A director
or officer could also be named in an employment related suit if the nonprofit
corporation has employees.
Although Wisconsin law provides
protection from liability for directors and officers, this does not prevent a
lawsuit from being filed. If a lawsuit
is filed, the nonprofit corporation and/or the director/officer would still
need to defend themselves. D&O
Insurance could provide assistance in this situation. D&O Insurance policies vary greatly. When shopping for a policy, there are three
major items to keep in mind: who is covered and who is not; what types of
lawsuits are excluded from coverage; and what is the rating/payment history of
the underwriter.
All D&O Insurance policies cover directors,
officers and key employees (usually the executive director). Please be aware that many D&O Insurance
policies do not cover staff or volunteers.
In addition, D&O Insurance policies usually exclude employment-
related claims and non-monetary claims.
If an organization believes that its directors and officers may face
exposure to these types of claims because of its exempt-purpose mission, the
organization may want to search for a D&O Insurance policy that provides
this type of coverage. Finally, it is
important that a nonprofit corporation investigate the insurance underwriter,
the financial integrity of the insurance company and whether they are admitted
to provide insurance in the State of Wisconsin prior to purchasing a D&O Insurance policy.
|
8. Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Grants -- The Access Rules
The administrative rule allowing for appropriate limits on public use of lands purchased with Stewardship funds are not quite yet law. But the access rules, officially known as NR52 have moved a little closer to finalization in recent weeks.
Those of you following the saga of the rule-making process can be satisfied to know that we don't anticipate any significant hurdles to come. A draft rule was reviewed by legislative committees last month. With a few revisions made with the cooperative input of several conservation groups, including Gathering Waters, The Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy and Wisconsin Waterfowl Association, that draft has been sent back to the DNR's governing body for approval, perhaps as early as this month.
Once the rule is at last promulgated into law, our focus at Gathering Waters will be to help land trusts understand what the rule means for Stewardship grant applications. We are planning regional conversations with land trusts and local governments later this year on that topic, so keep your ear to the tracks for an announcement of those meetings.
In the meantime, with any questions about the access rule and what it means for your organization, contact Mike Carlson, our Government Relations Director:carlson [at] gatheringwaters.org or 608-251-9131 x 13.
|
|
9. Co-host a VIP Field Trip
It is Gathering Waters' mission to raise the profile, appreciation and awareness of land trusts' work in Wisconsin. What better way to do that than to invite people outside to experience the places you protect?
We are offering land trusts the opportunity to partner with us to co-host small-scale donor cultivation events for our members and yours. Each field trip will include a guided tour of a special property and a picnic. A trip might include an opportunity to meet the landowner, paddle, hike or do a bird count.
The goal of these events is to introduce our members to their local land trusts and to introduce land trust members to Gathering Waters. Our aim is to help conservation supporters understand your work in
context of Wisconsin's remarkable land trust movement, and the value of
both our organizations.
If you have a place you would like to showcase and you would like help doing it, let us know! Here's what we're proposing:
YOUR Land Trust
- identifies one of your land trust's special properties. Perhaps one that protects a remarkable resource, has an interesting story to tell or was protected by charismatic landowners who can speak about the value of land trusts' work.
- invites a targeted group of donors, potential donors, and other VIPs to attend a guided tour and picnic.
- helps coordinate some of the local logistics of the event, including the guided tour of the property.
Gathering Waters will
- invite a targeted group of our donors, potential donors and VIPs that live in your area.
- advertise the field trip as a featured Parade of Preserves trip through our website, a special mailing to our members and in our newsletter, Crosscurrents, which reaches over 6,000 conservation-minded household across the state.
- work with your land trust to coordinate the event, including making arrangements for the picnic and providing templates for the invitation and other promotional materials.
We'd like to show our members why land trusts are so important, and share with yours our mission to make land trusts stronger. If you are interested in co-hosting a field trip with Gathering Waters Conservancy in 2010, please contact Sara DeKok, Member Relations Director, at sara [at] gatheringwaters or 608.251.9131 x 10.
|
10. To Fight or Not to Fight: when should your land trust engage in public policy?
Several land trusts have told us at least once that they felt tugged or pushed or compelled to take a position on a contested local land use issue. Questions about what side to take, what fight to pick or whether to get in the ring at all have consumed board meetings. We were asked for some sample criteria to help land trusts make those decisions about public policy engagement.
Conveniently, Gathering Waters took a close look last year at our own internal process. Our board approved Gathering Waters' "Criteria for Setting Public Policy Priorities," that's literally a list of qualifying questions to ask ourselves about what issues we should invest in.
Here is a generic version of the same. We hope it's helpful:
Criteria for Setting Public Policy Priorities
- Is the
public policy objective consistent with your organization's mission, or if
it failed, would that challenge your organization's ability to pursue your
mission?
- Does
the policy objective fit within your organization's strategic plan?
- Would
the objective of the policy priority result in regional benefits or
benefit the communities your organization serves?
- Is
there a reasonable prospect that the objective will be successful?
- Is your
organization's participation critical to success?
- Does your
organization have the capacity to help achieve that success?
- Will
the initiative have general support from your organization's contributors
and/or membership?
|
|
|
11.The Conservation Tax Incentive
As you are probably well aware, the expanded federal income tax incentive for conservation gifts expired on December 31 last year. The US Senate approved a one-year extension of that incentive last month, but did that as part of a much larger bill that has more hoops to clear before it becomes law.
The Land Trust Alliance remains optimistic about the possibility of an extension of the incentive (one that would be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010). A proposal to make the incentive permanent has broad legislative support and the Senate's recent action is promising.
Nevertheless, as of now, conservation easement donations and other conservation gifts don't earn the same deductions as they did last year.
Several land trusts have expressed to us some consternation about what
to communicate to landowners. It is difficult to answer every question
with the phrase "if the tax incentives are extended... ."
While we share disappointment that those bigger incentives aren't
available, don't forget that under current law, there are still income tax incentives for
qualified conservation gifts, they are simply less generous than they
were for gifts made in the last two years.
The Land Trust Alliance has an extensive Question & Answer page on their website about what was in the tax law, what is now, and what might be and how land trusts and landowners can navigate the uncertain fate of those income tax rules.
|
12. Eight Key Responsibilities for Treasurers of All-volunteer Organizations.
If you have not encountered the online resource Blue Avocado, and you are interested in directing a great non-profit, the online magazine for nonprofit boards is a valuable bookmark in your web browser. They publish a magazine specifically for Boards of Directors, and one recent article caught our eye.
This article about the role of treasurer in an all-volunteer organization offers a concise set of recommendations about how to make sure the crucial job of handling the money for a group of well-intentioned, like- minded neighbors who are also board members isn't a task treated casually.
This article all but writes a detailed board treasurer job description, listing these eight "key responsibilities:"
1. Handle the money with high standards and a tone of integrity
2. Manage the filings
3. Identify and manage risk
4. Confirm contributions
5. Track volunteer time
6. Plan and evaluate with a budget
7. Prepare timely financial reports
8. Recruit the next treasurer
The entire article is here. Enjoy!
|
|
13. Two Regional Grant Opportunities
1. The Trout Unlimited Watershed Access Fund. TU leadership recently told us about this fund designed to "assist in the direct acquisition of
lands adjacent to coldwater resources or to assist in the acquisition of
conservation easements or leases that allow access to and future restoration of
coldwater resources."
The Fund will be accessible to TU chapters partnering with land trusts. A longer description and TU contact information is here.2. Fish America Foundation and
NOAA Restoration Center: Request for Proposals for Community-based Habitat
Restoration Projects. This is for Great Lakes Basin habitat restoration projects. "Projects must result in the
implementation of locally-driven habitat restoration projects that emphasize stewardship
and yield ecological and socioeconomic benefits. These projects must clearly
demonstrate significant benefits to ... anadromous fisheries
resources, particularly sportfish, and should involve community participation
through an educational or volunteer component tied to the restoration
activities."
The application deadline is June 7th. A copy of the email notice we received about this grant program is here.
|
|
|
