Wood River Land Trust LTA Standard 8: Evaluating and Selecting Conservation Projects

8I: Evaluating Partnerships 8J: Partnership Documentation

_______________________________________________
Policy: The Land Trust may find that it does not have the capacity to undertake the size or scope of effort necessary to protect the important conservation values on a property or to accomplish restoration work. In cases where a project exceeds the Land Trust's mission or capacity, it may be appropriate to form partnerships with other organizations to obtain results that the Land Trust could not achieve on its own. In addition, the Land Trust may be asked to partner with other conservation groups who could provide or need additional organizational capacity or transactional expertise. In other cases, it may be appropriate and good business practice to form partnerships in order to more fully leverage the capacity if the organization to further it mission. Practice 8I: When evaluating a potential conservation partnership, the Land Trust must consider the following criteria: 1. Whether potential partners share the Land Trusts fundamental goals and visions of success; 2. Whether potential partners will bring, and be willing to use, needed skills and resources; 3. The availability of funding to implement the project and/or opportunities for cost recovery; and 4. Whether the partnership will reinforce the Land Trusts credibility in the community. Practice 8J: If the Land Trust decides to proceed with a conservation partnership, the Land Trust will develop a partnership agreement or memorandum in writing at the outset of the project. The partnership agreement must define and/or clarify the following subject areas: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The scope of the project, its goals and timelines; The roles and responsibilities of each organization in the partnership, including methods for handling decision-making; The project budget; Legal and financial arrangements, including plans to handle project costs and potential income; Confidentiality requirements (if appropriate); and Procedures that ensure timely review of all transactions.

With regard to public relations and media contacts (or other public efforts related to the project), the partnership agreement shall provide that no information will be released by any partner without full permission and authorization of all participating partners. An effort should be made to acknowledge the contributions made by each partner and to promote the benefits of the partnership.

Standard 8, Partnerships, Documentation - Page 1 of 1 / Approved by the Board November 27, 2007