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    Why submit a proposal?

    The Rally Call for Presentations has closed. If you submitted a proposal, you will be notified the week of April 13 about the status of your proposal.

    Participants tell us that the #1 reason they attend Rally is for the in-person educational sessions. At Rally 2025, approximately 205 educational hours were presented over a three-day period to more than 1,600 individuals. Rally would not be the success it is, year after year, without the help from our presenters. Thank you for generously giving your time and expertise to strengthen the work of land trusts and other conservation organizations.

    Training formats

    Workshops are diverse topics taught by experienced colleagues and experts. Workshops run concurrently within 10 areas of focus. Approximately 100 workshops will be scheduled on Friday and Saturday, September 18 and 19. These trainings are 90 minutes in length and can have anywhere from 20–200 people in attendance. Workshops are included in the basic Rally registration fee and handout materials are posted on the Rally website and the Rally App for download.

    Please note that we will not be collecting proposals for longer full or half-day seminars this year. There will be a curated set of long-format sessions hosted by the Alliance on the day we have historically held seminars (Thursday).

    Areas of focus

    The descriptions are for guidance only and are not meant to limit great ideas or suggestions for workshops. Please consider the primary audience and content to determine the most appropriate area of focus.

    Addressing climate change

    • Climate resilience.

    • Nature-based carbon offset markets.

    • Communications strategies around climate.

    • Renewable energy development and siting.

    • Carbon storage and sequestration.

    • Natural disaster preparedness and response.

    • Disproportionate climate impacts to people and communities.

    Engaging community

    • Working to prioritze people in land conservation.

    • Equity and inclusion.

    • Accessibility

    • Building authentic partnerships with your community.

    • Environmental justice.

    • Land history and relationships.

    Administering easements

    • Annual monitoring (including remote monitoring) and easement administration.

    • Addressing potential violations.

    • Landowner relationships.

    • Documenting current conditions.

    • Insurance.

    Indigenous land relationships

    • Land access and return.

    • Traditional Ecological Knowledge.

    • Cultural stewardship and site protection.

    • Cultural harvest and food sovereignty.

    • Cultural competence and cross-cultural partnership building.

    Communicating successfully

    • Refining your identity/brand to build broader and deeper support.

    • Maximizing the impact of your communications tools.

    • Social networking strategies.

    • Communications planning.

    • Reaching new audiences.

    Managing your organization

    • Accreditation.

    • Effective governance, decision-making and risk management.

    • Organizational development.

    • Board and staff management.

    • Hiring and managing a diverse workforce.

    • Transition and succession planning.

    Conserving working lands

    • Conservation of working landscapes including farms and ranches.

    • Managing and restoring forests and grasslands.

    • Regenerative agriculture.

    • Farm Bill programs.

    Planning for conservation

    • Landscape-scale conservation.

    • Using mapping and geospatial tools and data for planning.

    • Conservation planning with partners and coalitions.

    • Land use planning and addressing community development needs.

    • Watershed and coastal planning.

    • Planning for climate change impacts, biodiversity loss and habitat changes.

    Doing deals

    • Transaction due diligence.

    • Drafting conservation easements.

    • Baseline documentation.

    • Appraisals.

    • Legal and tax issues.

    Securing support

    • Diversified fundraising strategies.

    • Appealing to new (younger) donor prospects.

    • Developing an effective case for support.

    • Effectively borrowing money.

    • Leveraging public money.

    • Managing membership, annual giving and major donor programs.

    • Planned giving.

    Stewarding and restoring land

    • Conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems.

    • Restoration of land and water resources.

    • Natural disaster recovery including storms and wildfires.

    • Fee land management plans.

    • Public access and trails.

    Rally presenter information

    Lead session coordinator

    This is the person who submits the proposal to the Alliance and will be responsible for accurate session description, ensuring key communications and resources from the Alliance are reviewed by all the session presenters and honoring deadline dates for handouts, any presenter changes, bios, A/V requirements, etc. We strongly recommend you confirm participation with your co-presenters before you add their name to the proposal.

    Workshop presenters (Sept. 18 and 19)

    Other than moderated panels, the Alliance recommends no more than four speakers present at a workshop. All workshop presenters will receive a discounted presenter registration rate of $360 regardless of when they register.

    Application for speaker support available

    The Alliance offers a limited number of scholarships to help reduce the financial barrier for participants to attend Rally. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, scholarships may be available to cover partial or full registration fees and/or travel assistance for Rally presenters and participants with expertise that has been underrepresented at Rally and in the land conservation sector. We seek to help Rally better reflect the communities across the nation where land conservation can benefit all people. As the community of people and organizations engaged in land conservation grows, Rally has welcomed more early career professionals and first-time attendees, those not yet employed in conservation, and volunteers and community members partnering with our members. Scholarship support helps make Rally more accessible for people who might not ordinarily attend and who bring unique perspectives that expand our thinking and enrich the discussions we have as a conservation community. The application will be available in late April and will be sent out with the Rally session selection updates. Please note that award amounts are not guaranteed and will be based on the total number of applications received and funding available. 

    Rally 2026 proposal information

    Submittal instructions

    Complete, engaging and well-designed proposals are most competitive in the selection process. While the selection process is very competitive, we want you to be a part of Rally and have outlined some key elements that will help strengthen your proposal.

    Designing your session proposal

    Determine the format of your session.

    Preference will be given to collaborative, interactive sessions with the ability to invite dialogue, encourage discussion and provide a range of perspectives on relevant issues and topics.

    Engage partners.

    If your proposal describes a partnership, program or area of work that engages or benefits a specific community or population, please engage community members or community-based partners in co-developing and/or co-facilitating your presentation.

    Incorporate expertise.

    We believe that people are experts in their own lived experiences and that we must learn from, value and incorporate community-based expertise into our conservation practice. In practice, this represents the following:

    • Decisions about policies, programs and projects should not be made without the full and direct participation of those people affected by them.

    • The voices of the people to be engaged or who benefit from a program or project are at the table from the beginning.

    • People are front and center speaking from their own experience, about their own aspirations and needs, and as visible leaders in the project or program.

    Use asset-based language.

    When creating your title and description, please use asset-based language instead of deficit-based language. The concept of asset-based language appears in many sectors, and includes the following:

    • Defining people by their aspirations and contributions, not their challenges.

    • Avoiding using language — e.g., “voiceless,” “vulnerable,” “at-risk" — that reinforces negative stereotypes or perceptions that challenges are inherent characteristics of people rather than the result of circumstances.

    • Acknowledging disparities or obstacles as rooted in systemic causes rather than individual shortcomings--or overcoming them as only a personal success story.

    • Focusing on shared values, opportunity rather than “problem,” and collective responsibility for solving systemic challenges.

    Session selection criteria

    The program advisory committees will review and select session proposals using the following set of criteria:

    • Clarity of learning objectives, presentation format/flow and workshop title.

    • Appropriate length/amount of material to time allotment and level of learner interaction.

    • Overall balance of program topics and skill level across the entire Rally program and relevance to the needs and interests of land trusts and partners from across the country and beyond.

    • Strength and breadth of presenters’ expertise and experience, including lived experience and direct experience with, leadership in or benefit from projects or initiatives highlighted in session.

    • Relevance of the topic to Land Trust Standards and Practices.

      Land Trust Standards and Practices are guidelines for the responsible operation of a land trust. Log in to the Resource Center for additional information. For accreditation, the Accreditation Requirements Manual provides information regarding documentation required for a successful accreditation application. We encourage you to submit proposals for both workshops that help land trusts with implementation of the Standards.

    Internet access in meeting rooms

    The Alliance anticipates providing 4-6 meeting rooms per day with upgraded internet access for presenters that need additional bandwidth for technology sessions. Please note on your proposal if you will require an upgraded internet connection for your presentation (for mapping, etc). Bandwidth speeds cannot be guaranteed, so please be prepared to do your presentation without internet should the need arise. We also recommend embedding video rather than streaming it from the web.

    Standard room set

    Standard equipment in each room includes one podium and microphone, as well as one handheld microphone. The Alliance will also provide an LCD projector, screen, flipchart and markers in each room. If you have a PowerPoint presentation, one person from your panel MUST bring their own laptop and any adapters unique to your device (i.e., you have a micro-HDMI port, a Mac that requires a special cord, etc.

    Important Rally 2026 deadlines

    Date
    Due
    Feb. 17
    Proposals due to the Alliance
    Week of April 13
    Alliance notifies applicants about status of their proposals
    July 24
    Final session description, co-presenter listing, faculty biographies and A/V needs due
    Aug. 24
    Registration deadline: Last day to pre-register for Rally
    Aug. 24
    Handouts due for photocopying. The Alliance provides final details, including estimated session attendance
    Sept. 18-19
    90-minute workshops conducted

    Contact us

    Please note the Land Trust Alliance office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern.