Land Transaction and Stewardship Records: Organized, Protected, Secure

Are you wasting time searching for transaction records that you know are here somewhere? Drowning in paper that you think you might need to scan? Is one property referred to by three different names, totally confusing new and old staff alike? Keeping your land transaction and stewardship records organized, protected and secure is a critical task for all land trusts, but it can be overwhelming to sort through old records and difficult to implement consistent practice for future projects. This pre-recorded webinar will guide your land trust through a step-by-step process to assess your current recordkeeping practices, audit and organize your paper and digital records, decide how to update your practices and document your decisions in your recordkeeping policy and procedures. Instructor Sarah Naperala of Naperala Consulting LLC brings her decade of experience assisting land trusts in tackling their records while doing assessments against Standards and Practices and preparing for accreditation.

The webinar focuses on ten key areas most land trusts need to work on. Each area of need has a corresponding activity for your organization to complete. Areas of need:

1. Final property names and project list/database

2. Essential records

3. Digital file name convention

4. Digital file structure (permanent)

5. Recordkeeping study session

6. Digital records audit

7. Paper records audit

8. Merge paper into digital records

9. Paper records system

10. Records policy and procedures

This webinar is intended to be watched at least twice. During your first watch, you will note which areas of need and associated activities pertain to your organization, keeping track in a downloadable, comprehensive workbook. Then, you’ll create a calendar of accountability to keep your organization on track. When you are ready to tackle an area of need, you’ll watch the relevant webinar recording section again and get started on the activity in your workbook. Several templates and samples are also included to make it easy to stay organized while you complete the activities.

After completing all activities relevant to your organization, you should have a set of primary, permanent records that can be used to defend each real property.

This pre-recorded webinar is included in the 2025 Webinar Pass.