Financial management

How will you manage and report on the funds entrusted to you to conserve land?

Budgets and financial reports are a way to tell your land trust’s story. The language may feel foreign to many conservationists trained in the sciences or liberal arts, but once familiar with the “grammar” rules of finance the story becomes clear.

Solid financial management is the cornerstone of successful land conservation. It takes money to acquire and care for land and easements, and it takes a solid understanding of budgets, financial controls, reports and audits to ensure the money you raise is spent appropriately and reported accurately to donors, the community and the IRS. Failure to tell a clear story about how you spend donors’ money can cause untold problems for your land trust, from confusion over spending priorities to suspicion of or even prosecution for fraud by either community members or the government who can’t see how donors’ money has been spent. Use these resources and tools to learn about financial management and ensure your organization is upholding its financial promises.