Last review by MLTC 5/22/2025.
Presented here with permission of the Connecticut Land Conservation Council.
This toolkit, a comprehensive, 7-part resource, was developed by the Connecticut Land Conservation Council and the Land Trust Alliance to help you build stronger, more effective boards to support the success of your land trust. Whether you are facing challenges in recruiting new board members, clarifying roles and responsibilities, or planning for leadership transitions, this toolkit is designed to provide practical tools and insights tailored to your needs.
Land trusts often face unique hurdles in maintaining a high-functioning board, including finding new board members, orienting them to the organization, and retaining high levels of engagement. Often, addressing a few underlying issues can lead to major organizational improvements.
This toolkit is designed to provide practical tools and insights to address these challenges by offering actionable resources to:
- Identify gaps and strengths within your board.
- Align your board’s efforts with your land trust’s mission, vision, and strategy.
- Develop clear roles and responsibilities for board members and committees.
- Establish effective recruitment, onboarding, and training practices.
- Foster accountability and continuous improvement.
We hope you’ll find the tools and strategies needed to build a more engaged, diverse, and impactful board.
How to Use the Toolkit
This toolkit is organized into focused sections, each addressing a critical aspect of board development. Whether you’re starting from scratch or refining existing practices, you can explore the sections in any order based on your organization’s current needs.
Click the section titles, below, to be brought to a dedicated page for each topic containing practical guidance, templates, tools, and links to further reading.
- Board Diagnostic Tools: Assess your board’s composition, strengths, and areas for improvement.
- Mission, Vision, and Values Alignment: Ensure your board’s efforts align with your organization’s guiding principles.
- Succession Planning Basics: Create a roadmap for smooth leadership transitions.
- Defining Roles and Responsibilities: Clarify governance and operational roles for board members and committees.
- Recruitment Strategies: Attract skilled and committed board members.
- Onboarding and Training: Prepare new board members for success.
- Accountability and Evaluation: Build a culture of self-reflection, accountability, and continuous improvement.