JMRPWG agenda 102898 - Laserfiche WebLink

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remember is that the director is responsible for a wide range of activities , from coordinating the trust ' s fundraising, to public relations, to landowner contact and negotiations . Financial Management The financial management of the trust is one of the main responsibilities of the board of directors . Setting up appropriate board committees such as finance and stewardship can help insure that financial statements, annual audits, and risk management matters receive careful oversight . In addition, the board should obtain expert assistance when necessary from an accountant, insurance agent, and attorney . Budgeting. An operating budget is a plan showing expected income and its sources and anticipated expenses . It sets a target for how much the trust needs to raise and provides guidance on how funds are to be spent . In addition, it hP.1ps the board refine and clarify its thinking about the trust ' s goals, priorities, and use of resources . The land trust needs to review the budget periodically and compare it with the trust ' s actual financial situation . A mid-year review is advisable, but more frequent checks are advisable to insure that revenues are sufficient to meet expenditures . While each community and land trust is different, individuals are the most reliable and consistent source of funding. Most of the money raised from individuals comes from large donations . For instance, a fundraising rule of thumb is that 80 percent of the money comes from 20 perccut of0the donors . Accounting . Accounting is the recording and periodic reporting of the trust ' s financial transactions, assets, and liabilities . This includes bookkeeping, periodic financial reports, and audits to check the accounts . It is the responsibility of the board to insure that the trust ' s records are kept according to generally accepted accounting principles . Regardless of the system selected, it is important that a land trust set up good financial controls to make error and dishonesty difficult . Preparing and distributing regular financial statements allows the board to track how the trust is doing in relation to its budget and will make preparation of the annual audit and the next year' s budget easier. The financial statement should be prepared monthly for members of the financial committee and at least quarterly for the entire board . Liability & Insurance . All nonprofit organizations are potentially liable in many ways . The first defense against potential liability problems is to anticipate them and eliminate or reduce them . This is known as "risk management" and starts when a land tmst considers purchasing or accepting donation of land or a conservation easement, or taking on land management responsibilities . Public access on land trust property is one of the main sources of potential liability for land trusts . The land trust ' s surest defense against liability is insurance . All land trusts should have insurance, since even the best risk management plans will not guarantee that no problems will 16