MALT’s day-to-day work is guided by a number of policies and best practices, including those listed below. Our board and staff are committed to working with integrity across programs and applying our policies equitably to all current and potential applicants and partners. In an agricultural community as intimate as that of West Marin, we recognize that it is essential that all board decisions and staff work be guided by clear policies that are applied consistently in decision-making about easement acquisitions and land stewardship.
Acquisitions
MALT’s conservation easement acquisition program follows strict guidelines, updated by the board of directors in the winter of 2020. A summary of these policies can be found here. In addition, MALT follows strict guidelines when obtaining appraisals to determine the purchase price of conservation easements and other real property acquisitions or transfers. An executive summary of MALT’s Appraisal Policy can be found here.
Bylaws
MALT’s bylaws are the legally binding rules that outline how our board will operate, and guide the board’s actions and decisions. Our bylaws comply with all state and federal regulations for nonprofit organizations in California.
Conflict of Interest
In a community of agriculturalists, and with a board of directors that includes agriculturalists, it is central to MALT’s programs and policies that board members and staff are particularly mindful of the close relationships that can exist among applicants and board members. As such, MALT updated its conflict of interest policy in 2019 to avoid even the appearance of potential favorable treatment for our board members and their families.
Read our Conflict of Interest Policy here.
Gift Acceptance
MALT’s gift acceptance policy, which was updated in 2020, provides guidance to development staff and board committees in all their philanthropic work. The policy ensures that all gifts accepted by MALT help further and fulfill its mission and priorities and that all gifts are in compliance with IRS regulations and state and federal laws. A summary of this policy can be found here.
Privacy
As a nonprofit organization with a mission to protect and steward agricultural land, we work closely with farming families on conservation real estate transactions that permanently protect their land for productive agriculture. During these real estate transactions, MALT receives financial information and other private details about the property from the easement applicants. This information guides the development of the transaction and helps the board and funders make informed decisions whether to purchase an easement. MALT carefully guards any private information provided by applicants.
While MALT is committed to protecting the private information of easement holders and applicants, we are also committed to keeping the public informed about our policies and the public details of completed transactions.
Final easement terms, appraisal documents and funding application documents are available for all our acquisition projects through the public agencies that provide matching funds for these projects. These agencies are listed here, along with other partner agencies critical to MALT’s work.
MALT’s online privacy policy can be found here.