Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Prime agricultural land is always threatened by expanding development in the County. The best soils are often the easiest place to develop. Farms and ranches produce food and also provide open space, groundwater recharge, and wildlife habitat. The people of San Benito County appreciate our agricultural heritage and our organization provides one means of protecting these lands, the industry, and the food security.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Agricultural conservation easements
The San Benito Agricultural Land Trust is devoted to providing financial options to farmers and ranchers in order to protect the agricultural heritage of San Benito County. The Trust can protect land permanently and directly by accepting conservation easements designed to meet the individual needs of farmers and ranchers. As a non-profit, private, tax-exempt organization, the trust is funded through membership, donations and grants.
Where we work
External reviews

Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of acres of land protected
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
2021 additions: 540-acre in fee ranch 25-acre easement on prime organic farm
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our principal goal is to protect and preserve agricultural land in San Benito County for food production and also for open space. As a land trust we are also mindful of our role as a responsible steward of lands and easements we hold and are working to sustain these activities.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our immediate strategy is to seek and receive accreditation with the national Land Trust Accreditation Commission. We are strengthening our policies and procedures. We have formed a Fund Development Committee to increase our fund raising capacity, including increasing our donor base. We sought and received several private, state, and federal conservation grants. We hired our first employee and retained one part-time contractor. We expanded our Board of Directors.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our hard-working volunteer board members all participate in our committees. We doubled our donor base and continue working to expand on that progress. We publish monthly articles in the San Juan Bautista Mission Village Voice and in the countywide online news site, Benitolink, to inform the public of the importance of agriculture to our County and to raise awareness of various aspects of managing farms and rangelands.
We continue to educate ranchers and farmers about conservation easements. We have protected over 6700 acres of agricultural land and are actively adding to that accomplishment.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 2018, our Board held a strategic planning retreat and we determined that to be effective we needed to engage part-time contract staff, seek national accreditation through the Land Trust Alliance’s (LTA) program, and engage in public relations activity. We hired two consultants part time for two years. We held a follow-up online strategic planning retreat in July 2020 and reiterated our goals and wrote a new 2-year Strategic Plan. As of January 1, 2021 we have hired one of our consultants as a part-time Executive Director. We have completed LTA requirements and we were accredited in February 2022. We are fortunate to have received several capacity building grants, and we are increasing our fund raising activity so we can retain our employee and contract staff person. We engaged an accounting firm to conduct our first official financial review. In partnership with Trust for Public Land, we will receive title in December 2022 to a 540-acre ranch adjoining our other 522-acre fee title ranch. We completed Phase I and are currently in the final stage of acquiring Phase II of the conservation easements on 50 acres of prime farmland, funded by mitigation funds and state and federal grants.
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
San Benito Agricultural Land Trust
Board of directorsas of 3/25/2022
Ms Emily Renzel
Paul Hain
Emily Renzel
Michael Reeves
Rick Carpenedo
Jessica Brem
Laura Naccarato
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as: