Peninsula Open Space Trust

Land acquisition & transfer:in fiscal year 2024, post completed and assisted a total of 6 transactions that protected 1,141 acres while advancing several other longer-term acquisitions and transfers.land transactions assisted the habitat agency and santa clara county parks in protecting 735 acres at the base of mount madonna in the southern santa cruz mountains. Assisted the Trust for public land in securing a 50-acre property in san benito county for future transfer to amah mutsun land Trust. Acquired a 50% interest in the 356-acre el mirador property in portola valley, adjacent to windy hill Open Space preserve. Transferred 1,908 acres of lakeside ranch to the santa clara valley habitat agency. Transferred 644 acres of johnston ranch in half moon bay to the midpeninsula regional Open Space district. Transferred the 74-acre san gregorio farm property to ryan casey, owner/operator of blue house farm, subject to an agricultural conservation easement.

Community outreach and education:to further our community growth and engagement efforts, in fiscal year 2024, the organization continued our content marketing and engagement programs which aim to grow and diversify our community of supporters and engage prospective donors. Between new pieces and updates to existing content, we distributed over 60 informational pieces such as guides and blog posts, hundreds of social media posts (both paid and organic), 3 annual magazines, and generated over 212 press mentions. We increased awareness and generated new contacts primarily by advertising on digital channels. Our gated guides require viewers to provide their email address and are our most effective tool to generate new contacts. As a result, we attracted over 36,800 new community members to our database which includes 200,000 contacts.we continued to implement digital donor acquisition campaigns using our crm, social media and marketing automation platforms to renew existing donor support, convert community members into donors, and deepen engagement across our entire community. We raised $7.73m from 9,485 donors, 1.7% or $128k more than in fy23 on top of 6.5% revenue growth from fy22 to fy23. Giving in fy23 was buoyed primarily by large donors, as continued inflationary headwinds put pressure on personal disposable income which for many declined. Post received 417 fewer donations in fy24 than in fy23, but the number of reinstated donors increased and our overall donor retention rate grew from 61% in fy23 to 64% in fy24.community members and donors continued to stay connected to post throughout the year via our monthly newsletters and outreach events. We provided a robust schedule of 100+ events including virtual, in-person events in formats both large and small. In total, over 9,600 people attended post's public online and in-person events in fy24 while post staff and volunteers interacted with around 2,500 people by tabling at large regional festivals and partner events.we have continued a robust suite of digital ad campaigns supporting our content guides, events, fundraising campaigns, and our find your place campaign which works to broaden and diversify our audience of support. This is supplemented by organic and paid social posting. As a result our social media footprint grew significantly y/y with a 31% increase in impressions, 14% growth in reach, and a stunning 59% growth on "clicks" which impacted the actions (downloads, web visits, donations and other) on our website. The biggest change for organic social in fy24 was on the facebook platform. We increased our overall engagement by 34%. This is an indication that our content is reaching more people, and also that we are continuing to create content that our audiences like and share across the platform. Of the 76 campaigns did in calendar year 2023, we found that our hiking calendar, find your place (general awareness) and dog hikes guide campaigns performed the best and attracted younger, more diverse, and less affluent contacts.post produced and delivered two issues of our landscapes magazine this year and one edition of our annual impact report both of which were distributed to over 13,000 recipients. We had a solid year in terms of press exposure with 212 mentions and articles across a variety of acquisition, restoration, and stewardship stories. We also helped to coordinate messaging with partners and other organizations as necessary to ensure coordinated and consistent approach to conservation messaging across post and our partner organizations when working with the media.

Land management:post currently holds 15,216 acres in fee ownership and holds conservation easements and deed restrictions on 14,648 acres. The organization has an established stewardship program for the lands it owns that includes resource conservation planning and management, along with active uses of land for conservation grazing and agriculture, sustainable forest management and restoration where appropriate, and development of compatible recreational opportunities. Post works to protect and manage lands in its possession through site-specific stewardship plans for the natural resources on each property. Post staff and volunteers actively monitor the acreage on which post holds easements or restrictions. Volunteers also assist with stewardship projects on post-owned land. In total, post land volunteers contributed an impressive 1,450 hours (svr - 1315, ce - 93, aah - 50) of work time on post-protected land including conservation easement monitoring, participating in highway clean-ups, and mapping and treating invasive plants that degrade natural systems. These are some of the most impactful projects we implemented in order to care for the lands we protect:fy24 projects san vicente redwoods: improved forest health projects on 335 acres of san vicente redwoods including 1.5 miles of fuel break, removal of hazard trees, and salvage timber harvest; completed regional study of woody biomass and piloted innovative treatment technologies, including processing 4,000 tons of biomass to produce biochar, burning 1,264 burn piles, and implementing a 22 acre prescribed burn. Completed san vicente indigenous perspectives study in partnership with local tribes to deepen incorporation of indigenous priorities and traditional ecological knowledge in land stewardship. Completed restoration of 4 acres of riparian floodplain to capture sediment and improve habitat for fish and other wildlife along butano creek. Surveyed lakeside ranch to document presence of and habitat suitability for special status species. Completed an 18-month feasibility study to define a plan to connect gaps in the iconic California coastal trail. Launched two studies in coyote valley to inform the best placement for future wildlife crossings and improvements to existing infrastructure along monterey road and u.s. route 101. Broke ground for the future don horsley county park at tunitas creek beach.