Planning Library
The paperwork, in the open.
Three Field Commons is being built document by document. 34 of them are planned. Most are not written yet — each entry below says what will go there, and none of them pretend to be finished.
Operating
How the organization runs itself, week to week and year to year. 12 documents
- By the NumbersIn progressThe small set of figures that describe the venture — acres, parcels, leases, dollars — with the source for each.
- The Long ViewIn progressWhere the model is meant to be in ten, twenty-five, and a hundred years, and what has to hold for that to happen.
- NorthstarIn progressThe single outcome the organization steers by, and the handful of measures that tell us we are off course.
- StandardsIn progressThe land, lease, and stewardship standards every acquisition and tenant agreement is held to.
- DashboardIn progressOne page of current status: acquisition pipeline, cash position, lease occupancy, and open commitments.
- Get-to-Green TrackerIn progressEvery item currently off-track, who owns it, and what has to change for it to clear.
- QBRIn progressThe quarterly review format — what gets reported, to whom, and what decisions come out of it.
- Operating CalendarIn progressThe year laid out against the farming season: lease dates, board meetings, filings, and funding cycles.
- Annual Planning CadenceIn progressHow the annual plan gets built, reviewed, and revised, and the order the pieces arrive in.
- The Founder's JobIn progressA plain description of the founder's role, what it covers now, and what it should hand off first.
- Operations HandbookIn progressDay-to-day practice: records, communications, land visits, tenant relationships, and decision rights.
- GovernanceIn progressBoard structure, committees, conflict-of-interest practice, and the decisions reserved to the board.
Money
How land gets paid for, and how the holding costs get carried. 6 documents
- Financial ModelIn progressThe working model behind acquisition, holding, and lease income, with every assumption named as an assumption.
- Fundraising PlaybookIn progressHow the ask is made, to whom, in what order, and what each kind of funder is being asked for.
- Funding SequenceIn progressThe order capital has to arrive in for the first acquisition to close, and what each stage unlocks.
- Stewardship Fund ModelIn progressHow a permanent fund would cover taxes, insurance, monitoring, and repair on land held forever.
- Fiscal Sponsor IntakeIn progressWhat a fiscal sponsor would need from us while 501(c)(3) status is pending, and what the arrangement would cover.
- Grant Boilerplate KitIn progressReusable organizational description, need statement, and budget language for grant applications.
Land
Finding, buying, protecting, and leasing the ground. 6 documents
- Acquisition PipelineIn progressParcels under consideration, the stage each is at, and what would move it forward or rule it out.
- Acquisition CriteriaIn progressSoil, water, access, zoning, and scale thresholds a parcel has to meet before we spend money on diligence.
- Easement & Co-Hold BriefIn progressHow permanent protection would be structured, and what co-holding an easement with another holder involves.
- Partner Lease TemplateIn progressThe long-term farm lease in draft: term, rent basis, improvements, succession, and exit.
- Landowner Succession ToolkitIn progressPlain-language material for a landowner weighing sale, bargain sale, donation, or bequest.
- License TermsIn progressThe terms under which another group can take the model, the documents, and the name of the method.
Strategy
The thesis, the risks, and the ground we chose. 10 documents
- Venture One-PagerIn progressThe whole venture on a single page, for a first conversation.
- Theory of ChangeIn progressThe chain from buying one parcel to a food system that holds, and the links most likely to break.
- Impact MeasurementIn progressWhat we will count, what we refuse to claim, and how the counting gets verified.
- Action PlanIn progressThe near-term sequence of work: what happens next, in what order, and by when.
- Risk AssessmentIn progressWhat could sink this — capital, land prices, tenant fit, governance, regulation — and the response to each.
- Key DatesIn progressFiling deadlines, funding cycles, and seasonal windows that constrain when things can happen.
- Geographic AssessmentIn progressWhy the Tualatin and Yamhill valleys, read through soil, water, zoning, markets, and pressure.
- Comparable ModelsIn progressLand-holding structures used elsewhere, what each solves, and where each falls short of what we need.
- Partnership LandscapeIn progressThe kinds of organizations this work depends on, and what a working relationship with each would require.
- Attorney BriefIn progressThe legal questions we need answered on entity, easement, lease, and tax before the first close.