Every four years, Rural Philanthropy Days (RPD) brings Front Range-based funders to rural Southwest Colorado to connect with nonprofits. The event culminates with the Funder Roundtables, where representatives from governmental agencies and private foundations sit at tables with 8 empty chairs. When the whistle blows - a train whistle in Southwest Colorado to celebrate our Narrow Gauge Railroad - over 200 nonprofit leaders dash to grab an empty chair next to a funder they want to meet. Each nonprofit has 2 minutes to make a pitch and gets immediate feedback about whether their program is a good fit for the funder. The Train Whistle blows, and the nonprofit directors elbow their way to their next table. It’s a mad scramble to make important connections that could lead to money for their needy nonprofit.
This June, I found myself at my second RPD, supporting the Violence Prevention Coalition in its quest for additional support to prevent domestic and sexual violence. I was also there to learn about successful rural philanthropy to highlight on my blog, Rooting Nonprofits. Here are the highlights of what I learned.
Lesson 1: RPD is Not All About the Funder Roundtables.
It’s easy for busy nonprofit directors to say, “I can’t be gone at RPD for 2 ½ days! I’ll go to the Funder Roundtables, and skip the rest.” This year, I watched how some of the best fundraisers in our community approached RPD. For them, the Funder Roundtables are a small part of a larger strategy. They know that the best ways to connect with funders are much more personal and part of an ongoing relationship. These folks join the RPD Planning Committee, serve on boards of statewide organizations, and build long-lasting connections over shared interests that appear to have little to do with the nonprofit they lead.
Lesson 2: Funders are People, Not Piles of Money.
Connecting with funders can backfire when you focus more on your nonprofit than on building the relationship. I watched people angle to sit by a funder at lunch so they could have 15 minutes to talk about the amazing work of their nonprofit instead of just 2. It’s hard – all of us are passionate about the work we do. But funders are people, not piles of money. I observed how they appreciated a real conversation, the kindness of someone getting a chair for them at the cocktail reception, shared laughter. The most successful fundraisers connected as people first, nonprofit leaders second.
Lesson 3: Do Your Homework. Do It Early.
Like most folks, I was juggling other obligations in between sessions of RPD. Life doesn’t grind to a halt when RPD comes to town, and I was glad I’d done my homework early. The Making the Most of RPD Pre-Session was a great kick-start to develop my pitch to funders. While I’d wanted to ditch the session (I’ve got so much to do! I can work on this later!), I’m glad I stayed. It’s always awkward to practice the first chicken-scratch version of a pitch with someone else. My first pitch was pretty terrible – half-formed, way too long, and overly detailed. However, there were gems that came out of that process: a clear way to talk about the broad work of the coalition; positive feedback on how meaningful it is to work with youth to end the cycles of violence; a reminder to demonstrate with stories rather than description. I was thankful I practiced my terrible first pitch on a colleague, rather than a funder.
Lesson 4: Connect. Connect. Connect.
At the evening reception, a colleague said, “RPD is the one event that everyone shows up for.” She was right - RPD is pretty special for a rural community. The lure of funds for our cause means that everyone puts aside their grant applications, mandatory meetings, and life emergencies to make sure they can be there. While we come to meet funders, we also get to know each other better. We are extraordinarily fortunate in Southwest Colorado to have so many dedicated, passionate, caring, and fun people committed to philanthropy. While it can sometimes feel like everyone knows each other, there are always new connections to be made. I sat at one Funder Roundtable that finished a few minutes early. The table burst into a set of conversations. Two nonprofit leaders discussed their shared vision to expand programs with Southern Ute youth. I connected with a school administrator about looming changes in state fiscal policy. I was proud to be part of a community so committed to making connections, not only to funders but also to each other. Rural Philanthropy Days helped Southwest Colorado nonprofits sow our seeds widely, achieving its intention to “Grow Partnerships & Harvest Success.”
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Dawn Haney is a community organizer, social justice activist, and nonprofit consultant. She’s currently working with a range of folks, from sexual violence advocates and circus freaks, to meditators and fiscal policy geeks. She brings playfulness and piercing analysis to every situation, seeking to reframe the problems we face into grand opportunities to bring about the change we wish to see in the world. Follow her on Twitter: @dawnmarissa and at her blog, Rooting Nonprofits.
Showing posts with label Rural Philanthropy Days. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rural Philanthropy Days. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Midwestern Colorado Mental Health Center
By Will Paterson
The Midwestern Colorado Mental Health Center (MCMHC) is the only community mental health care provider in six counties of the Western Slope region: Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, Ouray, and San Miguel. And because of this, the MCMHC accepts referrals from primary care doctors from all over the region. On the surface this has been an effective solution. The MCMHC has the resources and the experience to handle mental health disorders that primary care physicians do not. The MCMHC also has the funding to help Medicaid, low income, and indigent patients, so they can accept nearly everyone. But until recently there has been an important flaw in the system. Adolescent patients were missing their appointments in large numbers. When they studied the problem, they realized 94 percent of patients, ages 11-18, never made it to their appointments. Looking at it a little further, it was easy to see why. These are rural counties, traversed by winding mountain roads that can turn a 20 minute summer drive into an hour long adventure in winter. And perhaps more importantly, there is a stigma attached to mental health centers that stretches back to the days of asylums.
The lack of adolescent mental health care is made more critical when considering the effects of going without treatment. “National statistics will tell you that half of all lifetime cases of mental illness are diagnosed by age 14. And if children aren’t diagnosed early, it’s usually ten years from onset to diagnosis and treatment”, said Janey Sorensen, the marketing director for the Mental Health Center. A lot can happen in those ten years, and adolescence is already difficult enough without mental health challenges such as untreated depression, bipolar disorder, or even schizophrenia.
However, because of Rural Philanthropy Days the MCMHC has been able to begin assessing and treating many of the adolescent patients who used to go without treatment. In June of 2009 Janey Sorensen attended Rural Philanthropy Days in Crested Butte as a representative of MCMHC. She enjoyed seminars, workshops, and dinners with funders and other nonprofits from around the Western Slope. She met representatives from the Colorado Health Foundation at the Roundtable discussions, where she was able to share stories from her time at the hospital and begin talking about a funding partnership to correct this unmet need. The relationship developed quickly through email and phone calls, and within a month the MCMHC was applying for funding from The Colorado Health Foundation. Less than six months after Rural Philanthropy Days, The Colorado Health Foundation had awarded the MCMHC two grants totaling $259,561 to begin the Pediatric Integration Project and to update all their electronic health records.
Among other things, that money has allowed the MCMHC to place a behavioral health therapist onsite at the pediatric clinics in Montrose and Delta. Now, pediatricians can walk patients and their parent(s) straight to a therapist in the clinic, and the patient can be seen and treated in a familiar environment in conjunction with his or her pediatrician, avoiding many of the previous obstacles to treatment. Of the 1050 adolescents who come into the clinics for Well Child Checkups every year, the MCMHC predicts 350 will screen for a mental health disorder. More important than the numbers though, because of Rural Philanthropy Days and the partnership between the MCMHC and the Colorado Health Foundation, “these children will be more successful in school; they will have better friendships, better relationships with their families, and therefore they will have more successful lives,” this according to Janey Sorensen.
The partnership that developed through a conversation at Rural Philanthropy Days has produced tangible outcomes for the communities served by MCMHC: locally accessible services that bring balance and wellness to the lives of young people. To learn more about Rural Philanthropy Days, please visit www.crcamerica.org.
The Midwestern Colorado Mental Health Center (MCMHC) is the only community mental health care provider in six counties of the Western Slope region: Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, Ouray, and San Miguel. And because of this, the MCMHC accepts referrals from primary care doctors from all over the region. On the surface this has been an effective solution. The MCMHC has the resources and the experience to handle mental health disorders that primary care physicians do not. The MCMHC also has the funding to help Medicaid, low income, and indigent patients, so they can accept nearly everyone. But until recently there has been an important flaw in the system. Adolescent patients were missing their appointments in large numbers. When they studied the problem, they realized 94 percent of patients, ages 11-18, never made it to their appointments. Looking at it a little further, it was easy to see why. These are rural counties, traversed by winding mountain roads that can turn a 20 minute summer drive into an hour long adventure in winter. And perhaps more importantly, there is a stigma attached to mental health centers that stretches back to the days of asylums.
The lack of adolescent mental health care is made more critical when considering the effects of going without treatment. “National statistics will tell you that half of all lifetime cases of mental illness are diagnosed by age 14. And if children aren’t diagnosed early, it’s usually ten years from onset to diagnosis and treatment”, said Janey Sorensen, the marketing director for the Mental Health Center. A lot can happen in those ten years, and adolescence is already difficult enough without mental health challenges such as untreated depression, bipolar disorder, or even schizophrenia.
However, because of Rural Philanthropy Days the MCMHC has been able to begin assessing and treating many of the adolescent patients who used to go without treatment. In June of 2009 Janey Sorensen attended Rural Philanthropy Days in Crested Butte as a representative of MCMHC. She enjoyed seminars, workshops, and dinners with funders and other nonprofits from around the Western Slope. She met representatives from the Colorado Health Foundation at the Roundtable discussions, where she was able to share stories from her time at the hospital and begin talking about a funding partnership to correct this unmet need. The relationship developed quickly through email and phone calls, and within a month the MCMHC was applying for funding from The Colorado Health Foundation. Less than six months after Rural Philanthropy Days, The Colorado Health Foundation had awarded the MCMHC two grants totaling $259,561 to begin the Pediatric Integration Project and to update all their electronic health records.
Among other things, that money has allowed the MCMHC to place a behavioral health therapist onsite at the pediatric clinics in Montrose and Delta. Now, pediatricians can walk patients and their parent(s) straight to a therapist in the clinic, and the patient can be seen and treated in a familiar environment in conjunction with his or her pediatrician, avoiding many of the previous obstacles to treatment. Of the 1050 adolescents who come into the clinics for Well Child Checkups every year, the MCMHC predicts 350 will screen for a mental health disorder. More important than the numbers though, because of Rural Philanthropy Days and the partnership between the MCMHC and the Colorado Health Foundation, “these children will be more successful in school; they will have better friendships, better relationships with their families, and therefore they will have more successful lives,” this according to Janey Sorensen.
The partnership that developed through a conversation at Rural Philanthropy Days has produced tangible outcomes for the communities served by MCMHC: locally accessible services that bring balance and wellness to the lives of young people. To learn more about Rural Philanthropy Days, please visit www.crcamerica.org.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Rural Philanthropy Days: Helping Improve the Visibility of the Nonprofit Sector
Western Slope Rural Philanthropy Days is underway and going very well! We have more than 400 attendees registered, which makes this our largest Rural Philanthropy Days event since we started hosting them in 1991. Also, for this event, about 60 funders representing about 35 grantmaking organizations are in attendance. This steering committee has certainly raised the bar.
Today’s agenda is focused on community problem-solving and promoting collaboration among nonprofit organizations. I sat in on the session on strengthening the nonprofit sector and promoting cross-sector collaborations. One of the participants shared that he believes that the local government in his community views nonprofits as pests because they are always asking for money.
This belief demonstrates a significant disconnect between nonprofit organizations and governmental entities. Nonprofit organizations provide essential services in nearly all communities across Colorado. Through our organizations, our work helps strengthen a community’s social fabric, provide critical human services, and meet other important and pressing community needs.
The idea that governments view nonprofits as pests communicates two things to me. First, nonprofit organizations need to strengthen their ability to demonstrate the impact that they have in a community to help communicate the essential nature and value of their service to governments. We need to rely on a fundraising case that communicates our effectiveness, impact, and efficiency in providing essential services and programs within our communities. Second, communities of nonprofit organizations could be far more effective in communicating the overall value of the nonprofit sector to local governments, especially since many governments are getting a heck of a bargain when they invest funding with nonprofits that fill the gaps that governments cannot.
This particular group is wrestling with finding some short-term solutions that could help raise the visibility and level of understanding with businesses and governments – I am interested to hear what they think up. Rural Philanthropy Days itself is a start in this process and we will keep you posted as our follow-up activities get underway.
Today’s agenda is focused on community problem-solving and promoting collaboration among nonprofit organizations. I sat in on the session on strengthening the nonprofit sector and promoting cross-sector collaborations. One of the participants shared that he believes that the local government in his community views nonprofits as pests because they are always asking for money.
This belief demonstrates a significant disconnect between nonprofit organizations and governmental entities. Nonprofit organizations provide essential services in nearly all communities across Colorado. Through our organizations, our work helps strengthen a community’s social fabric, provide critical human services, and meet other important and pressing community needs.
The idea that governments view nonprofits as pests communicates two things to me. First, nonprofit organizations need to strengthen their ability to demonstrate the impact that they have in a community to help communicate the essential nature and value of their service to governments. We need to rely on a fundraising case that communicates our effectiveness, impact, and efficiency in providing essential services and programs within our communities. Second, communities of nonprofit organizations could be far more effective in communicating the overall value of the nonprofit sector to local governments, especially since many governments are getting a heck of a bargain when they invest funding with nonprofits that fill the gaps that governments cannot.
This particular group is wrestling with finding some short-term solutions that could help raise the visibility and level of understanding with businesses and governments – I am interested to hear what they think up. Rural Philanthropy Days itself is a start in this process and we will keep you posted as our follow-up activities get underway.
On Yosemite and the Colorado Nonprofit Sector - They DO Relate!
For those of you that know me, you know that I am pretty comfortable speaking to groups. I frequently conduct trainings for CRC and facilitate meetings like board retreats on almost a weekly basis. Big groups, however, scare me. Thus, I have been a little nervous about opening the morning session at Rural Philanthropy Days this morning.
So, instead of trying to find something profound to say on my own, I decided to borrow a story that I recently heard. I think it is worth repeating here because it demonstrates one of the points I always stress when working with my nonprofit consulting clients and other community groups – collaboration is so much more than a buzzword – it is an essential strategy for nonprofit success and sustainability.
I recently got back from a vacation that included visits to some of the most beautiful places in the United States, including Yosemite National Park. I am fascinated with mountaineering and rock climbing, but my innate clumsiness means that I must live vicariously through others. While we were in Yosemite, I had the opportunity to sit in on a lecture by a renowned rock climber who has been climbing in Yosemite for more than 20 years. While I went for the stories about climbing, I left with a few lessons that are highly relevant for nonprofit organizations.
In recounting stories about the evolving way in which he sees the world, he mentioned that he would never have participated in something sponsored by the National Parks Service, like the lecture I was attending, even a few years ago. From his perspective, the National Parks Service interests could never align with the interests of the climbing community.
At some point, he realized that the climbing community in Yosemite could give up a little and get a lot more in return in terms of realizing their goals if they would work collaboratively with the National Parks Service. Learning to serve as a leader and as a catalyst for promoting this way of thinking among his fellow climbers has been a profound experience for this man, which says a lot for a man who has had a number of very profound experiences. While the relationship between the climbing community and the National Parks Service certainly is not perfect from his perspective, collaboration and working together to achieve some common goals has brought some significant results for both groups.
So, my message to the audience this morning focused on how each of us in attendance today could be a catalyst for promoting more effective collaboration and less duplication within the nonprofit sector – an essential strategy at this particular time in our sector’s history. We can often achieve more together than we can on our own, but we too often do not think beyond our organization’s own walls.
So, what can you do to serve as a catalyst for this kind of positive change within the nonprofit sector?
So, instead of trying to find something profound to say on my own, I decided to borrow a story that I recently heard. I think it is worth repeating here because it demonstrates one of the points I always stress when working with my nonprofit consulting clients and other community groups – collaboration is so much more than a buzzword – it is an essential strategy for nonprofit success and sustainability.
I recently got back from a vacation that included visits to some of the most beautiful places in the United States, including Yosemite National Park. I am fascinated with mountaineering and rock climbing, but my innate clumsiness means that I must live vicariously through others. While we were in Yosemite, I had the opportunity to sit in on a lecture by a renowned rock climber who has been climbing in Yosemite for more than 20 years. While I went for the stories about climbing, I left with a few lessons that are highly relevant for nonprofit organizations.
In recounting stories about the evolving way in which he sees the world, he mentioned that he would never have participated in something sponsored by the National Parks Service, like the lecture I was attending, even a few years ago. From his perspective, the National Parks Service interests could never align with the interests of the climbing community.
At some point, he realized that the climbing community in Yosemite could give up a little and get a lot more in return in terms of realizing their goals if they would work collaboratively with the National Parks Service. Learning to serve as a leader and as a catalyst for promoting this way of thinking among his fellow climbers has been a profound experience for this man, which says a lot for a man who has had a number of very profound experiences. While the relationship between the climbing community and the National Parks Service certainly is not perfect from his perspective, collaboration and working together to achieve some common goals has brought some significant results for both groups.
So, my message to the audience this morning focused on how each of us in attendance today could be a catalyst for promoting more effective collaboration and less duplication within the nonprofit sector – an essential strategy at this particular time in our sector’s history. We can often achieve more together than we can on our own, but we too often do not think beyond our organization’s own walls.
So, what can you do to serve as a catalyst for this kind of positive change within the nonprofit sector?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Western Slope Rural Philanthropy Days is Underway!
Hello from Crested Butte!
Lauren and I are in Crested Butte, along with CRC Board members Amy McBride and Sophie Faust and about 400 of our closest nonprofit friends, for Western Slope Rural Philanthropy Days. Lauren and I will be sharing our observations and insights from the event here, so stay tuned!
What is Rural Philanthropy Days, you ask? Every year, CRC works with local steering committees to plan two Rural Philanthropy Days events. This year, we will be hosting Western Slope Rural Philanthropy Days in Crested Butte (this week) and Northwest Rural Philanthropy Days in Steamboat Springs from September 16 to 18.
At each event, nonprofit attendees have the opportunity to participate in capacity building sessions, engage in working sessions on advancing collaboration in their communities, and meet with funders to build relationships that could result in funding for their organization. If you want to learn more about Rural Philanthropy Days, please visit CRC’s website at www.crcamerica.org and stayed tuned to our blog for updates through the rest of the week.
Lauren and I are in Crested Butte, along with CRC Board members Amy McBride and Sophie Faust and about 400 of our closest nonprofit friends, for Western Slope Rural Philanthropy Days. Lauren and I will be sharing our observations and insights from the event here, so stay tuned!
What is Rural Philanthropy Days, you ask? Every year, CRC works with local steering committees to plan two Rural Philanthropy Days events. This year, we will be hosting Western Slope Rural Philanthropy Days in Crested Butte (this week) and Northwest Rural Philanthropy Days in Steamboat Springs from September 16 to 18.
At each event, nonprofit attendees have the opportunity to participate in capacity building sessions, engage in working sessions on advancing collaboration in their communities, and meet with funders to build relationships that could result in funding for their organization. If you want to learn more about Rural Philanthropy Days, please visit CRC’s website at www.crcamerica.org and stayed tuned to our blog for updates through the rest of the week.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Whoo! What a day in Gunnison!
Howdy all!
This is Lauren, btw, one of your resident bloggers for CRC. Sarah and I spent an awesome day in Gunnison today with Jeff Pryor of the Anschutz Family Foundation and about two dozen members of the Western Slope Rural Philanthropy Days steering committee.
It reminded me not only how JEALOUS I am of the scenery that Western Slope folks have in their backyard, but also how indefatigable the folks are themselves! Must be that pioneer spirit, or something. These are cracker-jack people out here, seriously -- do you want something done? Give it to a busy person -- preferably one who works for a nonprofit, and does about sixteen other things for their communities in the meantime. They'll deliver, seriously. This, so far, has been one of the best things I've seen about rural Colorado -- and I suspect it is true of rural communities across the country -- out of sheer necessity, everybody has to wear about thirteen hats and pitch in, or nothing will get done. I heart Colorado. (Not bad for an Indiana-born & Florida-raised emigrant, no?)
I also love Colorado's abundance of microbrews, but that will be the subject of an upcoming quiz, so I shan't say any more here. Just keep your eyes -- and labels -- peeled.
Before the Steering Committee met at the Aspinall-Wilson Center (WSC) to work on the RPD agenda and logistics, CRC and Jeff presented a three-hour training on WHY RURAL COLORADO MATTERS, and how to get the most out of the RPD experience... as well as what we have planned for follow-up. This year RPD will be different in that we don't intend to dismantle the relationships that have been built through this planning process -- the steering committee will remain 'intact' to work on bigger picture, long-term capacity and convening.
There has been some chatter about engaging the local community foundations and maybe local rural United Ways in this kind of capacity building follow-on initiative too -- we'll keep you posted as things unfold. Has anybody out there in the cyber-world had any particular success partnering with these entities in rural communities? We've done some in the past, to be sure, but I am eager to hear any lessons from the 'field' before I dive into it.
Tomorrow we're going to hit the Black Canyon before our 1pm afternoon RPD training at the Aquatic Center here in Montrose -- we're expecting 95 individuals!!! Must remember to bring my Nalgene this time, since apparently I talked myself into laryngeal oblivion today. Oh yes, and load up on more coffee beforehand.
In Telluride tomorrow night for Wednesday morning training, then to Palisade for Wednesday night & Thursday AM training. Headed back home to Denver on Thursday.
Later, taters.
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