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Rural Philanthropy Days
Northeast
Colorado RPD
June 4-6 2008 in Burlington
Ten Counties in Northeast Colorado: Cheyenne,
Elbert, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick,
Washington, and Yuma.
To learn more, please visit their website at
www.northeastrpd.org
Since 1990, the Community Resource Center
(CRC) and the Anschutz Family Foundation have partnered
with rural communities throughout Colorado to produce Rural
Philanthropy Days (RPD) events. The following are the primary
goals of Rural Philanthropy Days:
- Increase the number of grants and the total dollar
amount of grants that are made to nonprofit organizations,
community groups, and public agencies in rural Colorado.
The increased revenue effectively improves the delivery
of services and stimulates development in rural Colorado.
- Improve regional collaboration among nonprofit organizations
and between the nonprofit sector, public agencies, and
the business community. The effect of collaboration
is to encourage the development of initiatives that
benefit an entire community or region.
- Increase the capacity of local organizations and
agencies to provide services for rural communities so
that organizations are run more efficiently and are
able to attract more resources for improved community
services.
Typically, a Rural Philanthropy Day Event involves funders
from Denver and Colorado Springs traveling to a rural region
for two days of activities. These activities include social
gatherings, panel presentations, discussions, and a series
of Round Table Sessions during which funders and grant seekers
have the opportunity to exchange information and search
for a "mutual fit" in an accessible setting.
For the purpose of RPD, rural Colorado has been divided
into eight regions. Regions comprise between five and ten
counties (of Colorado's 64 counties, 53 are considered rural
or mostly rural). With two RPD events being held annually,
each region has the opportunity to host an event once every
four years. Interested members of host communities can play
a role in helping to produce a RFD event by joining the
Steering Committee.
The Community Resource Center provides liaison with funders
and training sessions prior to the events. The Pre-event
training sessions are geared to help local organizations
and agencies understand how to prepare for and use Philanthropy
Days to their best advantage and how to increase their capacity
to compete for grants.
Philanthropy Days afford rural Colorado access to resources
that can help communities respond to challenges they face.
Philanthropy Days allow grantmakers to expand their visibility
across the state and familiarize themselves with rural communities.
Finally, Philanthropy Days offer both grantmakers and grantseekers
an opportunity to discuss application processes and common
interests for their mutual benefit.
In preparation for the Rural Philanthropy
Days event, CRC recommends that participants attend a three
hour training session. Pre-event training provides an overview
of the upcoming event, instruction on developing case statements
and/or elevator speeches, strategies for approaching and
talking with funders, and other valuable information designed
to help participants make the best use of their time. Pre-event
training workshops generally happen a month prior to the
actual Rural Philanthropy Days event and are held in several
locations in the hosting region. The fee for Pre-event training
is included in the overall Rural Philanthropy Days event
fee.
The actual Rural Philanthropy Days event
extends over a three (3) day period, beginning in the evening
with a Funders' Reception. The next day the event continues
with Community Exchanges and other activities; and the evening
ends with a dinner. The event culminates the following day
with Round Table Sessions.
The Funders' Reception is the only event
that takes place the first evening. It usually happens in
the early evening (5:30 or 6:00 pm) as a way to welcome
funders and give them a low-key opportunity to meet members
of the Steering Committee and local leaders within the region.
During the Community Exchanges funders
have the opportunity to visit 2 -3 other areas of the host
region and to dialogue with the local nonprofits and government
representatives.
The Round Table Sessions are the core
of the Rural Philanthropy Days event. Each funder is assigned
a table and during five or six sessions, nonprofits rotate
from table to table. Each session begins with the funder
introducing her or his funding entity (foundation, corporation,
or government agency), its funding purposes and focus areas
in 4-5 minutes. The 8-10 nonprofit representatives at the
table then have roughly 90 seconds to present their nonprofit's
mission and program focus. Some exchange usually takes place,
giving nonprofits a sense of whether there is enough of
a fit to move forward with a proposal.
CRC wants to make sure that post-event
services are provided to stimulate necessary follow through
and will provide the following array of services within
a few months after and a Rural Philanthropy Days event:
- Training Workshops.
CRC will return to host regions to provide training,
in particular, Grant Writing Clinics as a motivator
to assist nonprofits to produce winning proposals. Other
training workshops can also be offered following an
event.
- One-On-One Consulting
Services. A number of the
organizations that participate in Rural Philanthropy
Days will benefit from customized consulting services.
CRC will provide an organizational self-assessment tool
and work with nonprofits to determine the services what
would be most helpful. CRC staff can facilitate board
retreats and work with boards to improve their organizations,
lead strategic planning processes, assess and improve
financial management systems and accounting practices,
and assist in the area of personnel management and supervision.
Rural Philanthropy Days events are coordinated
by a Steering Committee that is comprised of representatives
of local nonprofits, funding entities, public agencies,
and businesses. The Steering Committee is responsible for
planning and producing the Funders' Fair. Generally, the
Steering Committee decides as a whole the format, program,
and agenda of the event; the location where the event will
be held; and the overall budget and cost of registration.
Subcommittees often provide the information that serves
as the basis for these decisions.
For more information or to get involved
in the Rural Philanthropy Days in your
region, contact
Gabriel Guillaume at (303) 623-1540.
655 Broadway, Suite 300, Denver, CO 80203-3426
303.623.1540
800.516.6284
f: 303.623.1567
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