Northeast Rural Philanthropy Days® – July 8 – 10, 2026

Schedule & Workshops

2026 Northeast RPD Schedule & Sessions

Wednesday, July 8th

10:00 am - 12:00 pm | Funder and Steering Committee Brunch

Brunch at event planner’s home. Invite sent via Email.

Location: Yuma High School
Community Resource Center will have a registration and help desk set up located at 1000 S. Albany Street, Yuma CO

Location: Yuma High School
CRC, Steering Committee Leadership, Mayor of Yuma welcomes attendees

Location: Yuma High School

NE CO Intersection Report: John Chapdelaine, Vice President of Eastern CO with the NoCo Foundation, presents the 2026 Northern Colorado Intersections report. The report outlines the regional challenges, demographic shifts, and lived experiences of community members across northeastern Colorado.

Location: Yuma High School

Funders provide overview of their foundations so nonprofits have a high-level understanding of who is in the room and whom they might like to connect with during the conference.

Location: Skyview, The Orphanage, Main Street

Join us for a celebration of the nonprofit sector across the Northeast region. In this highly interactive session, nonprofits and local governments serving across the region will have the opportunity to host a table where their peers, statewide leaders, and funders can approach them to connect and learn more about their work. Form new relationships, strengthen existing ones, and build knowledge about the great work of your organization then enjoy food and entertainment.

Thursday, July 9th

7:00 am - 9:00 am | Registration and Breakfast

Location: Yuma High School

Grab and Go breakfast burritos plus fruit and yogurt. Registration is open all day for folks arriving late.

Location: Various locations

  • Yoga/Walking – Lifetrail Health Park, located across the street from the Cobblestone hotel
  • Art Mosaic led by Lisa Blach at Yuma High School
  • Browse the Nonprofit Showcase Downtown Yuma

Location: Yuma High School

Location: Yuma High School

Funders sit in a circle with nonprofits and give a presentation about their organizations and funding priorities. 10 minutes of Q&A in which questions are focused on high-level discussion (i.e. not specific about their nonprofit). If a nonprofit would like to continue the discussion or has questions specifically for a funder, they can schedule time during office hours on Friday.

Location: Yuma High School

Boxed lunches and time for networking.

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Professional Development Round 1 (Select one session per round)

Session Summary: Benevon-style system with Point of Entry events, follow-up, ambassador roles, and low-key Ask Events; includes tools and perspective shift to authentic engagement.

Presenter: Joe Haines, CFRE with Joe Haines Consulting. Joe brings 30+ years of nonprofit experience, 8+ years leading rural Colorado organizations, and was a former NW RPD committee chair with prior NE RPD presentation experience

Session Summary: Interactive workshop treating fundraising as a disciplined business process. Covers staff/volunteer roles, mapping/practicing “asks” with role-play, stewardship for retention, and integrated donor portfolios using recent research.

Presenter: Courtney Johnson, MA, CFRE with CJP Philanthropy Advisors. Rural Western Colorado-based consultant/coach with 25+ years of experience in helping small rural nonprofits build effective systems and donor relations. She highlighted capital campaigns, foundation leadership, and board coaching as key skills.

Session Summary:

Presenter: CEO Kristin Todd and Claire Bouchard, NoCo Foundation

Session Summary: Overview of AI tools for content, workflows, and admin while preserving mission voice.

Presenter: Holly Ferguson with Designs By Fergie; Phillips County native

Session Summary: Covers mission oversight, program evaluation, boundaries, and integration through group problem-solving.

Presenter:  Paula Bragg & Deb Paulsen, with SARA House — serving 7 NE Colorado counties in victim services

Session Summary: Overview of how local and state ballot measures reach voters and how individuals and organizations can engage at different stages to support or oppose policy proposals. Includes educational content plus interactive components (discussion and exercises) to build understanding of the process.

Presenter: Kyle Rojas Legleiter with The Colorado Health Foundation

Session Summary: Report findings on disparities + thriving definitions, engagement model, and action steps.

Presenter: Meredith Davis, MS with CDPHE Office of Health Equity

Session Summary:

Presenter:

2:20 pm – 3:20 pm Professional Development Round 2 (Select one session per round)

Session Summary: Benevon-style system with Point of Entry events, follow-up, ambassador roles, and low-key Ask Events; includes tools and perspective shift to authentic engagement.

Presenter: Joe Haines, CFRE with Joe Haines Consulting. Joe brings 30+ years of nonprofit experience, 8+ years leading rural Colorado organizations, and was a former NW RPD committee chair with prior NE RPD presentation experience

Session Summary: Interactive workshop treating fundraising as a disciplined business process. Covers staff/volunteer roles, mapping/practicing “asks” with role-play, stewardship for retention, and integrated donor portfolios using recent research.

Presenter: Courtney Johnson, MA, CFRE with CJP Philanthropy Advisors. Rural Western Colorado-based consultant/coach with 25+ years of experience in helping small rural nonprofits build effective systems and donor relations. She highlighted capital campaigns, foundation leadership, and board coaching as key skills.

Session Summary: Interactive session introducing a framework for engaging youth as decision-makers through data, storytelling, and facilitation. Participants will learn how to translate youth insights into actionable, fundable strategies and design youth-led engagement processes tailored to rural communities.

Presenter: Sheila Van de Graaph with YouthRoots

Session Summary: Overview of AI tools for content, workflows, and admin while preserving mission voice.

Presenter: Holly Ferguson with Designs By Fergie; Phillips County native

Session Summary: Practical framework and interactive exercises for creative problem-solving using existing community assets.

Presenter: Jodi Walker with Kids At Their Best & Margo Ebersole with Rural Communities Resource Center, Yuma

Session Summary: 2026 KIDS COUNT findings with practical uses for advocacy, storytelling, and identifying disparities.

Presenter: Leah Caputo & Maya Gould with Colorado Children’s Campaign

Session Summary: Report findings on disparities + thriving definitions, engagement model, and action steps.

Presenter: Meredith Davis, MS with CDPHE Office of Health Equity

Session Summary:

Presenter:

3:40 pm – 4:40 pm Professional Development Round 3 (Select one session per round)

Session Summary: Hands-on workshop using the Colorado Common Grant Form to build narratives, leverage library resources, and create grant systems/calendars.

Presenter: Joe Haines, CFRE with Joe Haines Consulting. Joe brings 30+ years of nonprofit experience, 8+ years leading rural Colorado organizations, and was a former NW RPD committee chair with prior NE RPD presentation experience

Session Summary: Actionable ideas for personalized thank-yous, impact updates, and creative stewardship beyond reports to build trust and future funding. 

Presenter: Marylu Smith-Dischner. UNC grant admin + Yuma community leader/former councilmember

Session Summary:

Presenter: Mary Ericson with NoCo Foundation’s Development Team

Session Summary:  Interactive session introducing a framework for engaging youth as decision-makers through data, storytelling, and facilitation. Participants will learn how to translate youth insights into actionable, fundable strategies and design youth-led engagement processes tailored to rural communities.

Presenter: Sheila Van de Graaph with YouthRoots

Session Summary: Reframing partnerships as strategic opportunities. Busts myths, shares benefits, cost savings, broader reach, renewed energy, and provides tools plus an interactive “partnership dating game”.

Presenter: Courtney Johnson, MA, CFRE with CJP Philanthropy Advisors. Rural Western Colorado-based consultant/coach with 25+ years of experience in helping small rural nonprofits build effective systems and donor relations. She highlighted capital campaigns, foundation leadership, and board coaching as key skills.

Session Summary: Framework for AI as a prediction tool + paper-based exercise and discussion questions.

Presenter: Seth Lindsey with White River Strategy; former El Pomar Fellow with NE CO experience

Session Summary: Overview of how local and state ballot measures reach voters and how individuals and organizations can engage at different stages to support or oppose policy proposals. Includes educational content plus interactive components (discussion and exercises) to build understanding of the process.

Presenter: Kyle Rojas Legleiter with The Colorado Health Foundation

Session Summary:

Presenter:

5:30 pm - 6:30 pm | Happy Hour

Location: Red Willow
Appetizers, drinks, music, and presentation from Next50 Foundation

Location: Red Willow
Keynote speaker: Theresa M. Szczurek, Ph.D. – Dr. Theresa Szczurek is known as the catalyst for extraordinary results. As Governor Polis’ first Chief Information Officer she delighted state customers through digital transformation. As a three-time tech entrepreneur and board director she took her first company from zero and sold it for over $40M! As Board chair and acting Executive Director of a nonprofit organization she built an endowment and grew revenues by 2800% in 5 years while tripling giving.

As a Certified Management Consultant (CMC®), accomplished speaker, author, certified board director, and certified LifeBound® coach, Theresa has guided hundreds of public and private sector organizations, for profit and non-profit, to new heights in purposeful profits, productivity, and passion. A highly awarded
professional, Theresa won Public Sector Colorado CIO of the Year award from ORBIE, Business Woman of the Year from Denver Business Journal, Lifetime Achievement Award from the Business and Professional Women, and Woman of Distinction from Girl Scouts of Colorado, Theresa speaks about her Amazon bestseller, Pursuit of Passionate Purpose (Wiley), which uplifts spirit in life and work. It provides a proven, step-by-step formula for success. Learn more at www.TMSworld.com

Friday, July 10th

7:30 am - 8:00 am | Breakfast

Location: Old Threshers

 

Location: Old Threshers

Presentation, tour and draft horse demonstration. Fun and informative time to learn about history of agriculture in the region.  

Location: Yuma High School

Funder Office Hours

Location: Yuma High School

Funder Office Hours

  • Sedgwick County Perkins Canal Conservation
  • Golfing in Haxtun with John and Melissa