Estes Park’s nonprofit resource center to rebrand

ESTES PARK – The Estes Park Nonprofit Resource Center, which for 20 years has been a connecting point for more than 100 nonprofit and charitable organizations that provide service to the Estes Valley, will rebrand Feb. 1 as the Estes Nonprofit Network.

“We never really had a physical resource center location,” she said, “so the ‘network’ creates a visualness that better represents our mission and the organization’s future. Ninety percent of our work happens in that connecting and convening role.”

Since its founding, executive director Caitlin “Cato” Kraft told BizWest, “it truly has grown in scope. It’s been such a boon to nonprofits needing support, and the local resource center has been a great option. But that role has turned into a convenor and connector for the ecosystem of nonprofits here.

The rebrand and expanded mission, she said, reflects the belief that collaboration, shared knowledge and collective efforts are the keys to addressing common goals and driving transformational change within the region’s nonprofit industry.

The decision coincides with the network’s recent celebration of 20 years of  leadership and service to nonprofits.

“We’re so thankful for our founding community members from 20 years ago who are so supportive of our rebrand,” Kraft said. The group reached out to the five surviving founders and the past three executive directors to make sure they approved of the change, she said.

Coupled with the rebranding, the network’s board of directors and staff unveiled a strategic plan that promotes and supports an expanded role for the Estes Valley’s nonprofit industry, creating a united force based on three priorities: creating strong localized nonprofit infrastructure, amplifying powerful stories of the industry’s impact, and securing continuous financial support from noncompetitive sources.

The network will first create an economic impact and valuation report of nonprofits in the Estes Valley. Funded and supported by the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce’s Work-Based Learning Initiative Grant, the study will begin in February and create industry-wide data that can “speak” to government, commercial and private sectors.

The stories of nonprofits and the philanthropic community will continue to be shared through the group’s annual National Philanthropy Day, and plans are in place to grow a recently launched

collaborative fundraising program, Giving Guest, which joins tourism, business and philanthropy.

Under that program, Kraft said, customers at businesses catering to tourists can round up their purchases at the point of sale. “This way, a lot of people who love to visit Estes year after year can support the ecosystem,” she said.

According to a news release about the brand, the new logo with a circular icon “is akin to a record. Sometimes, one section is louder than another, but together they make music. The different shapes and colors within the circle symbolize the six distinct sectors within Estes’ nonprofit industry, united and supported by the Nonprofit Network.”

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