While funding is vital for Kansas nonprofits to bolster their internal capacities, learning opportunities for their leaders and staff to develop skills and partnerships they need to make their organizations more impactful and sustainable are just as integral to the health of the state’s nonprofit sector.

Sunflower Foundation calls this “providing support beyond the check,” and it recently provided such an opportunity, hosting nonprofit organizations from across the state at its Spring 2025 Nonprofit Capacity Building Learning Collaborative.

A capstone event for the 65 organizations that collectively received nearly $1.5 million in grant funding from Sunflower Foundation through its 2024 Capacity Building Grant program, the May 15 learning collaborative provided grantees a chance to hear from experts on key topics, share with each other, network with potential partners and recharge their batteries.

The morning session included networking activities led by Taylor Overton, director of Small Business & Entrepreneurship at the Kansas Department of Commerce, followed by keynote speakers Brad Cecil and Vickie Mathews, of Brad Cecil & Associates, presenting on the importance of diversifying funding sources to maintain sustainability.

Amy Scrivner of BikeWalkKC, Kathryn Clark of Coneflower Consulting, and Courtney Forkum of The Philanthropy Place, led a panel discussion on donor development and cultivating individual donor strategies.  

The afternoon session kicked off with deep dives into nonprofit financial management, led by the financial experts at Support KC, and concluded with Teresa Cornejo, director of the Impact Center at the Wichita State University Community Engagement Institute, delivering a keynote presentation on how to be resilient as a leader.

The learning collaborative brought back the popular “Partner Pathway,” which provided a time and place for grantees to connect with potential partner organizations that could be key resources for their nonprofits. (See a complete list of Partner Pathway organizations)

Understanding that self-care is integral to the health of any organization, the learning collaborative once again featured an afternoon wellness break, when participants could choose to take a nature walk, participate in a yoga and sound bath session or practice mindfulness through meditation.

The event, part of Sunflower Foundation’s statewide nonprofit learning network effort, was made possible in part through the engagement and partnership with the Patterson Family Foundation. The learning network has included the 2024 Capacity Building Learning Collaborative, the virtual nonprofit board training series Maximize Your Board’s Potential, and the Western Kansas Food Agency Convening in July 2024.