AFP Colorado Chapter

This September, fundraising professionals from across the Rocky Mountain region will gather for the 2026 Rocky Mountain Philanthropy Institute (RMPI), AFP Colorado's premier conference for learning, connection, and professional growth. Centered on this year's theme, Creating Community with Courage and Collective Action, RMPI will challenge attendees to explore new ideas, strengthen their leadership, and return to their organizations with practical strategies they can immediately apply.

Today, we're highlighting one of the outstanding sessions you'll experience this year.

Joy Is for Mission Builders: Stop Surviving the Work You Were Called to Love

Presenter: Dr. Lynette Adams

Fundraising is meaningful work, but it can also be emotionally demanding. In this interactive session, Dr. Lynette Adams invites nonprofit professionals to rethink joy not as something earned after the work is finished, but as a leadership practice that sustains resilience, purpose, and long-term impact. Participants will explore practical strategies for preventing burnout while strengthening both personal well-being and organizational culture.

As founder of The Joy Lab and creator of The Formula for Joy™, Dr. Adams brings more than two decades of experience in leadership, organizational culture, and human development, helping leaders create environments where people thrive.

Register today: https://bit.ly/RMPI26

June is Brain Health Awareness Month, a timely reminder that fundraising is as much cognitive work as it is relational. Every conversation, proposal, and stewardship touchpoint depends on focus, memory, empathy, and sound decision making.

Yet the pace and pressure of our field can work against us. Chronic stress has been shown to affect cognitive function, including memory and emotional regulation.

The good news: brain health is shapeable. Research shows that strong social connection, quality sleep, and regular movement all play a meaningful role in protecting cognitive health and reducing risk of decline (see articles at unsw.edu.au and pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).

For many in our profession, brain health is also personal. As partners to donors and loved ones navigating cognitive change, we carry both empathy and emotional weight into our work.

This month is an invitation to rethink sustainability in fundraising. Supporting brain health through boundaries, connection, and recovery is not a luxury; it is essential to long term effectiveness.

Learn more:
👉https://www.alz.org
👉 https://www.alz.org/help-support/brain_health