Join us for NAO’s 37th annual Oregon Nonprofit Leaders Conference! This year’s theme, “Cultivating Vitality,” brings together as many as 350 nonprofit leaders for educational and networking sessions on current, relevant, and inspiring topics facing nonprofits today. This event typically has three main tracks for fundraising, leadership, and finance & operations, plus a bonus track dedicated to responsive topics. United in this common goal to create strong bonds, participants have opportunities to connect with each other to exchange insights and ideas through facilitated networking and other engaging activities.

Cost

• NAO Members: $325
• Non-members: $450

Registering a group or another person? Contact [email protected] to request an invoice.

Registration will remain open until 5pm on Friday, April 3, 2026, or when tickets sell out, whichever occurs first. Get yours today!

[accordion title="Day 1: Agenda"]

[accordion-item title="Doors Open" info="7:30 a.m."]

Check in at the registration table, enjoy a continental breakfast, and network with new and familiar colleagues.

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[accordion-item title="Welcome & Opening Keynote" info="8:15 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. "]

In Pursuit of Vitality
Keynote Speaker: Steve Patty, Dialogues in Action

Doing good in the world is taxing. It takes a lot out of you. The world around us is complicated. The people we work with are complicated. Sometimes, we are complicated too -- each one of us. How can we thrive in this complexity? How can we be instruments of vitality in and for the world we inhabit? What does it mean to cultivate vitality for ourselves and others? Vitality. It does not just happen. We have to seek it, pursue it, cultivate it. It takes equal parts inspiration and strategy. In this session, we will work toward both, in pursuit of vitality. 

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[accordion-item title="Breakout Session 1" info="9:50 a.m. - 11:05 a.m. "]

Session 1A - Fundraising: Funder Roundtables
The most successful grant proposals are those that are a great match for the funder's unique process and priorities. In this session, attendees will have the opportunity to visit with representatives from several prominent regional and statewide foundations. Each funder will host a table where participants can ask questions about the foundation's background, funding priorities, and grantmaking process. Attendees self-select which tables to join and will be asked to rotate throughout the session. Come with questions and leave with connections!

On March 31, we're offiering a free webinar to help you prepare for Funder Roundtables: In Your Funded Era: How to Approach Initial Funder Roundtable Conversations.

Confirmed Funders include: 

• Arthur R. Dubs Foundation
• Ben B. Cheney Foundation
• The Carpenter Foundation
• Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation
• The Ford Family Foundation
• Gordon Elwood Foundation
• Jackson County Cultural Coalition
• Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation
• Oregon Community Foundation
• Robert & Frances Chaney Family Foundation
• The Roundhouse Foundation
• Travel Oregon
• West Family Foundation

Session 1B - Leadership: Growing Leadership Confidence and Capacity in Any Role
Presented by: Kari Anderson, Principal, Incite! Consulting

Not everyone who leads has “director” in their job title, and not everyone with a title feels like a leader yet. This interactive session reframes leadership as a set of practices, not a position, that can show up at any level of a nonprofit. Through reflection, discussion, and practical frameworks, participants will examine how leadership identity forms, why so many capable people opt out too early, and how mentorship and coaching can help more staff and board members envision themselves as future leaders. Whether you’re new to the sector or quietly carrying more responsibility than ever, you’ll leave with practical ways to build influence, support others, and step into your next chapter as a leader—right where you are. Expect real talk, practical tools, and encouragement for leading well under pressure.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this session, participants will be able to: 

1. Redefine leadership as a set of observable behaviors and practices rather than a formal title.
2. Identify concrete ways they lead or can begin leading from their current role. 
3. Apply practical mentorship and coaching approaches to support their own growth and the development of others, even in environments with limited capacity, staffing changes, or increased workload. 
4. Identify at least one actionable leadership development strategy they can use immediately—either for themselves or within their organization—to build confidence, expand leadership identity, and prepare emerging leaders for future roles. 

Session 1C - Finance & Operations: Rightsized Revenue Diversification: Matching Your Finance Model to a Sustainable Funding Mix
Presented by: Anthony Petchel & Deborah Steinkopf, Nonprofit Financial Leadership Academy

Every nonprofit is told that revenue diversification is a key strategy. In practice, many organizations chase too many funding ideas at once, stretch staff capacity, and still feel financially fragile. This session will help leaders understand their underlying finance model and build a right-sized approach to revenue diversification that matches their mission, capacity, and risk profile. 

We will briefly scan key economic and philanthropic trends shaping contributed revenue in 2026, including inflation, donor behavior, and changes in government funding. Participants will then explore how different revenue streams (government grants, foundation grants, corporate partnerships, individual giving, events, earned income) carry very different levels of predictability, autonomy, and administrative burden. Using simple tools adapted from a full-day workshop, leaders will map their current revenue mix, identify vulnerabilities, and surface realistic options to stabilize and strengthen their finance model without burning out staff. 

Participants will: 

• Identify their primary finance model and how it shapes day-to-day decisions. 
• Assess the risk, flexibility, and sustainability of their current revenue mix. 
• Leave with two or three concrete ideas for right-sized diversification strategies that strengthen reserves, reduce over-reliance on any single funder, and align with staff capacity. 

Session 1D - Responsive Topics: Partnerships: Stronger Together
Panelists: Teresa Cisneros, Interim Executive Director, Coalicion Fortaleza; Alli French, Executive Director, Talent Maker City; Matthew Havniear, Executive Director, Jackson County Community Long-Term Recovery Group; Additional panelist(s) announced soon!

With pressure building from all directions, nonprofits are being asked to do more with fewer resources and amidst significant uncertainty. In these conditions, partnerships are emerging as a powerful strategy to sustain both operations and impact. This panel of nonprofit leaders will share real-world partnership experiences ranging across a broad array of informal to formal collaborations. Participants will hear success stories, lessons learned, and cautionary tales that highlight when and how partnerships can strengthen mission and operations.

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[accordion-item title="Breakout Session 2" info="11:25 a.m. - 12:40 p.m. "]

Session 2A - Fundraising: Funder Roundtables
The most successful grant proposals are those that are a great match for the funder's unique process and priorities. In this session, attendees will have the opportunity to visit with representatives from several prominent regional and statewide foundations. Each funder will host a table where participants can ask questions about the foundation's background, funding priorities, and grantmaking process. Attendees self-select which tables to join and will be asked to rotate throughout the session. Come with questions and leave with connections!

On March 31, we're offiering a free webinar to help you prepare for Funder Roundtables: In Your Funded Era: How to Approach Initial Funder Roundtable Conversations.

Confirmed Funders include: 

• Arthur R. Dubs Foundation
• Ben B. Cheney Foundation
• The Carpenter Foundation
• Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation
• The Ford Family Foundation
• Gordon Elwood Foundation
• Jackson County Cultural Coalition
• Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation
• Oregon Community Foundation
• Robert & Frances Chaney Family Foundation
• The Roundhouse Foundation
• Travel Oregon
• West Family Foundation

Session 2B - Leadership: Nonprofits as Employers: Common Legal Pitfalls
Presented by: Heather Van Meter, Partner, Miller Nash

Nonprofit organizations face unique challenges as employers that require thoughtful leadership and legal consideration. This session provides a practical overview of common employment challenges, including performance management and documentation, board–staff boundaries, respectful separations, restructuring considerations, and questions around compensation, volunteers, and internships. This session will also address employee classification, accommodation and leave law responsibilities, and the status of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) considerations in hiring. Participants will gain practical strategies to reduce risk, ensure compliance, and build strong workplace practices that support both their people and their mission. There will be time for Q&A following the presentation, so bring the top-of-mind questions you've always wanted to ask an attorney.

Session 2C - Finance & Operations: Practical Internal Controls
Presented by: Dan Tritch, Your Part-Time Controller, LLC

Session description coming soon!

Session 2D - Responsive Topics: Boards in Transition
Presented by: Andy Robinson, Andy Robinson Consulting; Laurel McCombs & Bob Osborne, The Osborne Group

Board service is evolving. In this facilitated discussion, we’ll talk openly about the real-world challenges nonprofit boards face, while also lifting up the value, commitment, and potential that boards bring to our sector. Together, we’ll explore new and emerging governance models and consider how nonprofits can shape board structures that better reflect today’s needs.

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[accordion-item title="Lunch" info="12:40 p.m. - 1:55 p.m. "]

Enjoy a buffet lunch, included with your registration.

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[accordion-item title="Breakout Session 3" info="1:55 p.m. - 3:10 p.m. "]

Session 3A - Fundraising: Strategic Conversations that Lead to Successful Asks 
Presented by: Laurel McCombs, Senior Philanthropy Advisor, The Osborne Group

Getting a donor or funder to say "yes" to an ask is more than making a strong pitch; it requires understanding their motivations and other key giving characteristics and aligning those with your work and engagement strategy. To accomplish this, we must use all of our donor interactions, whether they be visits, calls, or events, strategically to uncover important information and check for alignment along the way. In this session, we will explore the power of conversations and how to deploy strategic questioning to help ensure alignment and prepare for a successful ask.

Session 3B - Leadership: Embracing AI Without Losing Our Values: Imagination, Stewardship, and Nonprofit Leadership
Presented by: Constance Bracewell, Executive Director, The Old Church Concert Hall

Artificial intelligence is already influencing how nonprofits write grants, plan strategically, and manage institutional knowledge. This session is designed for nonprofit leaders who want to engage AI responsibly while protecting mission, equity, authorship, and public trust.

The session frames AI not as a replacement for human judgment, but as an additive tool that expands how leaders think and problem-solve. Used intentionally, AI can help organizations explore ideas, surface assumptions, and refine strategies before committing resources. What it cannot do is decide what kind of organization a nonprofit should be, what risks it should take, or how to act when the path forward is unclear. Those remain leadership decisions.

Participants will examine nonprofit-specific applications of AI in grant writing and strategic planning, with an emphasis on supporting independent thinking rather than outsourcing decisions. The session also addresses bias in AI systems and explores how intentional use can support equity-centered, mission-aligned work.

Learning outcomes include:

• Learning how to ground AI in your organization’s mission, values, and voice.
• Testing and refining strategic assumptions with AI.
• Strengthening judgment in ambiguous situations.
• Identifying ethical, low-risk entry points for AI adoption.
• Recognizing bias risks and shaping more equitable outputs.

Session 3C - Responsive Topics: How Oregon's Nonprofits Are Navigating "Now"
Presented by: Jim White, Executive Director, NAO

This session offers a clear-eyed look at the current state of Oregon’s nonprofit sector. Led by Jim White, Executive Director of NAO, the session will include a candid update on the challenges, shifts, and emerging realities facing nonprofit leaders across the state. The session will also incorporate facilitated dialogue, creating space for open conversation, peer exchange, and shared reflection on what it means to lead in a time of prolonged disruption.

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[accordion-item title="Conference Reception" info="3:15 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. "]

Join your fellow conference attendees for a reception in the Stardust Lounge. This is your opportunity to relax and kick back with hors d'oeuvres, a cold beverage, and good conversation.

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[accordion title="Day 2: Agenda"]

[accordion-item title="Doors Open" info="8:00 a.m."]

Enjoy a continental breakfast and grab some coffee in preparation for Day 2!

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[accordion-item title="Morning Networking Activity" info="8:30 a.m. - 9:15 a.m."]

Join us in the ballroom for breakfast and networking with new and familiar colleagues. This activity will be facilitated by NAO staff and members of your ONLC Advisory Committee.

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[accordion-item title="Breakout Session 4: Intensive Workshops" info="9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. "]

Session 4A - Fundraising: Improving Grant Writing Through Review: A Fresh Perspective
Presented by: Deb Vaughn, Grants Manager, and Michelle Woodard, Stewardship Investments Director, Travel Oregon

Ever wonder how grant reviewers evaluate proposals – and what actually stands out in the process? This interactive session offers a behind-the-scenes look at the grant review process by putting participants in the reviewer’s seat. Participants will take on the role of grant reviewers by reading three sample grant proposals and assessing them against a scoring rubric. Working in small groups, participants will discuss their observations and make a mock recommendation for funding. 

This session is designed for grant seekers interested in exploring a fresh perspective on how to better position their grant proposal. It is best suited for organizations with some prior experience writing grants. 

Session 4B - Leadership: Coloring Outside the Lines: Building New Ways of Leading and Belonging 
Presented by: Erica Briggs, Nonprofit Education Specialist, NAO

What we don’t often say out loud is this: many of our current systems are not designed to make people well or keep them well. In fact, these systems often rely on exhaustion, isolation, fear, and urgency to function and maintain the status quo. For nonprofit leaders, this creates an impossible bind: respond to real harm within broken systems, without becoming broken ourselves. 

This workshop reframes wellness not as retreat or self-care but as sustainable resistance, the disciplined endurance required to care for our people and compound our capacity over the long haul. We will explore why wellness and DEI are inseparable, how urgency culture mirrors broader systems of control, and why committing to wellness is embedded into our duty of care as nonprofits.  

What happens if we reframe systemic collapse as an opportunity to open to new possibilities that could only be found in the rebuilding? When old structures fail, we are given permission – and responsibility – to imagine and build what should have existed in the first place.  

This session invites nonprofit leaders ready for deep dives, real talk, and creative risk-taking to step outside inherited frameworks, challenge false constraints, and begin sketching new ways of working, leading, and belonging together. Come prepared to think expansively, connect meaningfully, and color well outside the lines. 

Session 4C - Finance & Operations: Financial Strategy and Leadership
Presented by: Scott Schaffer, Public Interest Management Group

Financial strategy is an essential yet often overlooked part of effective nonprofit management. Viewing your financial journey from a big-picture perspective can reveal underlying sources of organizational stress and potential solutions. Most importantly, a solid financial strategy can guide your organization toward sustainable mission impact. This intensive workshop will empower nonprofit leaders to define a process for developing a solid financial strategy within your organization.  

Participants will be able to:  

• Explain why financial strategy is an essential part of your nonprofit’s planning  
• Frame your organization’s key financial questions  
• Explain what data will help inform decisions  
• Use storytelling to build alignment around financial goals  
• Identify tangible steps to build and implement an effective financial strategy

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[accordion-item title="Field Trips (Optional)" info="1:30 p.m."]

Wrap up your conference experience with a visit to a Southern Oregon-based nonprofit! Field trips are optional add-ons to complement your registration, connect with peers, and witness impactful work in action. Learn more and register today.

Host Organizations:

• Rogue Food Unites
• Rogue Retreat
• Talent Maker City

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[accordion title="Supplemental Event Information"]

[accordion-item title="Scholarships"]

Application Process: A limited number of scholarships (about 30 total) are available for NAO members and non-members. Scholarships are limited to one per organization. Please submit your request by the priority consideration deadline of February 27. Applicants who meet the priority consideration deadline will receive a decision in the first week of March. Scholarship awardees are expected to complete their registration within seven days of approval, or their spot may be given to another applicant. Requests received after February 27 will be reviewed on a rolling basis. 

The scholarship request form is brief and should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete. In a few sentences, you will be asked to share about your organization, who would receive the scholarship, and your financial need.

Scholarship Pricing:

• Member Scholarship Price: $150 (discount of $125)
• Non-member Scholarship Price: $275 (discount of $125)

Scholarship Criteria: Priority is given to organizations that are NAO members, apply by the priority deadline, demonstrate financial need (based on annual organization budget and/or recent financial hardship), and have not received scholarships in prior years.

Complete the scholarship request form.

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[accordion-item title="Advisory Committee"]

For more than three decades, the Oregon Nonprofit Leaders Conference has brought together leaders from nonprofits, philanthropy, and the private and public sectors to explore the challenges and opportunities facing charitable nonprofits today. In 2021, the Advisory Committee of the ONLC signed an agreement to combine the programming of the conference under the auspices of NAO. The combined capacity of the ONLC with NAO has given even greater power to the event’s goals and support to Southern Oregon’s nonprofit leaders.

Thank you to our 2025-2026 Advisory Committee members:

• Amy Drake (co-chair)
• Laura Pinney (co-chair)
• Brad Russell
• Jennifer Staton
• Jessie Oates
• Jordan Pease
• Julie Gillis
• Nancy Castillo-McKinnis
• Rhianna Simes
• Sarah Small
• Shasta Zielke

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[accordion-item title="Lodging"]

NAO has secured a room block and discounted rates at the Ashland Hills Hotel. We encourage you to make your reservation before March 23, 2026. After this date, the hotel will accept reservations at the group rate based upon availability, but they are not guaranteed. Please refer to your event confirmation email for instructions on making a reservation.

With the stay at the hotel, guests can enjoy the fitness and business center, hotel parking, wi-fi, and the onsite restaurant Luna Cafe + Mercantile. For information on additional lodging options, food, and activities, check out Travel Ashland and Travel Southern Oregon's Rogue Valley Food Trail.

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[accordion-item title="Parking"]

Free parking is available at the hotel for conference attendees.

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[accordion-item title="Menu"]
Menu selections will be posted soon.

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[accordion-item title="Cancellation and Refund Policy"]

• Refunds: Refunds (minus a 25% handling charge) are available for the conference until Wednesday, April 8, 2026. Cancellations received after this time frame will not be refunded.
• Substitutions: If you'd like to transfer your registration to another individual, please email a request to [email protected]. We cannot apply your payment to a future event.
• No Shows: If you are unable to attend the conference and have not cancelled in advance, your payment will not be refunded.
• If NAO Cancels an Event: We reserve the right to cancel any event or substitute presenters if needed. If we cancel an event, we will contact all registrants and offer a full refund.
• View more about NAO's refund, privacy, media, and accommodations policies.

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