passion & purpose: summer 2025
Rural Philanthropy Summit explores importance of storytelling to illustrate needs of communities
Telling a story — your story — helps people connect need and opportunity. Those are thoughts Erin Borla shared as the keynote speaker of the 2025 Rural Philanthropy Summit, hosted by the CFO and Philanthropy Missouri on April 11.
“Someone said to me that the shortest distance between two people is a story,” Borla said. “Stories help us become our full selves, as philanthropists and as people.”
Borla, the granddaughter of Gert Boyle of Columbia Sportswear, is the executive director and trustee of the Roundhouse Foundation. Based in Oregon, the foundation invests in rural causes involving arts and culture, environmental stewardship, education, and social services.
While Borla’s work is based in Oregon, her words also remind of common challenges and opportunities that are shared by rural communities across the country. That list includes helping explain the needs in rural spaces to larger areas — links that should be made to bring greater visibility to the work that’s being done: Be intentional with how and when stories are shared; Don’t keep the good work a secret.
Erin Borla, executive director of the Roundhouse Foundation and host of the “Funding Rural” podcast, addresses Rural Philanthropy Summit attendees. “Stories help us become our full selves, as philanthropists and as people.”
“They need connections. They need collaborations and access to folks who have done similar work to build a coalition,” Borla said of organizations’ needs that extend beyond financial. “Access to other donors. Access to volunteers and access to legislators to assist with policy changes. These are all tools that we have as philanthropists that we can share with our partners, but we’re acting as gatekeepers to their stories.”
For Borla, part of that work is through “Funding Rural,” a podcast she hosts to highlight the work being done in rural spaces and how philanthropy can better serve communities and spark systemic change.
“Frankly, it’s not our story that’s making change and impact in rural space,” she said. “It’s the stories of folks on the ground, the folks moving mountains, just like some of you in this room.”
Borla expanded on the value of storytelling for rural communities during a breakout session. In another, Jon K. Rust shared about a project Rust Communications is undertaking to improve community health around Cape Girardeau. The media company is raising financial support — through a fund held by the Cape Area Community Foundation — to expand health news coverage to improve the quality of life for folks in southeast Missouri.
“We don’t shy away from tough issues, but provide context,” Rust said.
Other sessions included a focus on transportation, rural prosperity, policy and capacity building, and the need for continued investment. Groups shared ideas around the state’s current nonprofit landscape and how to access public funding. Rural education — from supporting community colleges to strengthening the teacher pipeline — was a focus, with particular emphasis on the needs of rural communities. The day concluded with a panel discussion of leaders across Missouri reflecting on how collaboration has advanced causes in rural places.
