RAPID CITY, SD – Helping non-profit organizations navigate the challenges of managing resources while coping with fewer funding sources was the focus the South Dakota Community Foundation’s second annual Real Talk conference on Thursday.

Seventy-six non-profit organizations were represented at the day-long event at the Rushmore Hotel in Rapid City.

Beth Massa, Director of Foundation Relations, South Dakota Community Foundation, said the Real Talk conference was developed after federal reductions in spending for non-profit organizations around 2024 created a growing need in the non-profit world.

“I wanted them to realize they had power in their back pocket through relationships they have,” Massa said. “They might not have been thinking of those relationships when they got notice that a federal program wasn’t going to be funded anymore or that the state had a little bit of trickle down and they were unable to provide support.”

The conference – Real Talk 2026: Going Deeper, Leadership, Governance and Relationships Holding it Together – isn’t a grant making seminar, rather an opportunity for non-profits to look at donor and media relationships, and other avenues to support their organizations’ missions.

Keynote was former Gov. Dennis Daugaard who is the board chair for the South Dakota Community Foundation. During the day’s events, Massa said the conference would tackle the challenges non-profit organizations face like financial concerns, resource management, board development and staffing, and changing needs.

“I think they have a great deal of impact because of the work they’re doing, the people that their touching, the meals that they’re serving, the shelter they’re providing, the encouragement of the teacher in those non-profits,” Massa said.

Non-profit organizations impact the community and may take on work government doesn’t such as missions helping people with housing issues or those struggling with food security.

“You don’t wake up one day and say, ‘I want to be a non-profit worker,’” Massa said. “You have to be impacted by a story or a service that maybe you received. I think the power of non-profits is not only that they are doing the work but oftentimes do the work behind the scenes.”