Take Me to the River 2026
Program Overview
Take Me to the River is the annual fundraiser for Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed, bringing the community together to support restoration, resilience, and long-term stewardship of the Cache la Poudre River.
In 2026, CPRW hosted its fourth annual event in partnership with Better Together Productions. Over time, the event has evolved from a promising fundraiser into a growing tradition of true celebration, creating space for education, donor connection, storytelling, and meaningful support for river health.
The Partnership
From the first year of Take Me to the River, BTP has served as an extension of the CPRW team, helping shape the event flow, fundraising strategy, guest experience, vendor coordination, sponsor fulfillment, and on-site execution.
As Take Me to the River grew, the results have grown too. Together, CPRW and BTP expanded the event’s audience, outgrew venues, improved the guest and donor experience, and helped move the fundraiser into six-figure territory.
Impact
Purpose + Goals
- Raise $38,000 to support CPRW’s ongoing restoration work and expand its private donor base for long-term sustainability.
- Foster meaningful community engagement through a fun, welcoming, and inclusive atmosphere.
- Grow CPRW’s audience by creating an event experience that felt accessible to longtime supporters, new donors, partners, families, and river advocates alike.
- Deepen understanding of the environmental challenges impacting the Poudre River while turning awareness into action.
Our Approach
Four years of shared history allowed Better Together to not only bring our experience of creating successful events, but also have a true understanding of the existing audience and the aspirational audience for CPRW. As Take Me to the River has built momentum and grown in attendance, CPRW needed a new venue that could support a larger audience and a more elevated guest experience.
With the change of venue we saw a great opportunity to audit the past and bring new ideas to the present. We revisited the layout, the arrival flow, the program arc, the sponsor visibility, vendor coordination, and most importantly the fundraising strategy so the experience would grow while still feeling familiar and true to CPRW.
Our deep and invested relationship from the beginning, gave insight on how to protect what guests already loved while helping CPRW build a stronger, more scalable model for the future.
A Risk that paid off
The decision to move venues and take on higher event costs was a calculated risk but the results speak for themselves:
- 42% increase in the amount raised compared to the previous year
- 51% increase in sponsorship revenue
- 25% increase in audience size
- First CPRW fundraiser to break six figures
What Made Us Better Together
We believe it is three things: trust, strategy, and the ability to adapt.
Venue Change + Event Logistics
Moving to a new venue gave CPRW space for a larger audience, but the farmland selected for the night did not have existing event infrastructure. BTP helped build the event from the ground up, coordinating the tent, power, lighting, guest flow, and every small detail to make the celebratory night feel thoughtful and intentional.
Fundraising Strategy + Donor Readiness
It all starts months ahead of the event. BTP helped CPRW strengthen its fundraising approach before guests ever arrived. We guided CPR into identifying early commitments for the paddle raise, we selected live auction items for the audience that would attend, we hired an auctioneer with the personality and charm to warmly ask people to participate in the giving, and we shaped storytelling moments throughout connected guests to the mission and moved them to give.
A Familiar, Welcoming Guest Experience
Guests have always loved Take Me to the River as a night of good food, music, laughter and learning. As the event grew, we knew it could not stray from what people expect of CPRW. The flow of the evening allowed guests to connect with each other, with the mission of the organization and with the community that seeks to see CPRW thrive.
Experience Highlights
Record-Breaking Paddle Raise
It worked, the fundraising portion of the evening exceeded expectations, generating more donations than projected and fueling vital restoration and education efforts.
Locally Sourced Catering
In partnership with a local catering company, the menu was crafted with ingredients from nearby growers who rely on water from the Poudre River. It was a meaningful connection between the food on the table and the cause at the heart of the event.
Land, Music + A Toast to the River
The evening was hosted on private farmland right on the edge of Fort Collins, where the landowner brought his renowned bluegrass band to entertain the audience.. He and his wife shared the story of the land, connecting guests more deeply to the place they were gathered, and led the audience in a toast to the river and CPRW’s work to protect it.
A Personal Guest Experience
Guests were invited to take a Polaroid photo and add it to a custom CPRW family tree displayed on a map of the Poudre River, creating a growing visual connection between the community and the river. To make the space feel even more personal, we placed framed photos throughout the venue featuring people from the CPRW community enjoying and caring for the river from the past years.
