Montana Rural Tourism Partnership Guide 

My name is Rachael Brug, and I’ve spent the last several years living the translation gap between two worlds that desperately want to work together. As the owner of Reading Leaves Bookstore Cafe in Townsend and the current Board President of Southwest Montana Tourism, I sit at the intersection of nonprofit leadership and tourism strategy. In my work as a Rural Ambassador for the Montana Nonprofit Association and my deep roots in Townsend—as a founding member of our weekly newspaper, Board member of our Chamber of Commerce and Senior Center, and founder of the Montana Bookstore Trail—I’ve watched countless rural nonprofits and tourism agencies talk past each other, even though they’re working toward almost identical goals: bringing visitors to rural communities, creating authentic experiences, and building sustainable local economies. I’ve helped our local Chamber secure tourism grants, watched Big Sky Autism Project and Townsend Cat Rescue Network struggle to find funding and visibility, and seen how quickly doors open when a nonprofit and a tourism partner speak the same language. This resource exists because I believe that gap is fixable—and that rural Montana nonprofits deserve tools to cross it without years of fumbling to figure out the path I’ve traveled.

You already know what you do. You preserve local heritage. You protect land. You celebrate culture. You build community. Now imagine if visitors—people who stay overnight, eat locally, and spend money in your town—became supporters of your mission.

 That’s what tourism partnership does. It doesn’t change your mission. It funds it.

WHY TOURISM MATTERS TO YOUR NONPROFIT – Rural Tourism Partnership Guide