How to Raise Money for Community Organizing

As Bob Connolly—community leader, trainer, and organizer whose company has helped religious and community organizations raise over a billion dollars during the past thirty-plus years—points out: “Money is an expression of our values—an expression of what we believe in, what is important to us, our self-interest. I often tell people in my workshops: If you want to know what you really believe in, look in your checkbook. If you want to know what people value, don’t listen too much to what they say; trust and respect what they do—particularly with whatever money they have.”

For community organizations, especially, money provides independence. Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) affiliates—60 of them around the U.S. and in a few foreign countries—talk about the difference between hard money and soft money. Hard money is money raised by the people who “own” their community organizations. No one from the “outside” can set the agenda for an organization that can raise hard money.

In this invaluable and timely booklet, Connolly gives specific, practical, tried-and-true advice—laced with examples, humor, and stories—on how community organizations can raise on an ongoing basis the money they need to succeed. He succinctly covers the issues of recruiting and training the leadership; developing relationships with those inside and outside the organization; and choosing the best strategies to employ to insure the right “mix” of money for an organization. He gives a detailed outline of institutional dues, individual-donor campaigns, earned income, and endowments and bequests. He describes the art of making an “ask,” the need to develop “money radar,” and a few of his personal fundraising “nuggets” that can’t be found anywhere else.

Advance praise

“Bob Connolly breaks down the problem of raising money and turns it into a series of manageable issues.” —Mike Gecan, author of People’s Institutions in Decline: Causes, Consequences, Cures