Donor Enthusiasm for Organizing Outpaces Contributions

For immediate release: October 9, 2007
Contact: Marjorie Fine 212-643-3464, ext. 101

New York – According to a new survey released today, progressive donors now view community organizing as critical for achieving social change, yet few have developed a long-term giving strategy to support community organizing. 

The online survey was conducted by The Linchpin Campaign, a special project of the Center for Community Change. Despite the fact that the survey revealed donors have a strong affinity for community organizing, contributions to organizing efforts typically comprise only a small proportion of donors’ giving portfolios. Nearly half of donors surveyed give less than a quarter of their annual donations to support community organizing.

“Consistent funding for community organizing is a cornerstone for building a solid foundation for lasting change,” explains Marjorie Fine, director of the Linchpin Campaign. “With the right funding strategies, donors and community organizers are now positioned to bring the same momentum to their causes that Rosa Parks brought to the civil rights movement.” 

The top findings of this new survey include:

·    Individual donors have very favorable opinions of community organizing.

In perhaps the strongest indication of how far community organizers have come, 90 percent of donors surveyed agree that community organizing is about building a foundation of lasting relationships and trust that allows communities to mobilize on important issues, and a mere 10 percent stated that community organizing was “too contentious.” Most believe that community organizing can play a critical role in achieving their philanthropic goals.

·    Donors believe that it is difficult to measure the effects of community organizing.

Forty-one percent of surveyed donors agreed with the statement, “It is very difficult to measure the impact of community organizing,” and nearly 21 percent were neutral on this statement. Because outcomes are key for most donors, this finding sheds some light on why there is a disconnect between donors’ strong support for organizing and relatively low levels of funding.

·    Donors see short-term benefits, but are not seeing the bigger picture.

Eighty-five percent of donors surveyed feel that community organizing is effective at increasing voter turnout, and donors tend to associate organizing with images of concrete activities, such as creating coalitions and campaigning. However, there is widespread concern among donors (75 percent) that community organizing is not being used enough to build a true popular base for the progressive movement. 

·    Donors want more direct contact with community organizers.

Consistent with the notion that donors are most likely to give to organizations or programs they are personally familiar with, half of the donors reported that they would prefer site visits and 64 percent would like to attend briefings with other donors to learn more about community organizing. Methods such as Web sites and videos were selected by very few donors (27 percent and 19 percent, respectively) and are unlikely to be highly effective methods for engaging these donors.

Ms. Fine, a prominent leader in philanthropic and organizing circles, pointed out that this is the first major survey to show that community organizers have earned the trust and respect of progressive donors. “Organizing has come of age. More donors interested in funding long-term organizing combined with a rise in the sophistication of organizations to secure enduring victories has created the perfect storm. By increasing their investments today, donors are supporting the next great moments in history.”

To download and read a copy of the full survey report, please go to www.centerforcommunitychange.org.

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The Linchpin Campaign is a special project of  the Center for Community Change whose goals are to create marketing strategies for community organizing in order to increase funding for the field and expand giving opportunities for new and current donors who are committed to building a better civil society.

Since 1968, the Center for Community Changed has strengthened the leadership, voice, and power of low-income communitieis nationwide to confront the vital issues of today and build the social movements of tomorrow.