Financial Costs of Participation

Financial costs (dues) are required of congregations involved in Congregation-Based Community Organizing (CBCO) activities as member organizations. The amount of dues is dependent on the network and the decisions of the local CBCO. Following are the basic orientations of the major networks on the dues issue:

  • Direct Action and Training (DART)
    No firm DART policy for all churches in DART CBCOs. Typically, dues are $400-$600 per church, plus $1 to $2 per church member. Some include a percentage of the operating budget. No church is paying over $5,000 per year.
  • Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF)
    No national policy on dues, rather IAF staff will work with local organization through relational organizing and help them to develop a structure that serves the local organization. An informal guideline is $10 per parishioner per year. There is no policy or practice that supports the 1-2% of budget idea.
  • Intervalley Project (IVP)
    Has recently gone through a dues determination process. They began with three criteria as follows: active membership numbers ("regular givers"), the size of the operating budget (excluding capital campaigns, schools, pass-throughs and individual member organizations ability to pay (self-assessment). As it developed, criteria 1 and 3 were used and a tiered structure based on membership proposed. Annual dues, based on membership are as follows: 10-49= $250, 50-99= $500, 100-224=$750, 225-374=$1,000 325-549=$1,500, over 550=$2,000.
  • PICO National Network
    CBCO determine dues locally, typically 1-2 percent of operating (church only) budget, with a cap of $5,000. While some CBCOs use church membership (size) as a basis, this is unusual.

CBCOs not affiliated with national networks determine dues for their member congregations.