Practice Guide // Adopting Community-Centric Fundraising
Proposed in 2019, Community-Centric Fundraising (CCF) is a set of principles developed by people of color to align fundraising with movements for race, equity, and social justice. In February 2025, the Johnson Center published “Adopting Community-Centric Fundraising: Findings from a National Study,” a first-of-its-kind analysis of the CCF movement and its impact in the nonprofit field thus far.
One of the key barriers that emerged from that study was that respondents from organizations interested in starting their adoption of CCF principles felt overwhelmed: “Where do we start?,” “What does change look like?,” “How do I convince my organizational leadership that change is necessary?” This Practice Guide — developed by the national study’s researchers Maya Hemachandra, MPA, CFRE, and the Johnson Center’s Frey Foundation Chair for Family Philanthropy Elizabeth Dale, Ph.D. — is meant to jumpstart that work. While there is no formula or one path organizations should take, the following questions, reflections, and examples are gleaned from the research, experience, and the reflective practice of those in the field who are actively moving in a CCF-aligned direction.
Nonprofit leaders, fund development professionals, board members, and others can use this Practice Guide to improve and strengthen their own work.