PCUN: Staff Support and Training to Expand Membership

501 (c) (4) organizations face unique fundraising challenges compared to their 501 (c) (3) counterparts. This disparity is unfortunate, considering that 501 ©(4) organizations advocate for systemic change, addressing critical issues at their root.

Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN) is the leading Latino union in Oregon, dedicated to advocating for the state’s farm workers and Latinx families in the workforce. For over thirty years, PCUN has been a steadfast champion for marginalized workers, achieving significant victories such as raising the minimum wage and ensuring healthcare access for  all Oregonian children, profoundly impacting the community. 

Originally structured as a 501(C)(5) organization, PCUN transitioned to a 501 (c)(4) in 2018, absorbing the membership base of its previous C5 designation. To maintain ties to its  labor-organizing roots, PCUN embarked on an experimental initiative  to transition and re-engage its membership program. For their second grant from Progressive Multiplier Fund, the hypothesis was that integrating membership solicitation into its organizing activities could help expand PCUN’s membership base and secure sustainable funding. 

Project Overview

Through staff training, relational organizing and targeted outreach, PCUN hosted dynamic recruitment events and integrated membership requests into its organizing activities..

Key Strategies and Successes

During the grant period, PCUN engaged in over 10,000 outreach calls to community members, leading to 5,000 new contacts, and 133 new membership signups, which raised a total of $12,700 in membership payments. 

1. Relational Organizing: PCUN emphasized relational organizing by incorporating membership recruitment into its core activities. Staff training included extensive materials and toolkits to support this approach.
2. Dynamic Recruitment: PCUN hosted engaging recruitment events and made 10,000 outreach calls, resulting in 4,500 new contacts and 148 new members. This effort generated $12,707 in membership dues.

Lessons Learned

By placing members at the center of their work, PCUN deepened connections with the community. Relational organizing proved crucial for building a strong membership base. The experiment also showed that organizers skilled in communicating the organization’s mission can be successfully trained to include fundraising in their responsibilities.. 

Increased outreach support is essential for generating more leads and improving conversion rates.

PCUN’s experience underscores the importance of investing in staff infrastructure. Effective communicators within the organization can be trained to integrate fundraising into their roles more efficiently.

Looking Ahead

For PCUN, the membership program is a crucial component of their growth strategy. They view it as an opportunity to fund additional community-requested programs, such as the well-received emotional intelligence workshop piloted in March of this year. By generating sustainable revenue through membership dues, PCUN can directly address community needs and expand its impact.  

The revamped membership program has the potential to support more community-requested initiatives, including the emotional intelligence workshop, which was previously constrained by budget limitations. Membership dues can help fund such programs and address pressing community needs. 

PCUN’s strategic shift to a 501(c)(4) and their innovative approach to membership recruitment illustrate the power of integrating fundraising into organizational activities. Through dedicated effort and adaptive strategies, PCUN has  built a strong foundation for sustaining and growing their membership base, thereby enhancing their capacity to drive systemic change. By leveraging the insights gained from this experiment and addressing both challenges and success PCUN can continue to stand out as a leading advocate for Oregon’s workers and create systemic change needed to support their community.