Interested in ABCD Institute membership? We'd love you to join! The Asset-Based Community Development Institute (ABCDI) is a 501(C)3 nonprofit membership organization supporting ABCD practitioners worldwide.
Our mission is to catalyze thriving, welcoming, just and resilient community ecosystems by utilizing asset-based framework and tools to help groups understand and utilize their power to shape and organize local change.
ABCDI was founded in 1993 by John McKnight and Jody Kretzmann after the publication of their influential book, “Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets,” and has served as a global hub for ABCD practitioners for over 30 years.
ABCDI is located at DePaul University's Irwin W. Steans Center for Community-Based Service Learning & Community Service Studies in Chicago, Illinois, USA. ABCDI is run by members for members. We offer multiple ways to engage from general membership to board service.
Why join ABCDI? The benefits of membership.
As you'd expect from an organization that believes in community-led development, much of the benefit of joining comes from collaborating with other members in a variety of ways including:
- Connecting with potential clients and potential member project partners. ABCDI is a clearinghouse for ABCD training and consulting opportunities.
- Accessing to member-organized educational events and an extensive member co-created ABCD knowledge base
- Peer learning via ABCDinstitute.org forums
- Collaborating on and sharing ABCD practices
- Supporting ABCDI’s mission and growing the ABCD movement through work as an committee member, work group participant and/or board member.
Below are the basics on ABCD Institute's three membership levels (see our membership structure page for more information). You can join and pay online now using a major credit card or Google Pay. Please email admin@abcdinstitute.org to get instructions for joining through payment by check or bank transfer.
1. Community Practitioner for individuals using ABCD in their community without institutional support. Membership fees are on a sliding scale from zero (fee waived) to USD 50. Those who can't pay using USD, use our payment processor or pay for any other reason are encouraged to join on a fee waived basis.
2. Organizational Practitioner for individuals based in an institution that uses ABCD in their community. Membership fees are based on the organization's budget and range from USD 50 to USD 100
3. Organizational Partner for organizations that are interested in working with the ABCD Institute. Fees are also based on an organization's budget and range from USD 500 to USD 1500.
We invite you to join, get involved in the life of the ABCDI membership network, enhance your ABCD knowledge and practice, help move the ABCD practice forward and further enable resident-led positive change in communities around the world.
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Please email network@abcdinstitute.org if you have any questions about membership.