namahatta.org - Congregational Development Ministry

Leadership always starts with, well, the leader.........
"yad yad acarati sresthas" Srila Prabhupada translates this as "whatever a respectable leader does, that and that alone.....common people follow."

You mention HH Radhanath Swami's example in Mumbai, but it appears to me you may mis-understand the fundamentals behind their success.
He personally told me several years ago that he doesn't ask devotees for money. "If you do, they may give you some 'cheap money'. Instead, try to make them Krsna conscious. When they become Krsna conscious, they automatically WANT to give everything".

He also preaches that the quality of the householder devotees is a reflection of the quality of the brahmacarya devotees (paraphrased). If the householders see the brahmacarya devotees are living a pure, simple life and actually relishing it, they will automatically become attracted, and want to help serve those devotees. But if they see those same brahmacarya devotees living a life similar to a bachelor, without much renunciation, then where is the inspiration to give?

Those living in the ashram must preach compassionately to the householders, and never see/think/believe the householder devotees are in any way inferior to the brahmacarya devotees.
It is this point that has made the 2 ashramas able to work together so effectively. It did not "automatically" happen.

In the example of the Radha Gopinatha devotees given by you, the householder devotees see the brahmacarya devotees' lives as being so much more simple, and desirable, even if they consider it un-attainable to them. At the same time, the brahmacarya devotees try to understand the situation of the householder- SO much responsibility to family, children, parents, job, society- PLUS they need to find/make the time to chant 16 rounds, attend some temple functions, do some relevant service- a very difficult life.

Added to that is the financial struggle most of us find ourselves in today.

We need to be happy that people are still struggling, trying to be Krsna conscious, in spite of so much trouble.
So first there must be the compassionate leadership coming from the temple management. This can take many forms, but whatever the circumstances dictate, compassion must be apparent.

If a temple authority sees that someone isn't able/willing to financially contribute, it is important to (carefully and diplomatically) find if there is some difficulty and they're not able, or if they're not convinced sufficiently to give.

When people feel cared for, when they feel they have received something of value, then automatically they want to reciprocate.

I hope this brings some clarity to the subject.
ys,
Gaura Sakti das