In her last address as president yesterday, Ms Kelly told the CTU's two-yearly conference unions relied on those who could access the rights to bargaining and union membership to fund the campaigns.
Communities would contribute to the work, but not usually through the traditional method of collecting union fees.
The recent health and safety campaign, when five families spent almost a week away from work and in Wellington campaigning for the CTU against the Government's watering down of the health and safety legislation, was an example of that commitment.
''That they would willingly come and join us - that they have now become skilled in public speaking, talking to the media and expressing their views - is an invaluable resource and contribution for the effort other workers have put in by funding the Pike and forestry campaign through their union fees.''
Unions had not yet sorted out the resources issues but trade unionists needed to think about what they knew, Ms Kelly said.
Unions could crowd-source, people were prepared to volunteer lots of time to the campaigns with which they identified and believed in and union members also got the full benefit of the values messages those campaigns pushed up.
However, it was her view the unions needed to take an ''investment model'' approach to CTU work.
''I want us to agree the programme of work we, as a movement, want to see prioritised and done together, then work out how together we fund it.''
The campaign and outreach work needed to continue building and all working people in New Zealand would benefit, Ms Kelly said.
Working as a whole movement, unions could shift the narrative about the role and rights of working people in the New Zealand economy and why workers in unions was the effective model for that to happen.
Talking about leaving her high-profile position, Ms Kelly said she had inadvertently started a new personal campaign this week on the use of medical cannabis use. She had been diagnosed with cancer.
The issue had incredibly wide reach and people were making contact with her from all walks of life. Unusually, she had not had one abusive message.
