Table of Contents >
Chapter 1. Our Model for Community Change and Improvement >
Section 8. Some Lessons Learned on Community Organization an... >
Some Lessons Learned on Community Organization and Change |
Tools & Checklists | Contributed by Stephen B. Fawcett Edited by Tim Brownlee and Stephen B. Fawcett |
Tool #1
Supporting the Work of Community Organization and Change
1. Understanding (and affecting) community context
Practitioners must be able to both understand and create the conditions under which community organization efforts have the best chance for success.
See these related sections of the Community Tool Box:
Chapter 3: Assessing Community Needs and Resources
Chapter 30, Section 3: Understanding the Issue
2. Community planning
Community planners need to help people agree on common goals and means for addressing them.
See these related sections of the Community Tool Box:
Chapter 5, Section 5: Coalition Building
Chapter 8: Developing a Strategic Plan
Chapter 9: Developing an Organizational Structure, Staff, and Volunteers
Chapter 16: Facilitating the Problem-solving Process
Chapter 18, Section 2: Participatory Approaches to Planning Community Interventions
Chapter 19, Section 3: Identifying Strategies and Tactics for Reducing Risks
3. Community action and mobilization
Community leaders and members must commit to act with and learn from each other in this hard work.
See these related sections of the Community Tool Box:
Chapter 5: Understanding Broad Strategies for Improving Health and Community Development Issues
Chapter 20, Section 6: Training for Conflict Resolution
Chapter 24, Section 3: Promoting Coordination, Cooperative Agreements, and Collaborative Agreements Among Agencies
Chapter 30, Section 4: Recognizing Allies
Chapter 39, Section 4: Communicating Information to Funders for Support and Accountability
4. Understanding (and addressing) opposition and resistance
To be effective, community activists must be able to defeat and counteract the efforts of those with different interests.
See these related sections of the Community Tool Box:
Chapter 30, Section 5: Identifying Opponents
Chapter 30, Section 6: Encouraging Involvement of Potential Opponents as Well as Allies
Chapter 35, Section 1: Overview of Opposition Attacks
Chapter 35, Section 2: How to Respond to Opposition Attacks
5. Intervention and maintenance of efforts
Community practitioners must be able to implement multiple strategies and sustain local efforts.
See these related sections of the Community Tool Box:
Chapter 24, Section 4: Developing Multisector Collaborations
Chapter 38: Some Methods for Evaluating Comprehensive Community Initiatives
Chapter 40: Maintaining Quality Performance
6. Promoting community change
Community leaders and members must be able to change programs, policies, and practices related to shared goals.
See these related sections of the Community Tool Box:
Our Model of Change conceptual pieces
Chapter 6: Promoting Interest in Community Issues
Chapter 7: Encouraging Involvement in Community Work
Chapter 45, Section 1: Understanding Social Marketing: Learning to Change People's Behavior
Chapter 45, Section 2: Conducting a Social Marketing Campaign
7. Influencing systems (or broader) change
To enhance chances of success, community practitioners try to change the conditions under which local communities seek improvement.
See these related sections of the Community Tool Box:
Chapter 33: Conducting a Direct Action Campaign
Chapter 34: Media Advocacy
Chapter 39, Section 2: Providing Feedback to Improve a Community Initiative
8. Achieving community-level improvements
To make broader indicators of success, community members must build leadership and affect change that is large enough and long enough to make a difference.
See these related sections of the Community Tool Box:
Chapter 14: Core Functions in Leadership
Chapter 43: Managing Finances
Chapter 42: Getting Grants and Financial Resources
Chapter 40, Section 1: Achieving and Maintaining Quality Performance
Chapter 46: Planning for Long-term Institutionalization
Checklist
Here, you'll find a checklist summarizing the major points contained in the text, ready to use.
Community Organizations that Come Together
___Communities
___Neighborhoods
___Union Workers
___Farmers
___Religious Groups
___Ethnic Groups
___Elderly
___Disabled
Characteristics of Community Organization
___Shared Interests
___Same geographic location
___Similar Experiences
___Strive toward the same goal
Key Points for Community Organization
___Plan
___Set goals and objectives
___Get assistance from within the community
___Take action
___Always follow-up and maintain