My question is, what's the major factors to make an NGO succeed to promote its cause and make a movement in the society during the first year of activity?
and thanks
Thank you for writing to us at the Community Tool Box, and for your kind words. Of course, we are very impressed with the work you describe doing in Tunisia.
As for major factors in NGO success, our own answer will be subjective. (There may be survey or other data on this topic, but we have not recently researched it.)
But based on more than four decades of active involvement in varied community work, my belief is that the most important single factor is simply “desire” – the powerful desire to make a positive difference, which burns brightly and keeps burning inside the change agent. Technical skill is important, of course, and that’s what we help teach in the Tool Box, but the inner personal quality of desire is so important too.
Beyond that – thoughtful planning for sure. Getting the backing of others in your own staff, and others in the community too. Developing good relationships with those around and near you. Encouraging people to participate. These are all very important skills as well, and significant factors in success.
No one ever said that doing successful community work was easy! But it sounds as though you have made some excellent progress in your first year. Thanks again for writing, and all best wishes for continued success in your work.
Thank you
Chitra
Thank you for writing to us at the Community Tool Box with your important question. One model you might learn from, which took place in India, can be found at plusacumen.org A standard web search is likely to turn up others. We hope this much may be helpful to you, and best wishes for great success in your work.
Many thanks for your interest in Toolbox, and for your question to Ask an Advisor!
You can surely explain your project and your doubts, and if someone – among Toolbox users – has the same interest will read you in this page… This is not exactly a forum, but you may have the social networks’ website to share events or projects. In our home page, you can see “How to Use the Tool Box”, and also the links to the social networks.
However, introducing a new issue may be a good idea to build new networks with other community psychologists.
Thank you again for your message, we will be happy to know your projects!
Many thanks for your question.
Firstly, in the Community Toolbox website, you may have several suggestions for building a Coalition. If you see: LEARN A SKILL, Table of contents (at https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents) you may find, in Chapter 5. Choosing Strategies to Promote Community Health and Development (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/promotion-strategies/maintain-a-coalition/main), Section 6. Coalition Building II: Maintaining a Coalition, paragraph “CARRY OUT YOUR MAINTENANCE PLAN”, the description of the role of External Reviews, which may be similar to a lawyer consultant. In the same website, you will find Chapter 42. Getting Grants and Financial Resources (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/finances/grants-and-financial-resources/financial-sustainability/main), and its Section 3 with a description of “Developing a Committee to Help with Financial Sustainability”.
Moreover, if you “BROWSE PAST QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS”, looking for “Creating and Maintaining Coalitions and Partnerships” (as Core competence) (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/ask-an-advisor/questions?data_2=16&data_3), there is an answer (posted on Fri, 08/11/2017) that probably will be interesting for you.
Nevertheless, the legal rules for managing the financial aspects of a coalition may be different in different local area and local Institutions. Perhaps you can ask a consultant with expertise in non-profit organizations before to proceed in donations or fund-raising.
Many wishes for your projects!
I'm in the Senior year of my undergraduate degree in a state college in Minnesota. I used to be a part of the Student Government at the university until irreconcilable differences drove myself and several others away. The main issue being the complete lack of genuine accountability within the organization.
These issues have stressed the fact that the student body as a whole really has no idea about the decisions being made by the Student Government and the Administration. These choices deeply impact student life and fees. The lack of accountability produces worrying results about the actual integrity of the decisions affecting the students.
This problem is hardly isolated to my university, but it is a rampant problem. I would like to form a group on campus that acts as a watchdog for the administration and Student Government, as well as fosters and grows those skills for use outside of the university as well.
I'm doing as much research as I can but any suggestions or help moving forward would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to help encourage people to stand up against people doing the wrong thing. Often times it's hard and scary to do, but it is needed so desperately. My goal is to help build up people to speak out against unjust and unethical actions.
Thank you for your time.
Dear Melania
thank you for your message.
I understand that you were a part of the Student Government, in the past, and now you would want to create a different approach for analyzing and intervening on these matters, starting from building a students’/activists’ group, less institutional and more attentive to students’ needs.
I think that such issues are – perhaps – both political and academic/relational ones. Community psychology may really help you in building an interest group among students, paying attention to awareness raising, where you may talk about your problems, your difficulties, and your expectations. Before to “acting as a watchdog”, as you say, perhaps you have to try to better define your route. This reflective work is important, to make protests effective and to empower the group. It is not a useless time, because only people who are aware are responsible and able “to speak out against unjust and unethical actions”.
If you want, have a quick look to Community Toolbox, or to journals committed in the field of community psychology interventions (and in the critical community psychology approach), so to read about similar experiences in the different campus.
Let us know how your work is going on,
best wishes!
Any advice you can offer is greatly appreciated!
Thank you for your interest in our website, and many compliments for your action!
I imagine that your difficulty concerns how to produce effective recommendations and other instruments to carry out your initiatives, to spread them in the local community and to send your requests to policymakers.
If so, in the Community Tool Box there are several resources available. We can suggest “Chapter 33. Conducting a Direct Action Campaign” (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/advocacy/direct-action ), and particularly Section 7. Lobbying Decisionmakers (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/advocacy/direct-action/lobby-decisionmakers/main ) where you can find a lot of suggestions, with checklists, examples, tools and also a power point explaining how to proceed.
But if this indication is inadequate and your concern is other, please let us know!
let us know also your successes, which we hope remarkable,
best wishes for your work!
Thank you!
Thank you for your message.
I suggest this citation:
Community Tool Box (Year, Month Date Published). Tools to change our world. Center for Community Health and Development. University of Kansas. Retrieved from: https://ctb.ku.edu/en.
If you quote a specific Chapter or Section, you may add its indication:
Community Tool Box (Year, Month, Date Published). Tools to change our world. Chapter … , Section … . Center for Community Health and Development. University of Kansas. Retrieved from: https://ctb.ku.edu/en.
We wish you all the best in your work!
I was recently awarded tax exempt status for my organization, even though I have been incorporated and actively serving the community for about four years. Now that my organization is an "official" non-profit, I would like suggestions on next steps. My goals are to A. Create solid best practices and systems for general operating and administration tasks (book keeping/accounting, record keeping); B. Fundraising/Funding; C. Board Governance; D. Increase awareness about my organization, our initiatives, and the individuals that we support.
For the past four years, I have been running the organization on my own with funding from family, friends, and myself. Now, I want to transition into a legitimate non-profit organization that has the capability to support not only domestic but international causes.
Any support or direction that you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Dear Sebrina
I think you are living a very interesting time, passing from an informal organization to a more structured one!
The main problem – I suppose – is to save the enthusiasm and the involvement of the past experience while you implement a new form, characterized by adequate management and governance.
You have two tasks to face: the first one (related to the final points of your list, which you indicate with D and C) is a psychosocial job. Increasing awareness about your initiatives (D) is a crucial community-based activity, concerning assessing local needs and resources and choosing the best strategies to promote community development, with a real “social marketing” to spread your proposals and to value your organization. These topics are addressed in the first part of Community Toolbox. Also about the issues regarding the governance of the organization (your point C), surely you will find a lot of useful suggestions and tools in Community Toolbox where it deals with “developing a strategic plan and organizational structure” (Chapters from 8 to 12 on https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents) and “leadership and management” (Chapters from 13 to 16).
For the other goals you indicate (A and B), you can, of course, look at our website – or at other community psychology journals or documents – but perhaps you will need also a specific consultant, expert in non-profit organizations, because there are local and national laws and norms to be followed, and it would be important for you to avoid incorrect interpretations of the rules.
Many wishes for your work, and keep in touch to give us news about your future successes!
Dear Yash
it is quite difficult to give you some suggestion… surely promoting a public park is a great initiative… but you have to urge local authorities, and – above all – try to build a collective movement among citizens, so to increase environmental awareness and community action.
Many wishes and have good work!
Dear Brian
thank you for your message.
I don’t know if you are interested in copyright as a user/reader or as an author.
The rules about copyright may be different in different states. Anyway, each published work cannot be copied or spread because this would violate the author’s and publisher’s rights. Some exceptions are possible, concerning papers to be used for teaching purposes. There are, moreover, “open source” papers which readers may use free of charge. Rules about papers generally are indicated in the same papers or the journal where they are published.
A rather different matter concerns psychological tests, inventories or scales, which are generally subject to copyright, and which may be open source or against payment. A good rule may be to ask directly the author/authors, if not specified.
If you are interested in copyright as an author, you have to specify when you publish your work if the paper – or the instrument you propose – is open source or has copyright with a price.
Finally, there is another way regarding scientific dissemination, called “creative commons”, which is a way to share your work, published in a repository (or in a journal). In this case, too, it is possible to decide different kinds of limitation for the sharing. You can find all the rules on https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/.
Many wishes for your work!
Dear Bobbie
a Mission Statement for a church may be a little different from a program for a local community… surely a church is involved in a community, but perhaps it has also spiritual and religious goals, and not only community development purposes.
Anyway, you may find – in Community Toolbox – a lot of good ideas for community development, in the first chapters: please see https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents.
In the same website, you can look at the chapters related to Spirituality and Community building, on the page https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/culture/spirituality-and-community-building.
Spirituality perhaps is not just the same of a church program or of a Mission Statement, because it may refer also to a non-religious and non-ideological approach, nevertheless some of the explained topics – I am sure – may fit also your proposals.
Thank you for contacting Ask an Advisor, and have good work!
Dear Marie
thank you for your interest in Community Toolbox.
We hope that someone living in surrounding counties of Atlanta will read your message… so that can help you.
Best greetings!
Dear Lori
sorry, but we may answer more general questions about community development... It is not possible to reply to specific requests such as this.
Best wishes for your group!
Dear Jacqueline
thank you for your interest in Community Toolbox.
I suppose you would want to cite the Chapter related to Focus Groups.
You may quote:
Community Tool Box (Year, Month, Date Published). Tools to change our world. Chapter 3, Section 6. Conducting Focus Groups. Center for Community Health and Development. University of Kansas. Retrieved from: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/conduct-focus-groups/main
Best greetings!
Dear Moonus
thank you for your attention. About your request: teenager sportsman may be a very interesting target to be trained because they usually have steady relations with peers, and may become an effective support for community programs, reaching also young people who generally do not attend meetings or prevention programs.
You may find topics as leadership, peace and conflict resolution in Community Toolbox, f.i. in Chapter 13 (about Leadership, see https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/leadership-ideas), and then in the Section related to “Implementing Promising Community Interventions” (particularly Chapters 20, 21, 22, see https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/implement/provide-information-enhance-skills and following).
Interesting papers are published in American Journal of Community Psychology, and in Journal of Community Psychology, f.i. Mortensen L.L., Foster-Fishman P., Harfst S., Hockin S., Warsinske K. and Abdullah K. (2014). Leadership through a Youth Lens: Understanding Youth Conceptualizations of Leadership. Journal of Community Psychology, Vol. 42 (4): 447–462.
There is another journal, which may be interesting for you, that is Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology.
Hoping that these suggestions would be useful for you,
many compliments for your work, and best greetings!
Dear Tammy.
there are several answers about this topic. Please, see Answer n. 1426 and n. 1436, which are useful also for you.
Best greetings!
Dear Trista
there are – I suppose – two aspects in your request. If you are looking for advice about how to create and organize a support group, surely you may see the topics proposed in Community Toolbox, and particularly those related to Enhancing Support (Chapter 21) or Improving Services (Chapter 24).
If instead, your concern is about your professional title (LVN), it may be adequate for supporting patients with a group similar to a self-help group (see Chapter 21, Section 2) where you may have the role of an external facilitator. Generally, self-help groups haven’t this kind of facilitator, but there are also some experiences where such a role is significant as a way to promote group development.
But if you want to create a support group more similar to a counseling group, a specific professional title is necessary. You may ask a university in Psychology or in Public Health, so to obtain more detailed information.
Many wishes for your work!
I am looking for a screening tool that could be utilized to assess the level of functioning for adults to help guide the way in which a case manager individualizes their approach with a parent in order to help make them successful in completing tasks. thanks
Dear Candace
thank you for your message.
Perhaps a specific tool – perfectly suitable for your aims – doesn’t exist or perhaps it was never published or shared. Anyway, you can see in Community Toolbox the entire Chapter 22 (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/implement/youth-mentoring), which I think may be close enough to your interests. It is focused on mentoring programs and includes examples and tools. I think, for instance, that inventory for mentors will be adequate, if adapted, also for your purposes.
Have a good work!
best greetings
Thank you for writing to us at the Community Tool Box about your ideas. We applaud you for your idea to offer advocacy letter writing classes!
We hope that our online materials under https://ctb.ku.edu/en/advocating-change and https://ctb.ku.edu/en/online-courses are helpful and can get you started.Perhaps there is enough materials so one of the Library organizers can distribute or hold a class using these materials.
At this time, we do not directly provide speakers or teachers for advocacy or any other specific skills. But perhaps another solution would be to contact community psychology instructors working at a local university (KU in Lawrence, or further out, Wichita State). This would be a perfect community project for a graduate student to run a training program or workshop at your library, train some of the attendees to also be trainers, and to keep the project going.
I would recommend contatcting several faculty listed at these links:
http://absc.ku.edu/faculty
Florence D. DiGennaro Reed
Associate Professor, Chairperson of the Department of Applied Behavioral Science
fdreed@ku.edu
785-864-0521
Dole Human Development Center, Room 4020
and
https://www.wichita.edu/academics/fairmount_college_of_liberal_arts_and_...
Charles Burdsal, PhD
Professor & Coordinator
Community Psychology Doctoral Program
Department of Psychology
Wichita State University
1845 Fairmount, Box 34
Wichita , KS 67260-0034
(316) 978-3884
charles.burdsal@wichita.edu
Best wishes!
Dear Diane,
This is a little beyond the scope of Ask and Advisor, but I will try to help.
There are many potential communication channels, and you are correct to identify a plan to best get your message out. It seems that you have an immediate safety problem that needs addressing. To that end, a large sign asking residents and helps to put the carts away properly seems reasonable. It would also help if you could recruit someone to be "on call" if someone with mobility issues has difficulty storing the carts safely.
Longer term, it seems that you have to engage additional collaborators, which are the building management and residents. Together, perhaps you can decide on the best form of communication is the one that the target audience will notice, read (or watch or listen to), and engage with. What forms of communication typically work best? Do people in the building notice flyers or posters? Do you have an internal, unit-wide newsletter or forum that could be used for this purpose? Does your building use email, and will people read it? If you have a weekly unit meeting, could you use some or all of the time to make an announcement?
You might want to hold a safety training for people in the building. That way, you can ensure a captive audience. Training sessions could be face to face if there is an activity that the residents attend regularly.
It may be that different people in your unit would respond better to different forms of communication. Door-to-door vs. fliers, etc. If so, it’s ok to use more than one approach to ensure everyone receives the information.
Of course, all of the above suggestions should take available time and resources into consideration. If you are short on either, that will help you narrow down your list of possible communication plans. But getting the building or services management involved is crucial.
We hope this has been useful to you. For more information on communication planning, you might want to review some of the materials in Chapter 6 Section 1, “Developing a Plan for Communication.” If you think that your safety procedures are comprehensive enough to warrant a training, you may want to review the materials in Chapter 12 Section 2, “Designing a Training Session.”
Good luck!
Dear Hipolito,
Thank you for contacting Ask an Advisor!
The answer is an enthusiastic "yes!" - please use to your heart's content all the resources available to you - toolkits, training, contacts - on The Community Toolbox. That is exactly what it is for.
Please write if you have any specific questions about the toolkits, or if you would like to share your successes.
All the best,
Ask an Advisor
May I have your permission to translate some important/relevant sources for my community?
Dear Hipolito,
Great to hear from you again!
Yes, of course you may translate any materials you find useful. Which language will you be translating these into?
Also, please consider offering these translated materials as part of The Community Toolbox! I am sure it will prove useful to others! Just contact us again when your project is finished or underway.
Thank you, and good luck with your project!
Ask an Advisor
I have no question at this time, yet have a request to ask for to assist me by providing an outline to prepare a toolkit for monitoring as well as advocacy as soon as possible. Thanks.
Sincerely Yours,
Lito Gama
Dear Lito,
I was not sure if you were asking for my help, but I will offer some assistance anyway. :-)
All the Toolkits on CTB are for you to use, copy, modify, and translate to meet your own needs. This is what we love seeing people do with the resources collected here!
Your inquiry lacks specific details, so I will direct you to some general areas that I think will be valuable to you. As for monitoring (which I might call sustainability and/or evaluation) and advocacy, I would refer you to these specific toolkits under "Learn a Skill" -> "Toolkits":
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/sustaining-work-or-initiative and/or https://ctb.ku.edu/en/evaluating-initiative
Also under "Learn a Skill" -> "Table of Contents". There you will find four chapters (36 - 39) and a related Toolkit (12) that will introduce you to the basics of Monitoring and Evaluation. (M&E).
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/advocating-change
Also under "Learn a Skill" -> "Table of Contents". There you will find four chapters (30 - 35) that will introduce you to the basics of Advocacy.
Each of these provides an outline for suggested actions to accomplish specific goals, as well as examples to see how they were implemented in the real world. These should be helpful.
Another valuable resource is to look under "HELP TAKING ACTION" -> "Ask an Advisor" -> "BROWSE PAST QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS". There you might search for some of the terms you are interested in and see what the past answer to questions and situation perhaps similar to yours. Just click on the question itself to see the past answer.
I hope this is a helpful start to your project!
Best regards,
Ask an Advisor
Dear Zante,
Here is a link to our policies for using our materials. Scroll down the page and you will see how to cite with an example.
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/use-policy
Example Citation:
Center for Community Health and Development. (2017). Chapter 3, Section 10: Conducting Concerns Surveys. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas. Retrieved January 2, 2017, from the Community Tool Box: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/conduct-concerns-surveys/main.
I hope this helps!
Thank you for using The Community Toolbox!
Best regards,
Ask an Advisor
My name is Dr Fakri and I am from a city in Libya named Zwarah, I am planning to improve healthcare system in my city and I wish if I can get some collaboration from your side in terms of assessment planning, assessing needs or how I can create a project for this task
Thank you very much
Dear Dr. Fakri,
Thank you for writing Ask the Advisor! We wish you all the best in developing your project to improve healthcare i n Zwarah!
Unfortunately, we are a volunteer system and cannot offer direct collaborations for projects. However, I do suggest you contact Mona M. Amer, Ph.D., monaamer75@GMAIL.COM, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology at the The American University in Cairo + (20-2) 2615-1832. They have a very strong group of community psychologists and may be able to put you in contact with collaborators.
As for assessment planning and assessing needs and developing a project, I suggest you start with the materials under "Learn a Skill" and browse the specific items you need. For each skill, there is usually a Toolkit that you can download, edit, and use as you wish! This is all free and is currently available in English, Spanish, Arabic, and Farsi.
The Chapters you should probably look at first are:
CHAPTERS
- Chapter 3. Assessing Community Needs and Resources
- Chapter 17. Analyzing Community Problems and Solutions
- Chapter 18. Deciding Where to Start
- Chapter 19. Choosing and Adapting Community Interventions
And the related Toolkits:
- 2. Assessing Community Needs and Resources
- 1. Creating and Maintaining Partnerships
- 8. Increasing Participation and Membership
I hope directing you to these readings and resources are helpful to begin your project. I do hope that contacting Dr. Amer will put you in touch with people in North Africa and southern Europe who can help you!
Thank you, and best wishes for developing your project.
Sincerely,
Ask an Advisor
Also, here is a project on repairing housing that may also serve as a guide:
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/community-stories/mending_fences
Dear Tammy,
Thank you for contacting Ask an Advisor!
As I understand your question, my answer is a resounding YES! We believe the community change models on the The Community Toolbox are applicable to a wide variety of situations that require interacting with and promoting system change. The models are very flexible and are not directly about health - though I am sure you can see how unsafe housing and dis empowered small business owners can affect health.
I recommend that you click on the modules listed under "Learn a Skill" starting with Chapter 1 and continuing on to
and paying close attention to these modules:
- Chapter 17. Analyzing Community Problems and Solutions
- Chapter 18. Deciding Where to Start
- Chapter 19. Choosing and Adapting Community Interventions
If/when you find something that seems to fit your applications, look at the Toolkit associated with that chapter. There you will find an outline for constructing a strategy for change that you can fill in for your specific applications.
If after reading these you find that you have questions about how to proceed, please feel free to contact us again!
Thank you for contacting Ask an Advisor, and good luck with your projects!
Ask an Advisor
Dear Charlene,
This is a little beyond the scope of Ask and Advisor, but I will try to help.
First, there is an effort that might be similar enough to serve as a guide for you. You can read about it here: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/community-stories/mending_fences
If this does not help you, I suggest reading about some of the skills under "Learn a Skill" and reading our approach in Chapters 1 and 2. Then I recommend reading Chapters 30-35:
ORGANIZING FOR EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY
Information on advocacy principles, advocacy research, providing education, direct action campaigns, media advocacy, and responding to opposition.
But our general recommendation is to get as many people cooperating with you as possible. As you describe, there are many potential communication channels to get residents involved. Are you or someone else living in the building? I have lived in condos in which fliers were slipped under our doors to get people involved in the Board and elections. If there is a Board manual, you could start there on getting a communications resolutions in front of the Board.
Longer term, it seems that you have to engage additional collaborators, which are the building management and residents. Together, perhaps you can decide on the best form of communication is the one that the target audience will notice, read (or watch or listen to), and engage with. As the residents what forms of communication typically work best? Do people in the building notice flyers or posters? Do you have an internal, unit-wide newsletter or forum that could be used for this purpose? Does your building use email, and will people read it? If you have a weekly unit meeting, could you use some or all of the time to make an announcement? It may be that different people in your unit would respond better to different forms of communication. Door-to-door vs. fliers, etc. If so, it’s ok to use more than one approach to ensure everyone receives the information.
Of course, all of the above suggestions should take available time and resources into consideration. If you are short on either, that will help you narrow down your list of possible communication plans.
But getting the building or services management involved is crucial. Remember that the people that make up the organization. If there are problems they probably already know about them. If you approach the Board in a collaborative vs. confrontational spirit, they will be more likely to accept the requests and be willing to work with you to identify and implement solutions. For more information on communication planning, you might want to review some of the materials in Chapter 6 Section 1, “Developing a Plan for Communication.”
We hope this information is at least helpful for getting you started. If you have a specific question about a Chapter or a Toolkit after looking them over, please get back to us!
Good luck!
Ask an Advisor
“YOUR FIRED”, WITH KNOW NOTICE TO THE COMMUNITY SINCE THAT HAPPENED MAY2, He rides he car around and sticks his middle finger up at homeowners here, Takes his hand and acts as though it’s a Gun and will point it at people and goes BANG, THIS HAS TOTALLY GOTTEN OUT OF HAND, He hires contractors we don’t know what it’s costing us, the BOD President rides around taking pictures and so does the Treasure oF OUR BOD, or walks right up in peoples yards and saids I hope you got approved for that tree planted. Isn’t that the HOA JOB NOT BOD, The President has Threatened 3 people already that he would kill them and cut them up in LoL pieces and throw their body parts in the ponds. Please Please Help is get an Investigation here at Anchors Bend 100 Oak Leaf Dr
Longs, South Carolina. 29568
We are in Dire Straits for Help for our New community
My name is Sabrina Evans my address is not on GPS yet but it’s 417 Quinta St Longs, SC 29568
Dear Sabrina,
Thank you for contacting Ask an Advisor.
We are sorry about this situation, and understand that it is difficult and distressing for you. Unfortunately, it’s not realistically possible to resolve it at a distance. But we can offer some thoughts for your consideration, which might be helpful to you.
Conflicts are often best resolved through dialogue, and often through planning before dialogue starts. In your case, who should you be talking to first? There might be value in meeting first with some members of the community who feel as you do. This could be a small group.
At such a meeting, you could then share your feelings and your analysis of the situation, and perhaps plan a strategy together. A strategy might include specific goals, and also specific actions designed to reach those goals.
A next step might involve a meeting with the larger community, to share your own thinking so far, and also to learn what community members feel, what they want, and how they think you should proceed.
A step after that might include a meeting with the Board of Directors, with the same general agenda; the details would vary depending on the make-up of the current Board and how its members feel. One more step after that could be a meeting with the management company, especially if it is new and unfamiliar with the situation.
In other words, you could take a gradual but planned-out approach, working together with others, and building support and strength as you work your way up to higher levels of authority.
In addition, though, if there is a question of possible illegal activities such as threats on life, then you might wish to contact local legal authorities, and/or your local legislators. Your camera phone may be useful in these instances.
You can of course vary any of this depending on the details of your situation. But we feel the general principles of planning before acting, acting together with others, engaging in open dialogue, stating clear positions and recommendations – and persisting – will be useful to you.
We don’t want to minimize your situation, or to suggest that there is an easy or rapid solution to it; but we do believe that you and others have the power to change it, and that you can in fact use that power to make desired change happen.
It is still worth reading the materials on our site under "Learn a Skill" and Chapter 1 "Our Model for Social Change."
Best wishes,
Ask an Advisor
It's almost me again and again ... hahaha ...
Is there any specific tool to monitor the state budget, specifically budget that allocated to women? Currently, I am assigned to prepare and write a toolkit for advocacy and monitoring, especially on state budget allocated to women and people with deficiency. Kindly asking your support and assistance on this subject matter. Thank you.
Lito Gama
Dear Lito,
Thank you for contacting Ask an Advisor again!
We do not have a tool to specifically monitor budgets. I will direct you to https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/finances/managing-finances modules where there is budgeting lessons. I will also recommend that you take a look at the Evaluation Toolkit that may give you some clues on how to monitor where money is allocated. This is at https://ctb.ku.edu/en/evaluating-initiative
However, there is no Toolkit specifically for managing a budget, unfortunately.
I hope this helps! And good luck with the initiative - it seems that you are making progress!
Best regards,
Ask an Advisor
Dear Kacie,
Thank you for contacting the CTB's Ask an Advisor!
.
Two chapters of our online book may be of assistance as you start. Under Table of Contents, take a look at chapters 3 (Assessing Community Needs and Resources) and 5 (Choosing Strategies to Promote Community Health and Development). You may also find the related Toolkit
helpful as you plan how to proceed. We also have a comprehensive section on Program Evaluation under Chapters 36 to 39, EVALUATING COMMUNITY PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES. There is also a Toolkit
Read over these sections and see if the Toolkit outline helps you on your approach and how to get started. If you need more help or have specific questions, please contact us again!
We wish you well on your project!
Best regards,
Ask an Advisor
Dear Abhishek,
Thank you for writing Ask an Advisor!
I am afraid we cannot help you find data for what I am assuming is a corporation. Our best advice is for you to access the corporate website and download the financial statements and/or anual report for your SWOT analysis.
If you want to know more about SWOT, you can go to"Learn a Skill" and access Chapter 3, where we have the module:
We wish you good luck!
Best regards,
Ask an Advisor
Dear Aysha,
Thank you for writing Ask an Advisor!
I am not sure exactly how to address your question because I do not know what kind of school you are trying to attract students to, where it is located, etc. These all will make a difference in what approach you could take.
One thing I can sense is that you assume that your school is at a disadvantage, and I sense that you are only focusing primarily on your school's deficits compared to other schools. This can blind you unnecessarily. Every place has its strengths (lower cost, location, attention to students, class size, etc.), but only you know what these are.
The best way to avoid making assumptions about the community population is to go to them for input about what they look for in a school. What you are describing seems like an excellent opportunity to interact with people from the community, share information with them about your school's strengths, and learn about what they would like to do or would like to see in your school. One way to do this would be by engaging with one or more community organizations (e.g., neighborhood organizations) and talking with parents about what the look for in a school. It might help to do some focus groups with potential participants/recipients to learn what sorts of things they would like to see in a school that you can provide, whether they would attend, if they would want to help make it happen (or take charge of making it happen).The more you can involve members of the community, the more likely it is that your school's strengths will attract them. Just that personal contact can impress and attract people.
Under our "Learn a Skill" you can read about how to assess your school/community strengths, and how to market them. Look under our Table of Contents and see is there are sections of interest to you.
Hope this helps.
Best of luck,
Ask an Advisor
Dear Kilara,
Thank you for contacting Ask an Advisor!
Although not a strict protocol, there are ways of developing effective strategies for communicating your initiative to the media. To find many ideas about media advocacy strategies, we recommend that you look at Chapter 34 of the Community Tool Box, which contains six different sections on the topic. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/advocacy/media-advocacy
We think that reviewing these sections may give you some good ideas about media advocacy strategies that will work for you and your organization.
We send best wishes for your success!
Ask an Advisor
Dear John,
Thank you for writing Ask an Advisor.
Unfortunately, we really cannot help with vague questions or providing information on Organizations. We suggest you reach out to the Organization in question via their Contacts link if they have a web page.
Good luck,
Ask an Advisor
Dear Cynthia,
Good afternoon, and thank you for contacting Ask an Advisor!
While we do not have a research document that specifically addresses your issue, we do have information about advocacy and political process that may help you build a constituency in support of your goal.
Please click on our Learn a Skill graphic at the top of our home page, and then on Table of contents. Take a look at chapters 30, 33, and 24; plus related Toolkit 10.These will give you information about the process of advocacy, the importance of building a supportive constituency, and of developing a relationship with political leaders. All of that involves a process that can take time and can be very frustrating. Build a relationship with several political leaders and explain to all why you see value in your initiative and how it can help build citizen participation in community affairs.
That leads me to suggest you also take a look at chapter 34: Media Advocacy, for guidance about how you might frame your case to the public, and invite citizens to participate with you in making it even better and more relevant to your community.
Good luck!
Ask an Advisor
Good Day Vicki, and thanks for contacting CTB.
We do not have expertise on businesses searching for funds, but there is a fair amount of information about grant writing in our information base.
However, if you are seeking funding as a non-profit or to be a community resource, you may be eligible for grant funding. Please see our Chapter 42 and its related Toolkit #14 in our Table of Contents under the "Learn a Skill" graphic.
I wonder, also, whether there are any nearby non-profits that might be able to help find funding for your development efforts. This may be worth exploring.
I hope you find this information useful!
Best regards,
Ask an Advisor
Hi Megan
Thank you for your question. I'm not sure what you mean by an interaction piece, but in my experience it is useful to mirror the community engagement process when working with students. This is particularly useful at points where they need to synthesize information at the end of a section of training. In this way, students learn how to actively use community engagement principles in solving a community-based problem. It will also allow students to think about community-engagement not as something exterior to themselves, but something that has immediate worth for them, in their specific contexts, as opposed to somehow "separate" from community-based work.
I hope this is helpful!
Elliott
Hi Mithun
Thank you for reaching out to Ask an Advisor!
Your question raises an interesting point: the formation of "new" types of communities as new technologies of production are developed. The global rise of co-working spaces is one example of this phenomenon.
While different communities exist to fulfill different needs, there is one fundamental commonality: communities comprise of groups of people who have not only individual and communal, but also intra- and inter-communal needs. Community-engagement principles and processes - such as those contained in the Community Toolbox, are very useful for the development of interventions to improve the functioning of a community.
Back to your question ... The toolkit for the assessment of community needs and resources may be a good starting point for you. In fact, you may even consider taking both your question and the toolkit to your community, getting them directly involved in defining the problem, and developing and assessing the viability of various solutions. Once you have a clear sense of what their needs are, develop an intervention plan in collaboration with the members of your community. The CTB Toolkits are fantastic resources in this regard. In this way, you will be able to accurately assess and address the community's real needs in way that encourages agency and a sense of ownership among community members.
I hope this is helpful!
Best,
Elliott
I am looking to help create community partnerships. Volunteers to organizations, and organizations to organizations. Connecting people who are interested in a local social issue, those who are currently volunteering, and those who work in the issue (I am currently looking into which issues is the biggest challenge in our city).
I would like to lead an engaging monthly workshop that brings the community together to work on solving local issues. The goals are to create a community, connect people to volunteer opportunities. Also to empower people to work together to solve social problems.
My first thought is to start the workshop with a panel of experts. Those who work in organizations that are trying to solve the issue. Then, after the panel, I would like to facilitate a creative problem-solving process (in the lines of design thinking) where people can come together, identify a problem, identify a potential solution and then create a simple prototype of the idea.
I'd like to do this on a monthly basis. But I am unsure if this is the best idea to get community connected. Any thoughts of what might be better ideas, or is there's someone I can talk to who can come up with better ideas, or other resources to help guide me.
Also any thoughts about how to spread the word of this type of event.
Thank you very much in advance for the help. Please let me know if you have any questions or things to clarify.
Hi Michael!
Thank you for reaching out to Ask an Advisor, and my apologies for the slow response.
I love your idea of connecting different organizations and volunteers in the community to strengthen and amplify the work they're already doing. I think you are addressing an issue that contributes to ineffective community work worldwide.
Your idea of starting off with a panel of experts sounds like it could be useful. I would suggest adding a few community members of different ages to your opening panel as well, especially if those who work in the organizations do not live in the same community (which is often the case). In that way you keep the actual beneficiaries, namely the community members, involved from the very start - true community-engaged work! In fact, it may even be useful to consult with a few community members on your plans and the best way to advertise your events - after all, these are the people who have the greatest stake in the success of your intervention.
There are a number of materials available on this website which can assist you in getting the project off the ground, in particular the toolkits on Creating and maintaining partnerships, Assessing community needs and resources, Analyzing problems and goals, and Increasing participation and membership.
I hope this helps!
Elliott
Hello,
Thank you for contacting Ask an Advisor!
I have a couple ideas that may be of assistance. It may not be a perfect match, but check out the communications chapters within the toolbox: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/participation/promoting-interest.
Additionally, you may consider looking into some of the local zoning ordinances around fencing. It may be the responsibility of the developer to build new fencing/walls for a new construction (which is what this sounds like).
It sounds to me that your first step may be to identify the individual(s) who have the authority on the adjacent property. Is it the site manager? Is it the developer? I would begin by identifying and reaching out that person. I personally find in-person conversations to be the most powerful. I would discuss the issue with that person with the hopes of identifying a mutually beneficial solution. It could be the case that a wall is something they also want.
Alternatively, it sounds like you may have some competing interests in the local area. Public perceptions of communities such as that which you describe tend to be fairly negative. Generally, there are coalitions or organizations that are dedicated to working with community members around some of these issues. For example, in my hometown of Seattle, WA, we have the Low-Income Housing Alliance. You may have something similar that you can take your issue to who may have a good idea about local actions you can take.
I hope this information is helpful!
Charlie
My community is awash in great plans - plans for transit, housing, sustainability, and more. Our community has a strong comprehensive plan that links issues and solutions. The challenge is that we persist in operating in silos, and are ineffective at moving forward to realize the bold and promising ideas in our plans. Our new civic infrastructure initiative will link mid-level and anchor institution leaders to prioritize the most important issues. We don't want to go through another long planning process - our community won't tolerate it - how do we build on the existing plans, prioritize and focus on just a few of the highest level priorities? We have a clear purpose; we have convened great leaders. How do we build on the work to move forward quickly?
Hello,
Thank you for contacting ask an advisor! Because I am obviously not familiar with your specific community, my response will be a bit more general. To try and paraphrase your question, it sounds like you may have convened a community coalition or committee of sorts, correct? If not, I would recommend this as a first step in identifying which issues to prioritize.
If you have not, I would recommend going the route of a community coalition and ensuring diverse representation on the coalition, particularly from your community’s most marginalized residents/members. I think part of your major challenge will be to identify the “most important” issues because these will likely vary across different residents. For example, lower income residents may prioritize public transportation (due to easier access to jobs) while higher income residents may prioritize schools.
Once (or if) you’ve convened stakeholders in a coalition, I would highly recommend creating the structure of the coalition. This includes your leadership, voting and decision-making processes, rules, roles, etc. What I have found (this is anecdotal) in my work with organizations is that they are anxious to begin the work on the issues and don’t give enough attention to the structure of the organization. A strong foundation creates organizational stability that can withstand internal issues precisely because there should be a process or rule for issues that come up.
To try and summarize more concisely, I would recommend the following: 1) convene a coalition, 2) include diverse representation, especially among marginalized members, and 3) build a strong coalition structure.
You may find some good insight from the chapters on community assessment (chs 3-5), developing a strategic plan and organizational structure (chs 8-12), leadership and management (chs 13-16), and analyzing community problems (chs 17-19) in the community toolbox: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents.
Good luck on your work!
Charlie
Hello Cass,
Thank you for submitting your questions to ask an advisor. It sounds to me that you are asking about the most effective way to implement your program, correct? If so, there are many components to doing program implementation. I would recommend browsing through the chapters on "Implementing Promising Community Interventions" in the community toolbox: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents. These are chapters 20-26.
It also sounds like you are interested in aspects of community buy-in as you noted, "We want to encourage them [educators] to use earth boxes or grow boxes in their classrooms to grow food. You may also be interested in reading chapters 6 and 7 in the same link above.
To summarize my thoughts on a couple of these approaches, I think it may be first most beneficial to assess educators' interest in adopting the program. I would recommend starting by understanding who you want to approach to include the boxes in their classrooms. You may even want to make a list of these educators. I would then contact each of them and ask them to meet with you one-on-one to assess their potential interest in adopting the boxes in their classrooms. You may also think about the supports your program brings to assist with the implementation. If you leave it solely up to educators (especially if they don't have complete interest), they may not as easily adopt the program as if your team has supports.
If there are some aspects I am missing with your program, which I am assuming I am, please feel free to clarify.
Good luck! I hope my response is helpful.
Charlie
I just took over an office that had overtime been unaccountable,unsure,disappointing,inefficient and grossly corrupt.This is the first time of my assumption of such office although I have been involved in community based activism and advocacy.There is great need for me to firstly address widespread unemployment,poverty and insecurity amidst hundreds of corporate organizations,multinational businesses and companies which we are HOST COMMUNITIES to.
What do you think I can do to alleviate and improve on the situation,what blueprint do I employ?
Hello,
Thank you for your question to ask and advisor. And thank you for your patience on my response. If you have not already, I encourage you to read through our documentation on the site as many of the resources we provide may be relevant to your question.
Your question is one I think many of us wish we had a clear answer to. I’ll provide some of my thoughts, but I am not confident I can fully answer your question, but I hope what I provide may be helpful.
It sounds like you are dealing with a multitude of issues in your community. It also sounds like there are some very powerful actors in your community that may oppose your agenda. From your question, to me, I would recommend thinking about building a powerful “people’s organization”, as we call it in the U.S., which it sounds like you have done much of this work already. Although this term comes out of the Saul Alinksy tradition (read “Rules for Radicals” to understand this perspective), other movements have adopted it too. In the Alinsky tradition of community organizing, it is thought that there are two forms of power – powerful money and powerful people. If a community lacks the resources of a major corporation, for example, they can build power by organizing people. If you can build a strong coalition of local leaders and residents to promote their local agenda, they will have more power than you doing it alone.
I would recommend taking a look at the Comm-Org website at the University of Wisconsin (https://comm-org.wisc.edu/). They have a ton of resources on practical ways to build such a movement.
I understand my answer is very brief and more than likely insufficient, but I hope it at the very least gives a little insight. Since there are such powerful opposing forces in your community, it seems like it is necessary to “compete” by creating a powerful opposition to those forces.
I wish you well! Good luck!
Charlie
Hello,
Thank you for your question to ask and advisor. And thank you for your patience on my response.
Before diving into my personal response, I would recommend taking a look at chapter 3 (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources), chapter 17 (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/analyze/analyze-community-problems-and-solutions), and chapter 44 (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/finances/invest-in-community-resources) in the community toolbox (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents). You may also browse through some of chapters to see if they fit your issue.
To give a more in-depth response, I would recommend conducting a needs assessment/problem identification study of potential users of the commercial district. I may consider, for example, going to the local college with an audio recorder and asking students the questions, “Do you ever go to the business district?” If not, “What is the biggest barrier to you visiting the business district?” If they do, I may ask, “What do you like about the business district?” These are just examples, you may want to use other questions that are more specific/relevant to the area. But my point is, you may want to think about assessing the barriers to people visiting the district and the strengths of the district once they are there. When you identify those, you can address the barriers and enhance the strengths. In addition, I think it is very important to get the voice of those potential visitors. It seems like you have the voice of the business owners, but their perspectives will likely be different than potential visitors.
I wish you well! Good luck!
Charlie
I need to organize a board of directors to begin the process.
Can you recommend some resources to help me figure out how to recruit experienced board members for a new organization?
Hello,
Thank you for your question to ask and advisor. And thank you for your patience on my response.
First, I have a personal interest in the Camp Fire – my brother and niece were both lived in Paradise and were displaced by the fire. I very much appreciate your work on this topic. In addition, I would be interested in talking more directly with you about this. Please visit my faculty page where you can find my contact information (https://www.uwb.edu/ias/faculty-and-staff/charlie-collins).
Second, I would not be as concerned about recruiting experienced board members as I would be about recruiting a diverse stakeholder group to join the board. As such, I would look into a stakeholder assessment in the area. You will likely find this in chapters 6-12 in the community toolbox (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents). Additionally, I am not sure about the resources that fullcenter provides, but you may also find yourself needing to build an organization. These same chapters would also be informative for that as well.
In my experience, in recruitment, it is about self-interest. Given the nature of the fire and the number of people who were affected, I think would likely not have much of a problem finding folks who would be interested. But again, I would recommend thinking about a diverse stakeholder group that have different perspectives to guide the work.
I wish you well! Good luck! And again, please contact me if you’d like to talk more about this.
Charlie
Hello,
Thank you for your patience in my response. Also, thank you for your question.
Unfortunately, your specific question is a bit out of the purview of this particular forum. However, I do understand that medical issues (and bills) are a major concern for many folks. Although I may not have a specific answer to your question, I think there are a couple strategies you may consider. Most hospitals and health care providers have on site social workers whose job is to assist people in navigating these systems. I would recommend talking with a medical social worker at your hospital or health care provider as they will have much more specific information they may be able to provide. You may also want to do an internet search for key terms like "medical hardship grants," "medical grants," or "healthcare grants," for example.
I hope this is at the very least somewhat helpful. Thank you for writing in and I wish you luck on finding what you need.
Charlie
Hello,
Thank you for your patience in my response. Also, thank you for your question.
I may be able to provide some insights, but unfortunately, I think your question may be fairly specific to your setting/context and I would likely need more familiarity with the issue and context to be more helpful. That said, may be able to assist in thinking about ideas. There is a rich academic and practice literature on rural issues. I would recommend looking into the journal of rural studies and similar journals for some guidelines and/or models. I would be curious if there is a coalition or other group in the region that you may be able to connect with to assist in this venture? I may also consider talking with a local librarian for some (local) references on this topic. In conducting a brief search in Google scholar, it seems that there is a significant body of research on telehealth and other general health care issues in rural areas (https://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_q=telehealth&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_occt=any&as_sauthors=&as_publication=rural&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C48).
I hope my response was at least of some assistance, even if it sparked some ideas on this issue.
Thank you for writing in! Good luck with your work, especially on such an important issue.
Charlie
I am seeking policy guidelines and especially samples for a very small Canadian charity.
I sit on the Board of the Revelstoke Hospice Society.
can you direct me to a no-cost or low-cost resource which might help us in our creation, updating and revision of our policies and procedures.
Many, many thanks,
Maria-Lynn Johnson
Hi Maria-Lynn,
Thank you for your patience in my response. Also, thank you for your question.
This is a great question and one we have put some thought and resources into! The Tool Box has a chapter (Chapter 9) devoted to organizational structure, including several sections specifically on boards. See https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/structure/organizational-structure. Section 7, on Writing By-laws, may be particularly helpful. In addition, a brief literature search should also turn up a bookshelf of information on nonprofit boards and their policies.
Within the Tool Box, you may find Toolkit 4 of interest on developing a framework or model of change that may assist in thinking through issues like values and goals of the charity. See https://ctb.ku.edu/en/4-developing-framework-or-model-change. I hope these resources may be helpful for you!
Good luck on your important work! And, thank you for writing in!
Charlie
My nonprofit organization is currently examining whether to keep a program or close it out. There are a number of considerations to make regarding fiances, the community served, ability to fundraise. I am in search of tools/analysis types that would help make the decision (or at least provide an objective lens). Are there any resources that I can be guided to that would assist.
Thanks and Very Best,
Bryan
Hello,
Thank you for your patience in my response. Also, thank you for your question.
This must be a very difficult decision for you and the members of the organization. I find myself asking, what criteria in closing (or keeping open) are most relevant for you and the organization in your particular situation, and how would you like to order or weight them? I have never found a specific list or formulas to guide this decision, just hard conversations.
You may consider browsing Toolkit 12 as a guide of how to evaluate the initiative (i.e. program). See https://ctb.ku.edu/en/evaluating-initiative. This may provide some pointers and guidelines that fit some of your work. I have always found logic models to be really helpful to guilde (and assess) the work. If you have one, you can turn to it to really examine where the program has gone and where it may go (or not go). Perhaps the question is not whether to close the program, but whether it needs a shift.
You may also consider Toolkit 16 on sustaining initiatives. See https://ctb.ku.edu/en/sustaining-work-or-initiative. This could also provide some guidelines on things to think about when making such a difficult decision.
Good luck in your work! And thank you for contacting us!
Charlie
Hello,
Thank you for your patience in my response. Also, thank you for your question.
Without really knowing the local context, my response may or may not fit. I do hope it provides at least some insights, however.
I would recommend talking informally to the County Attorney’s office, explaining your situation honestly, and asking for their advice on how to proceed. I often find that folks working in administrative offices such as this are more than willing to help and guide when and where they can. Considering they are a key role player in this system, they would likely have a significant amount more insight than I could provide.
Thank you for writing in! Good luck on your work!
Charlie