| Community Tool Box

• Why is quality important to you?

• What are the basic principles of TQM?

• What is TQM and its relevance to your organization?

• How do you achieve quality performance, using TQM and other principles?

• How do you maintain quality performance?

• The Fourteen Points

W. Edwards Deming, a statistician and management thinker who influenced American industry during World War II and Japanese industry afterward, developed management principles centered on quality and continual improvement. These principles encouraged flexible, dynamic systems that involved people throughout an organization in producing goods and services that met customer needs, performed reliably, and were continually improved. His ideas are often associated with Total Quality Management (TQM), and they contributed to a number of related management approaches and innovations around the world.

Why is quality important for you?

Exactly what does quality mean in the context of advocacy, community development, health, or human service organizations or initiatives?

A quality program:

• Responds as effectively as possible to the needs it was designed to meet
• Is totally consistent with the mission and philosophy of the organization or group carrying it out
• Is responsive to the priorities, needs, strengths, and cultural contexts of the people and communities involved
• Is a model of ethical behavior

But why is quality important for a grassroots or community-based organization?

• Quality makes a group more effective at addressing the priorities and needs it is working on
• Quality adds strength and credibility to your organization or initiative
• Ethically, organizations should strive to provide the highest quality of service, support, or advocacy they can
• Investing in quality can reduce avoidable problems, strengthen effectiveness, and make better use of resources over time

Developing a "culture of quality" can have a number of positive effects on your organization itself

• When staff members and volunteers see that they and the organization are doing high-quality work, it can strengthen morale, confidence, and commitment to the organization
• Striving for quality helps to develop organizational and individual competence, thus continually improving the organization
• A quality program continually improves its performance and service delivery, which can strengthen organizational credibility and better serve participants, community members, and partners

What are the basic principles of TQM?

(Much of the following discussion is based on material contained in Introduction to Total Quality: Quality Management for Production, Processing, and Services, 2nd Edition. Full source citation can be found under Resources.)

There are some basic assumptions that underlie the idea of TQM. In this section, we'll look at how they might relate to your organization or initiative.

Key elements of total quality

• Customer Focus: In TQM, the needs of the customer are the starting point for quality. In community-based work, however, the people most directly affected by an issue are more appropriately understood as participants, partners, community members, or constituents rather than simply as "customers." What priorities, needs, strengths, and experiences should guide the work? How can the organization respond effectively and respectfully while involving community members in shaping programs, services, and decisions?
• Commitment to Quality: Quality should be considered from the beginning and built into everything a business or organization does. Careful planning, monitoring, evaluation, reflection, and adjustment are all important. Quality is strengthened not only by identifying problems after they occur, but also by designing systems that prevent avoidable problems and support learning when challenges arise. Everyone in the organization should understand and contribute to this commitment to quality.
• Continual Improvement of Systems: The work of an organization should be viewed as an ongoing process of learning and improvement. Programs and initiatives should adapt as community priorities, needs, strengths, circumstances, and available evidence change.
• Unity of Purpose: In order for quality to be achieved, everyone in an organization or business has to work together toward common goals. That means mutual support throughout the organization, not turf battles, not jealousy, not unnecessary competition. All interactions among people in the organization should be mutually helpful and aimed at achieving the best possible performance of the organization as a whole.
• Teamwork: Working collaboratively can strengthen connections among colleagues, distribute responsibility, bring together different perspectives, and improve results. Effective teamwork also creates opportunities for shared learning and support.
• Staff Involvement: If everyone in an organization is expected to contribute to quality performance, staff members should have meaningful opportunities to shape how the work is done. People need enough autonomy and support to do their jobs effectively, and their knowledge, perspectives, and ideas should be respected and taken seriously.
• Education and Training: Achieving quality requires ongoing learning for everyone in an organization, and that learning should be part of the organizational culture. Staff members can learn from colleagues, community partners, participants, research, training, workshops, courses, and other organizations. Ongoing learning can strengthen skills and bring new ideas and perspectives to the work.
• Evidence-Informed Approach: For grassroots and community-based organizations, this means drawing on the best available research, practice-based knowledge, community knowledge, lived experience, and lessons from others to design and improve programs or initiatives. Using multiple forms of evidence is more likely to support effective, appropriate work than relying on assumptions or intuition alone.

The founders of a Massachusetts community-based adult literacy program, with backgrounds in both developmental psychology and reading theory, based their program on the best available research in both areas. They worked to align the educational and support elements of the program and trained staff accordingly. Initially, because the program used an approach that had not been widely applied with adults, it was strongly criticized by others in the field. Critics argued that the program should use a stricter phonics-based approach and give less attention to students' concerns and community issues. Over time, however, the program maintained a low dropout rate and strong student outcomes, and others began experimenting with similar ideas. Fifteen years later, the program had become a model for the state while continuing to adapt in response to student feedback, changing needs, and new research findings.

• Long-Term Commitment: Quality requires sustained attention. Organizations should continue learning and improving even after reaching a strong level of performance. Rather than treating quality as a fixed endpoint, view it as an ongoing commitment to effectiveness, responsiveness, equity, and learning.

The Deming Cycle

The assumptions above underlie the "Deming Cycle," which is really a process for creating and selling a quality product. We'll revisit the Deming Cycle later to examine how it can be used in an advocacy, community development, health, or human service context.

• Plan - conduct consumer research and use it for planning the product
• Do -  produce the product
• Check - check the product to make sure it was produced in accordance with the plan
• Act - market the product
• Analyze - analyze how the product is received in the marketplace in terms of quality, cost, and other data

What is TQM and its relevance to your organization?

It is important to note that the principles of TQM were designed for the business sector, so while some aspects are relevant to organizations concerned with advocacy, community development, health, and human services, other aspects may be contrary to the goals of those organizations.

Some elements of TQM that would work toward quality in any environment include:

• The need for careful planning, monitoring, evaluation, learning, and adjustment
• Teamwork, shared decision-making, and meaningful participation throughout the organization
• Constant education and training for all staff
• Attention to the priorities, needs, strengths, and outcomes of community members and participants
• Identifying and changing what doesn't work well
• Encouraging and rewarding, rather than discouraging, new ideas
• Developing an organization-wide culture of quality
• Keeping at it over the long term

Some elements which may not work toward quality for your organization are those that assume that the goal is the success of a business, such as:

• The emphasis on products and production, which may take the focus off the human needs and consequences your organization is concerned with
• The assumption of a hierarchical structure where those in authority control when and how others participate in decisions, and where leadership always comes from the top, which may conflict with collaborative or community-centered ways of working
• The definition of everyone as either a supplier or a consumer/customer, which may not fit grassroots and community-based work where people may also be participants, partners, leaders, contributors, and decision-makers

How do you achieve quality performance, using TQM and other principles?

Using the Deming Cycle while keeping some of the basic TQM principles in mind can help you design, deliver, refine, and maintain an effective program or initiative.

Plan

In Deming's original business framework, the Plan stage involves consumer research and product planning. In community-based work, this can be adapted as a collaborative assessment of community priorities, needs, strengths, resources, and context, followed by planning with the people and groups who will be affected by or involved in the initiative.

Thus, the "Plan" part of the cycle might include the following:

• Conducting a community assessment that examines needs, strengths, assets, and resources and meaningfully involves people affected by the issue
• Identifying desired outcomes collaboratively from the perspectives of community members, participants, the organization, partners, and the broader community
• Determining ways to reach those outcomes that are feasible, consistent with the organization's guiding principles, inclusive and equitable, and responsive to the priorities, strengths, cultural contexts, and experiences of the people and communities involved
• Developing indicators that can help show progress toward desired outcomes and identify meaningful milestones along the way
• Creating meaningful opportunities for people affected by or involved in the work to participate in the development of the plan

Do

In Deming's original framework, the Do stage focuses on producing the product. In community-based work, this stage involves designing and implementing the program, outreach effort, service strategy, advocacy activity, or other action identified during planning. The work can draw on relevant TQM principles—such as teamwork, staff involvement, evidence-informed practice, commitment to quality, and responsiveness to participants and community members—along with community organizing and engagement principles.

The following are important elements of designing an effective program:

• Finding out what has already been tried in the community, and how well it worked
• Learning whether past experiences with certain methods, approaches, organizations, or individuals created concerns or mistrust that should be understood before similar approaches are proposed again
• Using as examples other communities that have successfully mounted similar programs, while remaining aware that not everything that works in one place will work in another
• Consulting relevant research, practice-based evidence, community knowledge, and lived experience to understand what has worked in similar situations
• Meaningfully involving people affected by, participating in, and carrying out the program or initiative in its development
• Taking care of the logistics: accessible space or platforms, equipment and supplies, appropriate staffing and volunteer capacity, and other resources needed for implementation

Check

Review the program or initiative to determine whether it aligns with the plan and with what was learned during community assessment and engagement. Does it reflect identified priorities, strengths, and needs? Is it likely to support the desired outcomes in appropriate ways? Is it inclusive, equitable, accessible, and feasible? Were people affected by the work meaningfully involved in its development? Is it ready to move forward?

Act

In Deming's original framework, this stage involves bringing the product to market. In community-based work, it means putting the planned program or initiative into action.

If it's going to work well, there are some non-TQM standards that need to be applied:

• Everyone involved should understand the process that led up to this program, as well as the philosophy, concept, and workings of it
• Everyone involved should understand their responsibilities and have the support, resources, and accountability needed to carry them out. Mistakes and challenges are inevitable; the goal is to create conditions where people can learn from them, address barriers, and follow through on agreed-upon responsibilities.
• Strong planning must be matched by effective implementation, clear roles, adequate resources, supportive working conditions, and people with the knowledge and skills needed to carry out the work

Analyze

Analyze how the product is received in terms of quality, cost, and other data. Analysis in this context - looking at what you're doing, evaluating it, and trying to improve it - needs to be conducted on the basis of the original plan, with discussions among participants, staff, and others.

Consider:

• Does the program or initiative address the priorities, needs, strengths, and opportunities identified through assessment and engagement? Have those priorities or circumstances changed since the original assessment?
• Does the program or initiative reach, or help participants and communities move toward, the desired outcomes? Are those outcomes still appropriate and meaningful, or should they be revised? The indicators you developed can help you examine both questions.
• Is the plan feasible? Can the program or initiative be carried out with the time, resources, staffing, and capacity available? Is it accessible to participants? Are staff and volunteers able to do their work without unreasonable workloads or expectations? Is the program or initiative trusted, supported, or viewed as useful by community members and partner organizations?
• Is the program or initiative consistent with the vision, mission, philosophy, and guiding principles of the organization, and are those still appropriate? Do its internal practices—such as working conditions, shared decision-making, and relationships among staff, participants, volunteers, partners, and community members—reflect the values and changes the organization hopes to support in the broader community?
• Is the program or initiative inclusive, equitable, accessible, and respectful of participants and community members?
• Is the program or initiative ethical? Are its decisions and practices consistent with the organization's stated principles? Does the work uphold fairness, honesty, respect, participation, accountability, privacy, and responsibility for its effects?

Although the two are usually congruent, ethical is not always exactly the same as legal. The exercise of civil disobedience may be profoundly ethical, while being, at the same time, inarguably illegal. The civil rights marches and actions led by Martin Luther King and others during the 1950's and 60's often fell into this category.

Restart the cycle

Your analysis should naturally lead into a new planning session and, where necessary, to rethinking and revising the program or initiative, or even the organization's role and priorities.

How do you maintain quality performance?

While the maintenance of quality is, to some extent, built into the Deming Cycle, it requires some particular commitments and action.

Institutionalization of dynamism

An organization needs to be dynamic, always moving and always seeking continued improvement, and to institutionalize its dynamic character.

This means:

• A commitment to learning and adaptation should be part of the organizational culture, with people throughout the organization understanding and contributing to it.
• Encouraging and providing support -- to staff, volunteers, and participants -- for learning.

Organizational support for education includes providing, or coordinating with another organization's provision of, professional development or university courses, training, certification, etc., that help staff and volunteers to build their skills. If financial resources are not available, other means of institutional support -- release time or leave time, special recognition, a library for the organization, study circles or reading groups, etc. -- need to be considered. Everyone in the organization, including administrators and Board members, should be encouraged to take advantage of learning opportunities and to model learning behavior.

• Listening to and carefully evaluating ideas from everyone.
• Encouraging openness to change and experimentation with new ideas and strategies

Administrators and Board members need to model such openness by being willing to reexamine and change procedures, policies, etc. when needed. Staff and volunteers should be given room to try out even things that others may be skeptical about, as long as they can justify the attempt ("It worked elsewhere" and "I learned about it in a course" are both reasonable justifications.). If such an attempt is honestly carried out, it should be seen as a positive even if it fails: it provided new information, and is another building block in the construction of a quality program.

• Never being complacent and always being open to the idea that the work could be done differently -- and better.
• Incorporating ongoing reevaluation, including feedback, ideas, and knowledge from participants and community members.
• Always being aware of the original mission, but not being afraid of change. While the mission itself may change as the community and circumstances do, it should nonetheless remain consistent with the principles and philosophy upon which the organization was founded.

Long-range strategic planning

To maintain quality, an organization needs to continually examine its work with a long-term perspective.

It needs to ask some questions about its role and its future:

• Is it meeting an ongoing need effectively? If not, what does it need to do to become more effective?
• Have community priorities, needs, strengths, or circumstances changed? Are they likely to? If so, how can the organization adapt in partnership with the community?
• Are there different or additional roles the organization should consider? Should it adapt or expand its current activities in response to current or emerging community priorities?
• Does it need more resources, or will it in the future? What are some likely sources?
• Is its structure appropriate to what it is doing and consistent with its mission and guiding principles? For example, an organization committed to shared power and community participation should examine whether its own decision-making structures reflect those values.
• Are its goals, vision, and philosophy still relevant to community realities and priorities and consistent with its organizational mission and guiding principles?

SWOT Analysis

One way to explore these questions is through the use of another planning tool often used in organizational settings: SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Each of the questions above can be examined through this framework. What internal strengths and limitations affect your organization's work? What opportunities exist? What external threats or challenges may affect the organization's ability to sustain quality performance?

Strengths and weaknesses: Strengths and weaknesses may be trends, rather than specifics. A level of service that is currently appropriate, for example, is not a strength if it is more or less than will be needed in a year. A new program that's not ready to implement yet is not a weakness if it's unready because the developers are taking the time necessary to make it effective.

By the same token, strengths and weaknesses don't necessarily lie only in the success of programs or the skills of staff members, but in such areas as relationships, contacts, and reputation. An organization running a great program may still be have serious weaknesses because it lacks some of these other features, no matter how well it carries out its day-to-day activities.

Opportunities: Opportunities can take many forms.

• An organization may be able to address additional priorities with its current structure. For instance, an organization that connects pregnant adolescents with prenatal care may also be well positioned to provide or connect families with vaccinations, nutrition information, parenting resources, and other supports after a child is born.
• It may be possible to expand into other areas of service, or into a larger arena (another town, another county, national instead of just one state).
• Increased funding may be available from new sources, or because of changed circumstances. A new census, for example, can result in an increase in federal funds to a region, or an economic downturn may bring a demand -- and increased funding -- for adult education or retraining.
• Collaboration with other groups, leading to increased resources, may become a prospect.
• Invitations, awards, partnerships, or positive media attention may strengthen awareness of and confidence in your organization's work.

Taking advantage of an opportunity can have both benefits and tradeoffs for your organization, so it is important to analyze the situation carefully before making a commitment.

Threats (Challenges): Some opportunities also bring significant challenges and tradeoffs that should be considered carefully. Growth or expansion may require organizational restructuring, additional capacity, and substantial planning. Some opportunities may even lead an organization to reconsider its purpose or scope. As an organization grows or gains wider recognition, it is important to remain connected to its mission, guiding principles, community relationships, and accountability.

Other challenges may arise independently of new opportunities. Your organization may have difficulty securing and sustaining funding and other resources, recruiting and retaining qualified staff, maintaining capacity across areas such as outreach, communications, programming, and evaluation, navigating controversy, or responding to opposition from individuals, organizations, or parts of the community.

Applying SWOT analysis across the organization's work can help identify strengths to build on, limitations to address, opportunities to pursue, and external challenges to anticipate and prepare for.

Other facets of the planning process

Some specific areas that long-range strategic planning needs to address at regular intervals:

• Reexamining the organization's vision, guiding principles, and mission statement. Are they still relevant to what the organization does, the communities it works with, and the values it seeks to uphold? Do they need to be restated or redefined?
• Reexamining the goals of the organization. Are they still relevant to the community priorities and needs they were originally meant to address? Are they consistent with the vision and mission statement?
• Reexamining the current strategies of the organization for meeting those goals. Are current methods effective? Are they consistent with the organization's vision, mission statement, and guiding principles? Are they feasible, accessible, equitable, and responsive to community priorities and perspectives? Are they ethical?

Keeping at it

The single most important thing to understand about maintaining quality performance -- or maintaining an organization, for that matter -- is that you can never stop working at it. No effort at maintaining quality will work any longer than it is applied. No matter how institutionalized dynamism becomes, no matter how good your planning process is, they take constant care.

The Fourteen Points

Deming used the key elements listed above in "Basic principles of TQM" to define the "Fourteen Points," fourteen things that he felt businesses needed to do in order to achieve quality performance.

1. Create constancy of purpose toward the improvement of products and services in order to become competitive, stay in business, and provide jobs.
2. Adopt the new philosophy. Management must learn that it is a new economic age and awaken to the challenge, learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.
3. Stop depending on inspection to achieve quality. Build in quality from the start.
4. Stop awarding contracts on the basis of low bids.
5. Continuously improve the system of production and services to enhance quality and productivity, and thus constantly to reduce costs.
6. Institute training on the job.
7. Institute leadership. The purpose of leadership should be to help people and technology work better.
8. Drive out fear so that everyone may work effectively.
9. Break down barriers between departments so that people can work as a team.
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force. They create adversarial relationships.
11. Eliminate quotas and management by objectives. Substitute leadership.
12. Remove barriers that rob employees of their pride of workmanship.
13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self improvement.
14. Make the transformation everyone's job and put everyone to work on it.

In Summary

Achieving and maintaining quality performance is important to participants, community members, partners, funders, and the organization itself.

Using some TQM principles and, specifically, the Deming Cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act, Analyze) can be helpful in getting to a high level of quality and continuing to improve.

In general, achieving and maintaining quality is a result of:

• Careful planning
• Program or initiative development that adheres to that planning
• Implementation that takes quality into account
• Constant reevaluation of implementation and of the organization
• An assumption of the dynamic character of the organization, and a willingness to change continually in striving for a better way to accomplish goals
• Keeping at it indefinitely

If your organization can sustain these practices over time, it will be better positioned to maintain quality, learn from experience, and adapt as circumstances change.

What is the Total Quality Management system?

___Total Quality Management refers to principles developed by W. Edwards Deming that encourage the development of a flexible, dynamic system which involves everyone in an organization in the production of goods that exactly meet the customer's needs, do precisely what they are supposed to do as effectively as possible every time at the best possible price, and are constantly being improved

Why is quality important for a grass roots organization?

___It increase the group's effectiveness at reaching its goals

___It adds strength and credibility to your organization/initiative

___It helps the organization fulfill the ethical obligation to provide the best service or advocacy possible

___It is more economical over the long run

___It has many positive effects on your organization

What are the basic principles of TQM?

___Customer focus

___Obsession with quality

___Continual improvement of systems

___Unity of purpose

___Teamwork

___Employee involvement

___Education and training

___Scientific approach

___Long-term commitment

What are the steps of the Deming Cycle?

___Plan: Conduct research and plan for improvement

___Do: Produce the product

___Check: Check to be sure that the product meets planning goals

___Act: Market the product

___Analyze: Analyze how the product is received in the marketplace

How should you use TQM for your organization?

___Determine which elements of TQM are relevant to your situation, and which are not

___Commit your organization to maintaining quality performance through:

• Institutionalization of dynamism
• Long-range strategic planning
• Keeping at it forever

___Know what SWOT analysis is, and how to use it

A new community health initiative was about to start, funded by anti-smoking money from the state Department of Health. The program was intended for people participating in a number of community service programs – employment training and job development, adult basic education, pregnancy prevention among adolescents, and others. Its focus was supposed to be on sharing information about the health effects and addictive nature of smoking and supporting people who wanted to quit.

Before the program started, however, its organizers decided that they needed to understand which health issues potential participants considered most important.

The health educators interviewed a large number of people involved in the community programs they were working with and found that many both smoked and were interested in quitting. More immediate concerns for many participants, however, included neighborhood violence and substance use. Smoking ranked much lower among their priorities.

After conferring with its funder, the community health program began by addressing violence and substance use as community health issues. It attracted a large number of participants who, through a variety of strategies and collective efforts, helped reduce violence in the area and supported the establishment of a substance use treatment center in the neighborhood. During this work, participants were also introduced to information about tobacco addiction and resources for smoking prevention and cessation. Many participants who smoked subsequently joined smoking cessation groups and were able to quit. Although the program had begun by addressing health concerns that might initially have seemed unrelated to smoking, the health educators ultimately developed one of the most successful smoking cessation programs in the state. They realized that this success depended in large part on asking participants about their priorities, experiences, and what would make the program relevant to them.

Health and community service programs often seek to support community well-being, but organizations do not automatically know what community members consider most important or what approaches will be useful. One of the best ways to understand these priorities is to ask people who are directly affected by or involved in the work. Chapter 40 is about attaining and maintaining quality in your work. In this section, we'll discuss what feedback from participants consists of, how you can obtain it, and how you can use it to create and maintain a high-quality program, initiative, or intervention that is responsive to community priorities, strengths, and needs.

What do we mean by feedback from participants?

In simplest terms, feedback from participants consists of reactions, perspectives, experiences, and opinions about your effort from people who are affected by or involved in it. If you've read the first section of this chapter, you'll remember that an important element of building quality into programs is responsiveness to the people and communities involved. In the original Total Quality Management framework, this concept is described as customer-centeredness. In community-based work, participant- and community-centered practice means understanding what people actually experience, value, and need rather than assuming you already know. It also means meaningfully involving participants in planning, implementing, and evaluating the work so that programs can adapt in response to their knowledge and experiences.

This emphasis on participant- and community-centered practice fits closely with the Community Tool Box's emphasis on participatory processes. We believe that involving participants from the beginning in a program or intervention greatly increases the possibility of its success. W. Edwards Deming's Total Quality Management framework emphasized listening to customers; in community-based work, that principle can be expanded to recognize participants and community members as partners whose lived experience and knowledge should help shape decisions. Understanding what people experience, value, and need makes it easier to develop programs that are relevant and responsive.

Feedback is not simply criticism, constructive or otherwise. Rather, it reflects the experiences and perceptions of the person or group providing it. You may believe that you are presenting something in a particular way or accomplishing a particular purpose, but participants may experience it differently. Understanding those differences can provide important information for improving your work.

Feedback can be positive, negative, mixed, or neutral.

Its nature may also be influenced by a number of factors:

• Feedback may draw on facts, observation, past experience, personal reactions, relationships, cultural context, trust, and other sources of knowledge. Rather than treating some forms of feedback as inherently more valid than others, consider what each perspective can tell you and what additional information may be needed.
• Participants may bring important knowledge about the history of the community, specific people and relationships, culture, local institutions, previous initiatives, and other factors that may not be visible to program staff.
• Feedback may also be shaped by the information participants have received, how accessible that information is, and their experiences with the issue or process. When perspectives differ, additional conversation can help clarify what people know, understand, or have experienced.
• Feedback might be solicited (asked for) or unsolicited. Unsolicited feedback may sometimes be expressed strongly, particularly when people have felt unheard or frustrated. Even when its delivery is difficult, it may contain important information worth considering.

In addition to its range of possible characteristics, feedback can be communicated in a number of ways, and it's important to pay attention to as many of them as possible.

• Direct verbal feedback. Direct feedback can be especially useful because it gives participants an opportunity to describe their experiences and perspectives in their own words. It may be offered face to face, virtually, by phone, or in writing. Not everyone will feel comfortable providing direct feedback, however, particularly when there are differences in power or concerns about how the information will be used.

In general, this section focuses on obtaining intentional, direct feedback. We include some other ways of recognizing feedback immediately below. Direct feedback can often be easier to clarify and use, but organizations should also pay attention to other ways participants communicate their experiences.

• Indirect verbal feedback. This might include remarks that aren't intended specifically as formal feedback, comments made during everyday interactions, or observations shared by participants with one another.

A conversation with a participant might include a remark about how helpful the program has been for her, or how a particular activity or process wasn't useful. Participants may also discuss experiences with one another that they have not felt comfortable sharing directly with staff. When these concerns reach staff appropriately and without violating privacy, they may provide useful information about the participant experience.

Comments that initially seem broad or unclear may become more informative through respectful follow-up. A participant might say, for instance, "This is stupid!" Rather than assuming the comment reflects cynicism or lack of understanding, you might ask what specifically isn't working for them or what would make the activity more useful. The response may identify confusing instructions, inaccessible material, embarrassment, frustration, or another issue that can be addressed. Asking rather than assuming can produce useful information for both participants and staff.

• Direct non-verbal or behavioral feedback. Patterns such as missed appointments, difficulty completing tasks, reduced participation, or leaving a program may provide information about participants' experiences. These behaviors should not automatically be interpreted as rejection of the program; they may reflect barriers such as transportation, work schedules, caregiving responsibilities, accessibility issues, health concerns, stress, previous negative experiences, or other circumstances. When safe and appropriate, changes in behavior can be an invitation to ask what is happening and what support or changes might be useful.

It is important not to assume that every action is feedback about a program. A person's behavior may reflect many factors, including experiences within the program, conditions outside the program, stress, trauma, health, family responsibilities, safety concerns, or other circumstances. For example, an adolescent who appears guarded or disengaged may be responding to an interaction that felt disrespectful, to previous experiences of abuse, neglect, discrimination, or other trauma, or to circumstances unrelated to the program. Similarly, several people missing appointments may point to a program-level barrier, such as inconvenient scheduling or transportation difficulties, but individual circumstances may also play a role. The most useful response is usually to avoid assumptions and seek additional information where appropriate.

• Indirect non-verbal feedback. Facial expressions, tone of voice, body language, participation patterns, and other behaviors may provide clues about how people are experiencing a program. For example, continued signs of discomfort, anxiety, disengagement, or reluctance to participate may suggest that something about the environment, relationships, expectations, or activities deserves closer attention. Non-verbal cues vary greatly across individuals and cultures, so they should not be interpreted in isolation. Instead, use them as a reason to check in respectfully and create opportunities for participants to describe their experiences in their own way.

It's important to remember that feedback reflects participants' experiences and perceptions. Different people may interpret the same situation differently, and feedback should be considered alongside other information and perspectives. At the same time, participants' perceptions are themselves important information. If many participants report that they don't feel respected, supported, safe, or well served, the organization should seek to understand why and consider what changes may be needed rather than simply trying to change those perceptions. Even feedback that is difficult to hear can provide an opportunity for reflection and improvement.

Why do you need feedback from participants?

• It's part of being participant- and community-centered. Paying attention to participants' priorities, experiences, needs, strengths, and ideas is a crucial element in creating a quality program.
• It gives you tools to improve your program. Understanding what's useful and what isn't, what's working and what isn't, and what participants would change can help increase the effectiveness and responsiveness of your work.
• It allows you to respond to changes in the community or in participants' circumstances. Social, cultural, economic, demographic, environmental, or policy changes may affect participants and the community. For example, changes in migration patterns, employment opportunities, housing, neighborhood safety, or access to services may influence what participants need from a program. Participant feedback can help your organization understand these changes and respond appropriately.
• It can give you information about the history of the community, the issue, or previous efforts. Participants may know that a particular approach carries negative associations, has been tried previously, or encountered barriers that are still present. Understanding that history can help an organization avoid repeating past mistakes and build on previous learning.
• It can help you understand relationships and community dynamics. Participants may have valuable knowledge about relationships among organizations, neighborhoods, leaders, networks, and community groups. This knowledge can be important when building partnerships or creating planning and decision-making groups.
• It can tell you when your methods or approach aren't working. If participants consistently report that they aren't seeing progress or that an approach isn't useful, that feedback should be examined alongside other evidence.
• It can tell you when people feel uncomfortable, unheard, excluded, or disrespected. Participant feedback can identify an intake process that feels impersonal or intimidating, communication that is inaccessible, or staff attitudes and practices that make participants feel that their knowledge or experiences are not valued.
• It can help you address what is important to participants, even when those priorities differ from your original focus. The smoking cessation example that opens this section shows how responding to participants' priorities can strengthen engagement and ultimately support the program's broader goals.
• It can help ensure that your objectives are meaningful to participants as well as to your organization. Programs are more likely to be relevant and sustainable when their goals are informed by the priorities, strengths, and experiences of the people involved. If participants see little connection between a program and what matters to them, participation is likely to decline.

Who are the participants that can offer feedback?

All participants can offer meaningful feedback when organizations provide appropriate and accessible ways for them to communicate. People differ in age, language, communication style, literacy, cognitive abilities, disability, comfort with institutions, and preferred ways of expressing themselves. These differences may affect the methods you use to gather feedback, but they should not be treated as reasons to exclude people from the process. The key is to match feedback methods to participants' communication preferences and support needs and, where appropriate, offer multiple ways to participate.

Considerations for making feedback opportunities inclusive include:

• Participants who use languages other than the dominant language. Provide interpretation, translated materials, bilingual staff, or other language-access supports when possible. Also consider how power, previous experiences with institutions, immigration experiences, cultural norms, and concerns about confidentiality may affect whether someone feels comfortable giving candid feedback. Avoid assuming that everyone from a particular cultural or language group will communicate in the same way; ask participants what would help them feel comfortable and heard.
• People who have left the program before reaching their goals. Their perspectives may provide especially valuable information about barriers to participation. Why did they leave? Was the program relevant and accessible? What barriers did they encounter? What might have made participation easier or more worthwhile? When appropriate and respectful, following up with former participants can help an organization understand where changes may be needed.

Sometimes a participant's decision to leave has less to do with the program's content than with barriers surrounding participation. Participants may need childcare, transportation, disability accommodations, scheduling flexibility, language access, financial support, or other resources that are not available. Understanding these barriers will not make every program appropriate for every person, but it can identify changes that make participation more accessible and equitable.

• Children. Children can provide meaningful feedback about how they experience a program, even when they may not describe those experiences in the same way adults do. Use developmentally appropriate questions and methods such as conversation, drawings, visual scales, activities, or observation, and make sure children understand that their perspectives are welcome. Behavioral changes may also signal comfort, distress, confusion, or unmet needs, but they should be explored rather than interpreted automatically.
• Adolescents facing significant barriers or challenging circumstances. Young people experiencing violence, difficulties at school, substance use, unstable housing, discrimination, family stress, or other challenges may have important perspectives about the services and environments around them. Trust may take time to develop, particularly when young people have had negative experiences with adults or institutions. Create respectful, confidential, youth-friendly opportunities for feedback and avoid assuming that reluctance to speak reflects a lack of insight or interest.
• People with mental health conditions. People with mental health conditions can provide valuable information about the services and programs they use and about their own experiences, priorities, and needs. Organizations should provide respectful opportunities for feedback and make reasonable accommodations when needed rather than assuming that a diagnosis limits someone's ability to contribute.
• Adolescents and adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities. People with intellectual or developmental disabilities can provide meaningful feedback about their experiences. The best method will depend on individual communication preferences and support needs. Plain language, visual aids, supported communication, accessible surveys, additional time, trusted communication partners, or other accommodations may help people express what they like, dislike, need, or would change.

When might you obtain and use feedback from participants?

In thinking about when feedback is necessary, it's helpful to refer to the Deming Cycle, which consists of five phases: Plan, Do, Check, Act, Analyze. Feedback from participants can and should be used at every phase of the Deming Cycle.

• Before a program or initiative starts (Plan): Participant feedback is crucial to ensuring an accurate understanding of community strengths, assets, priorities, needs, and circumstances and to identifying outcomes that are meaningful to the people involved.
• During the development of the program or initiative itself (Do): Invite people who will participate in or be affected by the effort not only to provide feedback but, where possible, to help shape its goals, design, activities, and implementation. Meaningful participation can strengthen relevance, accessibility, trust, and community ownership.
• When your program is ready to begin (Check): Asking potential participants to review the plan can identify barriers, omissions, strengths, and opportunities for improvement before implementation. Ask whether the program reflects the priorities participants identified, whether it is accessible, and whether its intended outcomes are meaningful and realistic.
• During the running of the program (Act): Continue creating opportunities for feedback throughout implementation so you can respond to emerging issues, improve accessibility and participation, and make appropriate adjustments as you learn.
• As part of a formal or informal evaluation (Analyze): Conduct evaluation regularly at intervals appropriate to your program. Participant feedback is an important part of understanding strengths, challenges, outcomes, and unintended effects. Combining it with other forms of evidence can guide improvements and begin the cycle again.

How do you obtain feedback from participants?

Obtaining honest feedback from participants may sometimes be as simple as asking, but creating conditions where people feel comfortable answering candidly often requires more intentional work. Differences in power, previous experiences with institutions, language, culture, disability, age, confidentiality concerns, and the consequences participants believe could follow from criticism can all affect what people feel comfortable sharing.

Avoid assuming that a person's culture, gender, age, or other identity determines how they will respond. Instead, consider how communication norms, relationships, social expectations, institutional experiences, and power dynamics may affect participation. Language access and literacy can also affect which methods work best. Participants in involuntary programs, such as court-mandated substance use treatment, may have particular concerns about confidentiality or about whether criticism could affect their status. Others may simply hesitate to criticize a staff member or organization they value.

Obtaining honest feedback is generally easier when participants have been treated from the beginning as people with valuable knowledge and a meaningful stake in the program. When participants help shape planning, implementation, services, education, or treatment, feedback becomes part of an ongoing partnership rather than a separate activity. People are more likely to share candid perspectives when they know their knowledge is respected, understand how their feedback will be used, and see evidence that the organization takes their ideas seriously.

We present below several ways to ask for and obtain useful feedback from participants, but one of the strongest foundations for honest feedback is to involve participants as partners in the work from the outset wherever possible.

Methods of obtaining feedback

There are a number of methods you might use to obtain feedback. Which is best will depend on your situation, and you may use more than one method in order to make participation accessible to different groups of people.

Surveys. Using a survey to collect feedback is a common practice. Surveys can be administered in several ways.

• Written. This often takes the form of a short questionnaire that people can complete and return. Some surveys are longer and may include opportunities for open-ended comments in addition to yes-no answers or rating scales.
• Face to face. An interviewer asks questions and records the participant's responses. A longer or more open-ended conversation may become an interview, a method discussed below.
• Phone. Phone surveys can be useful when participants prefer or need to respond remotely and can allow an interviewer to clarify questions when necessary.
• Online surveys. These are now common and convenient for many participants. However, digital access, reliable internet service, device availability, digital literacy, disability access, data costs, and privacy may affect who can participate. If these barriers are likely, offer additional ways to provide feedback rather than relying exclusively on an online survey.

Email and online surveys can make feedback easier for some people, but digital access is not universal. Communities with limited economic resources, rural communities, older adults, people with disabilities, and others may face barriers involving devices, internet access, data plans, accessibility, or digital literacy. Offering multiple feedback options can help avoid excluding people.

Like all the methods described here, surveys have advantages and disadvantages. Short surveys are relatively easy to complete and can be designed to require little time. Written or online surveys may also be structured so that participants can respond anonymously, which may make it easier to share candid feedback.

Getting people to complete surveys can be difficult. Reasonable incentives may increase participation, as may providing time during a program activity for participants to respond. Be clear about whether participation is voluntary and avoid designing incentives in ways that create undue pressure to participate.

Surveys can also provide limited information when they rely primarily on fixed-response questions. Longer surveys may provide more detail but may be more burdensome to complete. Consider accessibility, time, participant preferences, and the amount of detail you need when choosing a format.

Some participants may prefer or need alternatives to standard written surveys because of literacy, language, visual, cognitive, or other accessibility needs. This may include people who left high school before graduating, participants in adult basic education or English-language learning programs, and many others. Options can include plain-language materials, translated surveys, screen-reader-compatible forms, phone or face-to-face administration, large print, visual response scales, or having questions read aloud when the participant chooses that support.

Interviews. These are conversations with a specific purpose – in this case, obtaining feedback about your work. Interviews can take place in person, by phone, or virtually and can be conducted individually or in groups.

An interview differs from a structured survey in several ways. Interviews may use a consistent set of questions while still allowing the interviewer to ask follow-up questions, clarify responses, or explore issues that participants raise. Interviews also tend to provide more space for explanation and reflection than brief surveys.

Most interviews emphasize open-ended questions rather than questions that can be answered only with yes or no. Rather than asking "Did you like X?", for example, an interviewer might ask, "What worked well for you about X? What didn't? Why?" A good interviewer can also ask respectful follow-up questions when an important theme emerges.

Individual interviews can provide detailed information and give the participant privacy and the interviewer's focused attention. These conditions may make it easier for some people to discuss experiences that they would not raise in a larger group.

Individual interviews can also be time-consuming and may limit how many people can participate. As with any form of qualitative feedback, one person's account represents that person's experience and should not automatically be treated as representative of everyone. The quality of the interview also depends on trust, accessibility, interviewer skill, and the participant's comfort with the setting.

Small-group interviews and focus groups. A small-group interview includes several people and gives participants opportunities to respond to and build on one another's ideas. Questions may be prepared in advance while still allowing space for follow-up discussion and issues raised by participants.

Focus groups are structured small-group discussions organized around a particular topic. A trained facilitator uses prepared questions while allowing participants to elaborate, respond to one another, and raise related concerns. Explain the purpose of the discussion honestly while avoiding questions that lead participants toward a predetermined response. When deciding who should be in a group, consider whether relationships, power differences, confidentiality concerns, or group dynamics could make some participants less comfortable speaking openly.

Town-meeting or whole-program format. In this situation, a larger gathering – perhaps even all participants in a program – meets to discuss experiences, concerns, ideas, and possible improvements. With skilled facilitation and clear expectations for respectful participation, this format can generate useful feedback, new ideas, and opportunities for collaboration. It may be less appropriate when people need confidentiality, when power differences make open discussion difficult, or when unresolved conflict could prevent some people from participating safely and meaningfully.

If you use a town-meeting or whole-program format, provide skilled facilitation, establish expectations for respectful discussion, and consider whether some participants may need other ways to share concerns privately. Significant disagreements or unresolved problems do not necessarily mean that a group discussion should be avoided, but they may require additional preparation, facilitation, or opportunities for smaller or confidential conversations.

Journals. A way of obtaining ongoing feedback is to invite participants to keep journals. These may be devoted solely to feedback or may have a larger programmatic purpose, depending on the nature of the program. Regular entries can provide an ongoing record of participants' reactions, experiences, questions, and observations.

If journals are interactive – participants' entries are read and responded to by an educator or another appropriate staff member – participants can be invited to elaborate on particular comments and concerns. Be clear about privacy, who will read the journal, and how the information will be used. This method works best when participants are willing and able to use the format and when alternative methods are available for those who prefer another way to communicate.

There are many other ways of obtaining feedback. For example, a program might use a brief anonymous rating after an activity, suggestion cards, text-message surveys, accessible digital forms, participant advisory groups, listening sessions, or creative methods designed with participants themselves. The most useful method is one that fits the people, context, and type of information you need.

Which method you decide to use will depend on a number of factors, including time, accessibility, confidentiality, available resources, participant preferences, and the amount of detail you need. Individual interviews may be useful for detailed feedback; surveys may work well when participants are geographically dispersed; group discussions can generate interaction and collective ideas; and journals can provide ongoing reflection. Using more than one method often helps organizations hear from people who communicate in different ways.

Ways to improve your chances of getting good feedback

Regardless of what methods you use to gather feedback from participants, there are some things you can do to increase the likelihood that people will feel comfortable sharing honest and useful information. Not every strategy will be appropriate for every method or group, so choose approaches that fit your participants and context.

Let people know from the beginning that you want their feedback, and will ask for it

This lets participants know that reflection and constructive criticism are expected parts of the program, establishes them as partners in improvement, and makes clear that their perspectives are valued. Explain that feedback is welcome throughout the program, not only when formally requested.

Specify what kind of feedback you want

The clearer you are about the information you're seeking, while still leaving room for issues you may not have anticipated, the more useful the responses may be.

Some of the questions you might ask or things you might want to know about:

Assessment / planning:

• How important is this service or issue in the community? Who is most affected, and what strengths, resources, or barriers should we understand?
• Has this service or issue been addressed in the community before? What happened, and what can we learn from that experience?
• Who should be involved in discussing, planning, or making decisions about this effort?
• Are there relationships, histories, or power dynamics that could make collaboration difficult? Who has worked well together in the past?
• What would make people want to participate in this effort or program? What might discourage participation?
• Are any proposed approaches culturally inappropriate, inaccessible, disrespectful, or inconsistent with how people in the community prefer to engage?

Ongoing feedback and program evaluation:

• What do you like about the program? What works well for you?
• What would you change about the program? What doesn't work well for you?
• What makes it easier for you to continue participating? What has helped you stay involved?
• What circumstances, barriers, or program experiences might make it difficult for you to continue participating?
• Was/is intake welcoming, informative, accessible, and respectful? Were your questions answered? Was the process of determining eligibility or enrollment clear and manageable?
• Were you connected with activities or services that fit your goals and circumstances? Was there flexibility when your needs changed?
• Are you receiving the services or support that were explained or promised? Are they useful to you? Are there other services or resources you need?
• Are there support services or accommodations that would make participation easier, such as childcare, transportation, language access, disability accommodations, technology, or scheduling flexibility?
• Are staff supportive, knowledgeable, helpful, and respectful?
• Do you feel respected and treated as a partner whose experiences and ideas matter?

This question is really about the philosophy of your organization and how it views participants. Staff may be polite while still communicating, intentionally or unintentionally, that professionals know best or that participants lack the knowledge or ability to make decisions about their own lives. Respect involves recognizing participants' agency, experience, knowledge, and right to make informed choices. Honest conversations can include difficult information or accountability, but they should still preserve dignity and avoid humiliation or paternalism. If participants consistently report that they do not feel respected or heard, take that feedback seriously and examine the organization's assumptions, practices, policies, and power relationships.

• Are program expectations clear and consistent? Do staff demonstrate care and respect? Can you get help when you need it?
• How are your relationships with other participants? Do you feel comfortable and included? If problems arise, are there safe and effective ways to address them?
• Have there been problems related to payment, insurance, benefits, or eligibility? Are these processes easy to understand and address? Do you feel comfortable asking staff for help?
• Does the schedule work for you? What changes, such as evening, weekend, remote, or flexible options, might make participation easier?
• Is the location convenient and accessible? Are transportation options available? Do you feel safe traveling to and using the location?
• Is the program site comfortable, welcoming, and appropriate for the activities taking place? Is there enough space and privacy? Is it physically accessible, and are the restroom and other facilities adequate for the people who use them?

Make clear exactly what you're going to use the feedback for

Whether the feedback is being gathered for assessment, planning, ongoing improvement, or evaluation, explain how the information will be used. Participants may worry that criticism could affect their services, relationships with staff, eligibility, or other outcomes. Be clear about confidentiality, any limits to confidentiality, who will see the information, and how decisions will be made. Explain that the purpose is to understand experiences and improve the program rather than punish participants or individual staff members.

Openness about why you're asking for feedback also supports participatory practice by recognizing participants as contributors to planning, evaluation, and improvement and demonstrating that their knowledge is valuable.

Protect anonymity or confidentiality when appropriate

Concerns about being identified can prevent people from providing candid feedback. When possible, offer anonymous methods such as surveys that do not collect identifying information or confidential methods in which identifying information is protected and separated from responses. Explain clearly whether feedback is anonymous, confidential, or neither; these terms are not interchangeable.

When participants are concerned about being identified, choose methods that provide the greatest realistic protection. An independent facilitator, anonymous survey, confidential interview, secure suggestion process, or other approach may help. Group discussions cannot guarantee anonymity among participants, so make sure people understand those limitations before deciding whether to participate.

Let people know that you'll share the results of feedback with them, and be sure to do it

Participants should be told what you learned from the feedback and, when appropriate, what changes you plan to make in response. If recommendations cannot be implemented, explain why. Closing the feedback loop demonstrates that participation mattered and gives people an opportunity to respond to how their input has been interpreted and used.

How do you use feedback from participants?

Once you've gathered feedback, the next step is to use it. Soliciting people's perspectives and then filing them away without meaningful consideration can undermine trust. Participant feedback should inform reflection, decision-making, improvement, and, where appropriate, changes in organizational practice.

Understand the priorities, strengths, and needs of the community

Feedback from potential participants and other community members before planning begins can help identify community priorities, strengths, assets, needs, existing resources, barriers, and the issues people believe deserve attention. It can also help determine what level and type of activity or service would be useful.

Understand changes in the community or in participants' circumstances

Communities continually change because of migration, economic conditions, housing patterns, demographic shifts, policy changes, development, displacement, environmental conditions, and many other factors. For example, the arrival of new residents may bring new languages, cultural knowledge, organizations, networks, and service needs, while longtime residents may also experience changes in resources, relationships, housing, employment, or neighborhood conditions. Factory closures, major construction projects, gentrification, or other changes may significantly affect participants and require an organization to reconsider its approach.

Organizations may be aware that community changes are occurring without fully understanding what those changes mean in people's daily lives. Participant feedback can provide that context and help organizations adapt their work in ways that remain useful, equitable, and responsive.

Improve your program itself

Participant feedback can be tremendously useful, both on an ongoing basis and as part of evaluation, in helping you make your program more effective, accessible, equitable, and responsive.

Feedback can alert you to the need to refine techniques and methods, strengthen approaches that are working, and change those that aren't. It can identify program content that is no longer relevant, as well as barriers involving schedules, transportation, language, disability access, technology, childcare, cost, or other conditions affecting participation.

Participant feedback can also have a major impact on program philosophy and organizational culture. What participants say about how they are treated, whether they feel heard, and whether they have meaningful opportunities to influence decisions can be as important as feedback about specific services.

 There are really three areas to look at here, all of which have already been referred to in this section:

• Attitude toward participants. Participants are more likely to engage when they are treated with dignity and when their knowledge, choices, identities, and experiences are respected.
• Approach toward provision of services. When participants are treated as partners and have meaningful opportunities to shape a program, they can contribute to its relevance, quality, and success as well as benefit from what it offers.
• Identifying and addressing barriers to participation or success. Respectful, participant-centered programs pay attention to practical, organizational, and structural barriers such as childcare, transportation, disability access, language, schedules, cost, technology, literacy, benefits, or other supports. Rather than assuming that difficulty participating reflects a personal failure, ask what conditions may be creating barriers and what changes or resources could address them.

Develop an organizational culture that embraces and institutionalizes ongoing feedback from participants

Many Community Tool Box sections emphasize that effective practices need to be sustained rather than treated as one-time activities. The same is true of obtaining and using participant feedback.

Feedback from participants isn't a one-time activity. Participants and staff change, circumstances evolve, new issues emerge, and institutional memory can fade. Programs and organizations need ongoing opportunities to learn and adapt while remaining accountable to the people and communities involved. Regular participant feedback helps ensure that improvement is informed by current experiences rather than assumptions about what worked in the past.

In Summary

Feedback from people with direct experience of your program, initiative, or intervention can be essential to improving its quality. Participants bring knowledge about what is useful, inaccessible, respectful, frustrating, effective, or missing. Honest feedback may be difficult to obtain when people are concerned about confidentiality, power differences, negative consequences, or whether their input will actually matter. One of the strongest ways to build trust is to involve participants meaningfully from the beginning and demonstrate that their knowledge influences planning, implementation, evaluation, and improvement.

Participant feedback can help you understand community priorities and strengths, identify barriers, improve existing work, and respond to changing circumstances. It can also reveal when organizational assumptions, relationships, policies, or practices need to change. The purpose of obtaining feedback is not simply to confirm that a program is working, but to learn how it is experienced and how it can become more effective, accessible, equitable, and responsive.

You might obtain participant feedback through surveys, individual or group interviews, focus groups, community meetings, journals, advisory groups, digital tools, or other accessible methods. Whatever methods you choose, people are more likely to provide meaningful feedback when they are treated as partners whose knowledge and agency are respected rather than as passive recipients of services.

Ultimately, strive to create an organizational culture that continually invites, values, responds to, and learns from participant feedback as a necessary part of maintaining and improving the quality of your work.

What do we mean by feedback from participants?

___Feedback from participants consists of reactions to, opinions about, and/or information on what you do from those to whom it’s offered or who benefit from it

Feedback may be:

___Positive, negative, or neutral

___Objective or subjective

___Enhanced by knowledge of community history, personalities and relationships, culture, etc.

___Limited by lack of knowledge, information, or understanding

___Solicited or unsolicited

___Direct or indirect

Why do you need feedback from participants?

___It’s part of being customer-centered

___It gives you tools to improve your program

___It allows you to respond to changes in the community, the population, or the situation

___It can give you information about the history of the community, the history of your issue in the community, or the history of your population

___It can inform you about personalities and relationships in the community and/or the population you’re working with

___It can tell you when your methods or approach aren’t working

___It can tell you when you’re treating people in ways that make them feel uncomfortable, angry, or otherwise disrespected

___It can help you deal with what’s important to participants, even though that may not be your major goal

___It can assure that your objectives make as much sense for participants as they do for you

Who are participants that can offer feedback?

___Adults and teens with no intellectual, psychological, or social barriers

___People with mental illness

___Children

___At-risk or troubled youth

___Developmentally delayed or retarded teens and adults

___Speakers of other than the majority language

___People who have left the program

When might you ask for feedback from participants?

___Before you begin an effort (Plan)

___As you develop a program, initiative, or intervention (Do)

___Before you implement your plan (Check)

___While the work progresses and in evaluating it (Act)

___In making adjustments and starting the cycle again (Analyze)

What are some methods for obtaining feedback from participants?

___Surveys

___Individual interviews

___Small group interviews and focus groups

___Town meeting or whole-program format meetings

___Journals

How can you increase your chances of getting good feedback?

___Guaranteeing anonymity

___Explaining why you need feedback, and how you’ll use it

___Being clear about exactly what kind of feedback you want

___Sharing the results with participants

How do you use feedback from participants?

___Use it to understand the needs of the community

___Use it to respond to changes in the situation of participants, the community, the political climate, etc.

___Use it to improve your program by responding to the need for change in attitudes, methods, content, etc.

___Use it to create or strengthen an organizational culture that encourages and welcomes feedback, and uses it well

 

Examples of oversight mechanisms include:

• A community or civilian oversight board that reviews complaints about police misconduct or excessive use of force.
• An in-house quality control team that determines whether the company's methods and products meet established standards.
• A system through which students can evaluate their courses and instructors' teaching.
• A diverse committee that reviews the experiences of patients at a local clinic.

In this section, we'll look at ways to establish processes that support accountability and quality.

What do we mean by oversight and oversight mechanisms?

Oversight refers to systematically monitoring and reviewing an activity, process, organization, or institution to support accountability, quality, effectiveness, and compliance with appropriate standards. For instance, in the case of a community or civilian oversight board, an independent group may review the quality, fairness, or conduct of services provided by a public agency. Oversight involves taking responsibility for monitoring the operation, implementation, and/or outcomes of a process, program, organization, institution, or effort.

An oversight mechanism is the system or process used to carry out that monitoring, review, and accountability.

Just as every writer can benefit from an editor, organizations and individuals whose work affects the community can benefit from appropriate accountability and review processes to help ensure that their work is effective, of high quality, ethical, and consistent with applicable laws, regulations, and commitments.

Oversight means paying systematic attention to how work is being carried out and what effects it is having. It can identify potential problems early, help prevent harm, and support timely improvement. For instance, good oversight can detect illegal or unethical practices by a business or government agency, identify and correct poor financial practices in a nonprofit organization, or help ensure that public health and safety are protected.

Oversight may be official – required by law or by external or internal regulations – or unofficial, as in the case of an independent community or watchdog group examining whether a government agency operates fairly and according to its mandate. When oversight is official, the mechanisms for it – as well as the individual or group responsible for exercising it – are often specified by the laws or regulations that require it. When oversight is unofficial, an independent group or individual may initiate the effort or may be asked by community members or others to take on that role.

Where oversight involves responsibility for the functioning and/or results of something, it can be established within an agency, corporation, institution, or organization, or it may be conducted by an external or independent body.

The activities of community health and development organizations can span a broad range, from planning, to intervention, to advocacy, among others. Maintaining the quality of these activities requires oversight mechanisms that reflect the vision, mission, values, and goals of the groups and individuals engaging in them. We'll discuss establishing oversight mechanisms with that in mind.

Why establish oversight mechanisms?

There are a number of reasons why you might want to set up oversight:

• To ensure accountability. Oversight can help hold individuals and groups accountable for operating legally, ethically, and responsibly, and for providing the services, products, and/or outcomes they have promised or are contracted to provide.
• To maintain and improve quality. We often think of quality control as an industrial issue, but principles of quality assurance and continual improvement also apply to services, programs, facilities, and community initiatives.
• To ensure adherence to laws and regulations. Oversight may be used to make sure agencies, corporations, and other entities – or departments or programs within those entities – operate according to requirements established by laws, regulatory bodies, funders, contracts, or the entities themselves.
• To prevent and address unfair treatment, corruption, illegality, and unethical behavior. Oversight can include processes for identifying and addressing practices in which some groups receive unfair advantages or others face exclusion or discrimination. Corruption by public officials—including the theft or misdirection of government funds and goods—can often be prevented, detected, or addressed through careful oversight. The same is true for illegal or unethical actions that may harm individuals, communities, or society, including people affected by or using the services involved.
• To ensure the effectiveness of programs or efforts for which you have responsibility. If you're responsible for an effort, you need to understand whether the agreed-upon process is being followed and whether the work is achieving its intended purposes. Oversight can also help identify when a plan isn't working as intended and support participants, staff, leaders, and other partners in determining how to improve it.
• To help improve well-being for everyone. Community well-being is strengthened when community interventions and initiatives are effective, public institutions fulfill their responsibilities, employers protect workers' dignity and safety, businesses and governments safeguard the environment, and community members have equitable access to the resources and opportunities they need to thrive.

Who should be involved in establishing oversight mechanisms?

The goal of effective oversight is to improve quality, strengthen accountability, and help people and organizations do their best work with and for the community. It therefore often makes sense to involve a variety of people and groups in designing and carrying out the oversight process. Inviting participants or students to evaluate the services or education they receive and involving community members in oversight of local government services are two of many ways to accomplish this.

Those who might be involved in oversight to make the process more comprehensive and useful include:

• People and communities most directly affected by the issue, institution, service, or situation involved.
• People providing the services or products being reviewed.
• Those with formal responsibility for the effort – program directors, school principals, elected or appointed officials, board members, or others with decision-making authority.
• Funders and others contributing resources or support to the implementation of the effort.
• Community advocates and organizations concerned with the issue or effort in question.

The oversight process often works best when it is participatory and includes meaningful roles for both people affected by the work and people responsible for carrying it out. Selection of participants can be more challenging when an organization or individuals subject to oversight are resistant to scrutiny, particularly when the purpose of oversight is to investigate potential misconduct or harm.

When should you establish oversight mechanisms?

The obvious answer here is "whenever oversight is necessary." But when is that? The short answer is "whenever there is an effort or situation that requires ongoing accountability, monitoring, or review." Let's examine what that means.

• When an effort, new program, or organization is starting. Oversight should be considered from the beginning so that quality, accountability, equity, and ethical practice are built into the work and problems with implementation or unfair treatment can be identified and addressed as early as possible.
• When a problem needs to be prevented from occurring again. For instance, if a community has experienced patterns of police misconduct, excessive use of force, or discrimination in housing, one response may be to establish an independent community or civilian oversight committee. Such a body can strengthen accountability and establish channels of communication between affected community members and the institutions responsible for serving them.
• When the quality or effectiveness of an effort or program is in question. Ideally, appropriate oversight would have been established at the beginning, but if it wasn't, it can begin when concerns arise and continue as long as the effort requires it.
• When there is an agreement, contract, or regulation to be followed. Oversight can help ensure that all parties fulfill their obligations and receive the compensation, services, resources, or other benefits that were agreed upon.

Oversight in this case is often internal, in order to make sure, for example, that money is spent in the ways agreed upon with the funder. When financial oversight is inadequate, organizations may spend funds outside approved purposes and be required to repay them, lose funding, reduce services, or in serious cases close.

• When an entity is engaged in an activity that could potentially harm the community, its members, or society. This can include violations of law, such as illegal dumping of pollutants. It can also include lawful activities – such as construction projects, water treatment, food processing, or other operations – that could create harm if appropriate procedures or safeguards are not followed. Oversight can help prevent harmful situations, identify them quickly when they occur, and support an appropriate response.

How do you establish oversight mechanisms?

In most situations, gather a group of stakeholders to plan and set up oversight mechanisms. As we've discussed, oversight often works best when people understand its purpose and see it as a way to strengthen accountability, quality, safety, or effectiveness. One possible exception is when oversight is intended to investigate suspected illegal, unethical, or otherwise harmful activity. Even then, depending on the circumstances and the need for independence, it may make sense to involve representatives of the entity being overseen while maintaining appropriate safeguards against conflicts of interest.

Decide what kind of oversight you need. The nature of the oversight will help you structure an effective oversight mechanism. There are many different kinds of oversight, including:

• Oversight in terms of accountability. Key questions include: Are people and entities fulfilling their responsibilities? Do programs and initiatives have positive effects, including their intended effects? Who is responsible for making improvements, and what support or resources may be needed? Are government bodies implementing programs effectively, providing necessary public services, and enforcing laws and regulations consistently and fairly?
• Oversight of the operation of a program, effort, or organization. Key questions include: Is it going according to plan? Is it using the methods and procedures it was designed to use? Is it accomplishing what it's meant to do? Are adjustments needed based on experience, evidence, or community feedback?
• Oversight of the conduct of a service, organization, government agency, etc. Key questions include: Are people treated fairly and equitably? Is there evidence of discrimination or inconsistent quality? Is the entity complying with applicable rules and regulations? Is it fulfilling its responsibilities?
• Oversight of the performance of individuals in an organization or institution – supervision of service providers, teachers, managers, etc. When appropriate, this can include formative evaluation designed to support learning and improvement, while still maintaining clear accountability when serious performance, ethical, or safety concerns arise.
• Oversight of the conduct of individuals in organizations and government. Are they following applicable rules and ethical standards, respecting the limits of their authority, avoiding conflicts of interest, and acting responsibly?
• Oversight of processes to make sure they're conducted properly and that policies and procedures are followed and effective. This includes oversight of budgets to ensure that resources are being spent appropriately and to identify potential fiscal problems early enough to address them.
• Oversight of agreements and contracts to be sure that their terms are carried out as specified and that all parties fulfill their obligations and receive what was agreed upon.
• Oversight to safeguard people who may face heightened risk of harm or require additional protections. This can include reviewing the quality, safety, accessibility, and rights protections associated with services involving, for example, children, people with disabilities, patients receiving health care, or older adults with significant support needs. Oversight should recognize the agency and rights of the people involved and include their perspectives wherever possible.

Choose an oversight mechanism that is best suited to the type of oversight you expect to conduct. Oversight mechanisms can take a number of different forms, depending on their purpose:

• Oversight by a designated or responsible individual or group. Oversight of an organization may be conducted by its director. Fiscal oversight of an organization, institution, or business may be conducted by its chief fiscal officer, treasurer, or a board financial committee. In some cases, certain individuals or groups – often boards of directors – are legally responsible for ensuring that their organizations act legally and comply with funder, contractual, regulatory, or other requirements.
• External oversight by a funder, government agency, independent body, or other responsible entity. This kind of oversight may take the form of spot checks or regular reports (see below), or may be carried out by an independent evaluator, consultant, inspector, or other third party.
• An oversight committee. This might be a community or civilian oversight panel for a government agency or service such as law enforcement, environmental services, or public health; or an internal oversight committee within an agency, institution, corporation, or organization. Oversight committees are often formally established either by or in collaboration with the body being overseen, although independence may be essential in some circumstances. Community oversight committees should meaningfully include people and communities most affected by the entity being overseen; for instance, tenants in oversight of a public housing authority or community residents on a local community health board.
• An independent monitoring or watchdog group. This is an organization or less formal group whose mission is to identify and publicize corruption, lawbreaking, discrimination, abuses of authority, or other illegal or unethical behavior by government agencies or officials, businesses and industries, or other institutions whose actions can affect individuals, communities, or society.
• A monitoring and evaluation process. This could be internal or external, with monitoring and evaluation carried out within an organization or institution by staff members or conducted by an evaluator, consultant, or other independent body. Evaluations can be conducted at intervals appropriate to the work and used to assess progress toward objectives, examine the quality and equity of services, identify unintended effects, and guide improvement.

There are many ways to conduct an evaluation process. It can be collaborative, with people affected by and involved in the work contributing; or it can be carried out by an individual or small group with more limited participation. The Tool Box recommends that evaluation be as collaborative and inclusive as possible while maintaining any independence necessary for credible oversight. When people understand the process, have meaningful opportunities to contribute, and trust that their perspectives will be considered, evaluations are more likely to produce useful information and support improvement. When evaluation is experienced only as an adversarial or punitive process, people may be less willing to share information openly.

• Spot checks by staff, supervisors, program directors, regulators, or other authorized reviewers. This method might be used in oversight situations where ongoing intensive monitoring is not feasible or where periodic checks are sufficient.
• Regular oral and/or written reports on the work being done and its results. Because reports prepared by people involved in the work may reflect their perspectives and available information, this mechanism can be strengthened by clear reporting standards, supporting documentation, independent review where appropriate, and opportunities for feedback from people affected by the work.
• Technology-assisted monitoring, such as cameras, audio recording, sensors, digital logs, or automated inspection of activities and products. This approach might be used for environmental monitoring, safety, quality assurance, or other appropriate purposes. Any use of monitoring technology should be proportionate to its purpose and consistent with applicable laws, privacy protections, informed-consent requirements, accessibility considerations, and organizational policies. People affected by monitoring should be informed about its use whenever appropriate and legally required, and access to recordings or data should be limited to authorized purposes.

Any or all of these mechanisms can be strengthened by systematic reflection and feedback from people and organizations subject to or involved in the oversight process, as well as from people and communities most affected by the entity or organization responsible for the work.

Decide who will conduct the actual oversight. This will be determined, at least in part, by the type and purpose of the oversight. Internal monitoring might be done by supervisors, with the involvement of staff members being monitored, or by a committee composed of staff from different parts of the organization. A funder might exercise oversight through an external consultant or evaluator, or through reporting by the funded agency or organization. An organization's treasurer or fiscal officer might oversee the budget to ensure that funding is spent for approved purposes. A community oversight committee should include community members affected by the agency or activities in question and may also include people with relevant technical, legal, or professional expertise.

Decide on the methods you will use to conduct the oversight. They should be appropriate to the situation, risks involved, and character of your organization or effort. The more your organization emphasizes inclusion and participation, for example, the more its oversight should create meaningful opportunities for participation. At the same time, some forms of oversight require independence to avoid conflicts of interest. Any oversight you conduct should reflect your organization's vision, philosophy, ethical standards, and accountability commitments.

Methods can vary greatly depending on the nature of the oversight. You wouldn't oversee an environmental improvement operation – forest management or wildlife habitat restoration – in the same way you would the functioning of a hospital or the conduct of a government agency.

​Some possible methods you might use to implement oversight mechanisms:

• Individual and group interviews with administrators or managers, staff members, current and former participants, funders, community members, and others affected by or familiar with the entity's work.
• Informal conversations with staff members, administrators, participants, or community members, while respecting confidentiality and making clear when information may be used as part of the oversight process.
• Direct observation of the work of the entity. This might entail accompanying staff members periodically, walking through a facility, observing activities, or visiting a location at different times, days of the week, and seasons to understand what happens under different circumstances. Observation should be conducted transparently and ethically, with appropriate attention to privacy, confidentiality, consent, and the rights of participants and staff.
• Participating in or observing the day-to-day work of the entity, sometimes referred to as participant observation. When this method is appropriate, the role of the person conducting the oversight, the purpose of the observation, and any limits on confidentiality should be clear. Avoid deceptive participation unless it is specifically authorized, legally permissible, ethically justified, and necessary for the oversight purpose.
• Study of organizational or agency files, records, and financial reports, as well as its history, funding sources, policies, and philosophy, while following applicable privacy, confidentiality, and records-access requirements.
• Research into practice models, evidence, standards, or theory that underlie the work of the entity.

Train those who will conduct the oversight if necessary. Conducting oversight can be different from conducting an evaluation. You may or may not have the full cooperation of the individuals or entity being overseen, even if they were involved in establishing an oversight mechanism. Some important guidelines therefore concern how oversight is conducted and how people affected by it are treated.

You, or whoever is involved in conducting the oversight, particularly those who have never done something similar before, may need training. Some things those who actually conduct the oversight should be guided by include:

• Get to know the organization or entity you're overseeing – its history, structure, vision and mission, finances, staff and leadership roles, organizational culture, community relationships, and relevant policies. Learn as much as possible about the work and the people who perform it. Try to understand the pressures, constraints, resources, and responsibilities that shape the work without allowing that understanding to replace accountability.
• Understand that people may be cautious about or resistant to oversight, whether because they disagree with it, are concerned about consequences, have had negative experiences with oversight processes, or because the process interrupts their work. Take these concerns seriously while maintaining the independence and accountability required by your role.
• Try to establish respectful working relationships with people you interview or interact with. Be clear about your role and purpose, communicate respectfully, and recognize the knowledge and experience of the people involved.
• Listen carefully to what people tell you and ask follow-up questions where appropriate. Make space for people to explain their perspectives in their own words.
• Use open-ended questions when appropriate – questions that invite explanation rather than requiring only a yes-or-no answer.
• Pay attention to the physical and organizational environment, including accessibility, noise, temperature, safety, working conditions, interactions, and communication patterns. Non-verbal communication can provide useful context, but avoid assuming that body language, eye contact, tone, or other behaviors have a single or universal meaning across people, cultures, or situations.
• Take careful notes using a method that is appropriate, secure, and minimally disruptive. This might include paper notes, a laptop, tablet, smartphone, or audio recording when appropriate. Explain how information will be documented and used. Before taking photographs or making audio or video recordings, obtain informed permission unless recording is otherwise specifically authorized by law or an appropriate oversight process. Protect recordings, notes, and identifying information from unnecessary access.
• Respect people's time. Be on time for meetings and appointments and avoid taking more time than necessary.
• Produce reports regularly and, where appropriate, share findings with people and organizations subject to or affected by the oversight. Explain any confidentiality or legal limits on what can be shared.
• Recognize effective work where appropriate while clearly identifying areas that require improvement. Focus findings on evidence, responsibilities, practices, conditions, and needed changes rather than personal blame, except where individual misconduct or accountability is directly relevant.

Create an analysis and reporting system. Both the oversight process and the information it produces should be documented for two reasons:

• To demonstrate that the organization, institution, or effort is fulfilling its responsibility to monitor what is happening and respond appropriately.
• To use the information to improve both the oversight process and the quality, equity, safety, and effectiveness of the operation.

To accomplish both purposes, you'll need to regularly record and make appropriate information from oversight mechanisms available to the people who need it. You'll also want to develop a process for analyzing that information so that you can identify patterns, potential problems, inequities, or irregularities and determine what action is needed.

Identifying potential financial problems is a particularly important area for oversight. In the spring of 2012, J.P. Morgan-Chase, one of the largest banks in the U.S., announced a loss of more than $2 billion associated with weaknesses in the oversight of its investment activities. While most nonprofit organizations are not likely to lose billions through poor financial decisions, inadequate financial oversight can still lead to reduced services, layoffs, repayment obligations, loss of funding, or even organizational closure. Accurate information, clear accountability, and timely analysis can help organizations identify and address many financial problems before their consequences become more serious.

Determine how you will use oversight to maintain or improve the quality of your work or of the entity or situation you're overseeing. What areas of the work or organization will you oversee? This question is especially important if you have limited resources for oversight. Another important issue is what purpose your oversight will serve. Is it meant to prevent something – harassment or discrimination in the workplace, illegal pollution of the air or waterways, misuse of public funds – or is its purpose to maintain standards of practice, equity, safety, and effectiveness? Is it intended to demonstrate that the organization is exercising appropriate due diligence by monitoring important aspects of its work? How will you use the information from oversight to understand problems and make improvements?

The answers to these questions will help determine how to set up an oversight mechanism that meets your needs. Some forms of oversight or inspection may appropriately be unannounced when necessary to assess compliance or investigate potential misconduct, but any monitoring should still operate within applicable legal, ethical, privacy, and due-process requirements. If the goal is improvement or organizational learning, a more transparent and collaborative process may be appropriate. If your goal is careful financial oversight or monitoring another organizational function, establish procedures that make patterns, irregularities, responsibilities, and decisions easy to review.

Evaluate the effectiveness of your oversight mechanism and adjust it as necessary. Oversight itself should be reviewed to make sure that it is attending to what matters, producing useful information, avoiding unnecessary burdens or harms, and supporting accountability and improvement. If it isn't, the mechanism, like any other aspect of your work, should be adjusted. Regular review can help determine whether the oversight process remains appropriate as circumstances change.

Continue oversight over the long term. As we explained at the beginning, oversight is often a long-term commitment. If things are going well, effective oversight can help maintain progress and identify emerging concerns. If oversight is intended to prevent problems, discontinuing it may allow problems to go unnoticed. Establish oversight mechanisms that can be sustained over time and periodically reassess whether their scope and methods remain appropriate.

In Summary

Oversight mechanisms provide structured ways to support accountability, quality, ethical practice, safety, and compliance. Organizations, institutions, businesses, and governments may exercise oversight over their own operations, while funders, regulators, government agencies, community bodies, or independent organizations may oversee entities for which they have formal responsibility or whose actions affect the public. Community members and community organizations may also participate in oversight of institutions and systems that affect their lives.

Oversight mechanisms often work best when their purpose, authority, roles, methods, and decision-making processes are clear. When appropriate, both people affected by the work and people responsible for carrying it out should have meaningful opportunities to contribute to the design or implementation of oversight, while preserving whatever independence is necessary for credible accountability. Effective oversight may also require training, technical support, accessible reporting systems, privacy protections, regular review, and a clear process for using findings to make improvements.

 

We encourage the reproduction of this material, but ask that you credit the Community Tool Box: /.

Contributor

Phil Rabinowitz

Editors

Andrea Glinn

Stephen Fawcett

Here you will find a checklist summarizing the important points of the section.

 

What do we mean by oversight and oversight mechanisms?

­­__ Oversight is the maintenance of a watchful eye on an individual, entity or process.

Oversight may also be the responsibility for the operation, implementation, and/or outcome of a process, program, organization or institution, or effort.

__ Oversight may be internal or external.

__ Oversight is different from evaluation in that it is constant and concerned with proper functioning as much as effectiveness.

__ An oversight mechanism is the system or process and the procedures used to exercise oversight.

__ Oversight and oversight mechanisms in health and community services and development should reflect the vision, mission, values, and goals of the groups and individuals engaging in them.

 

Why establish oversight mechanisms?

__ To assure accountability.

__ To control quality.

__ To ensure adherence to laws and regulations.

__ To control unfair treatment, corruption, illegality, and unethical behavior.

__ To ensure the effectiveness of programs or efforts for which you have responsibility.

__ To help improve the wellbeing of everyone.

 

Who should be involved in establishing oversight mechanisms?

__ Where possible and appropriate, establishing oversight mechanisms should be a participatory process, and involve:

• Those from the groups most affected by the issue or situation involved.
• Those providing the service or products for which oversight is directed (i.e., those being overseen).
• Those ultimately responsible for the success of the effort – program directors, school principals, elected or appointed officials, etc.
• Funders and others contributing resources or support to the implementation of the effort.
• Community activists concerned with the issue or effort in question.

 

When should oversight mechanisms be established?

__ When an effort or new program or organization is starting.

__ When a problem needs to be prevented from occurring.

__ When the quality or effectiveness of an effort or program is in question.

__ When there is an agreement, contract, or regulation to be followed.

__ When an entity is engaged in an activity that is potentially harmful to the community, its members, or society.

 

How do you establish oversight mechanisms?

__ In most situations, gather a group of stakeholders to plan and set up oversight mechanisms.

__ Decide what kind of oversight you need. Possibilities include:

• Oversight in terms of accountability.
• Oversight of the operation of a program, effort, or organization.
• Oversight of the conduct of a service, organization, government agency, etc.
• Oversight of the performance of individuals in an organization or institution – supervision of service providers, teachers, etc.
• Oversight of the conduct of individuals in organizations and government.
• Oversight of processes to make sure they’re conducted properly, and that policies and procedures followed and effective.
• Oversight of agreements and contracts to be sure that their terms are carried out as specified, and that both parties are fulfilling their obligations and receiving what was agreed upon.
• Oversight to protect vulnerable individuals.

__ Choose an oversight mechanism that is best suited to the type of oversight you expect to conduct. Some types of oversight mechanisms:

• Oversight by a designated or responsible individual.
• External oversight by a funder, government agency, or other responsible body.

• An oversight committee.
• A watchdog group.
• A monitoring and evaluation process.
• Spot checks by staff, supervisors or program directors.
• Regular oral and/or written reports on the work being done and its results.
• Mechanical oversight, as by the use of cameras, audio recorders, or mechanical inspection of products.

__ Decide who will conduct the actual oversight.

__ Decide on the methods you will use to conduct the oversight.

Some possible methods you might use with various oversight mechanisms:

• Individual and group interviews with administrators or managers and staff members, present and past participants, funders, and others affected by or familiar with the entity’s work.
• Casual conversation with staff members and administrators.
• Direct observation of the work of the entity.
• Embedding into the work of the entity, also known as participant observation.
• Study of organizational or agency files, records, and financial reports, as well as its history, funding sources, and philosophy.
• Research into practice models or theory that underlies the work of the entity.

__ Train those who will conduct the oversight if necessary. Some possible topics:

• Get to know the organization or entity you’re overseeing.
• Understand that people may not want you there, either because they don’t want oversight, or because you’re interrupting their work.
• Try to establish a rapport with people you interview or interact with. Be natural and respectful.
• Listen carefully to what people tell you, and ask follow-up questions where it’s appropriate.
• Use open-ended questions.
• Pay attention to body language, the environment, and to the interactions among people.
• Take careful notes in whatever way is easiest and most comfortable for you and others.
• Respect people’s time.
• Produce reports regularly, and share your findings with those who are subject to oversight.
• Praise where appropriate, but don’t blame or criticize.

__ Create an analysis and reporting system.

__ Determine how you will use oversight to maintain or improve the quality of your work or of the entity or situation you’re overseeing.

__ Evaluate the effectiveness of your oversight mechanism and adjust it as necessary.

__ Continue oversight over the long term.

• What do we mean by formal public reporting processes?

• Why create formal public reporting processes?

• Who should be involved in creating formal public reporting processes?

• When should you create formal public reporting processes?

• How do you create formal public reporting processes?

Community efforts often work best when community members have meaningful opportunities to participate. Not everyone can serve on a planning or oversight committee or take part directly in implementation, however. So how do you keep community members informed, involved, and able to contribute?

One important way is to ensure that community members have access to clear information about priority community issues, efforts to address them, progress being made, challenges encountered, and results. This section will help you develop communication and reporting processes that keep the community informed and involved, create opportunities for feedback, and strengthen accountability for the effort.

What do we mean by formal public reporting processes?

Reporting can simply mean sharing information. You might tell a friend about a meeting you attended or a class you took. These types of exchanges represent informal reporting.

A formal reporting process generally has specific characteristics:

• Formal reports are delivered on a regular or established schedule. Recipients may expect to receive periodic updates, such as quarterly and/or annual progress reports. Reporting should use consistent measures where appropriate so that changes and trends can be understood over time. Measures may be quantitative (number-based), qualitative (such as narratives, interviews, observations, or other descriptive information), or a combination of both.
• Formal reports should identify lessons learned, areas for improvement, and possible adjustments, and reporting should continue throughout the life of the effort.

Why create formal public reporting processes?

• To involve the community and build understanding, participation, and support. Formal reporting processes keep community members informed and create opportunities for them to participate, provide feedback, and influence the effort. Involving community members in designing the reporting process can also help ensure that the information is useful, accessible, and responsive to their priorities.
• To increase awareness of the issue and the effort. Clear and accessible communication can help people who are unfamiliar with the issue understand why it matters, what is being done, and how they can learn more or become involved.
• To hold the effort accountable. Public reporting should communicate accomplishments as well as challenges, limitations, unintended effects, and adjustments needed to improve the initiative's effectiveness.
• To keep track of progress. Routine reporting helps both community members and people involved in implementation understand what has been done, what has been learned, what progress has occurred, and what still needs attention.
• To collect new ideas for the effort. Community meetings and other ways of sharing information can also create opportunities for public feedback, which may identify new ideas, concerns, strengths, or adjustments that can improve the work.
• To be open and transparent. Being open about the effort's process, decisions, successes, challenges, and results can build trust and demonstrate accountability, while giving community members information they can use to assess the effort for themselves.

Who should be involved in creating formal public reporting processes?

Formal reporting is most useful when it provides meaningful information to the people and communities affected by an effort. People who are affected by, involved in, or able to contribute to the effort should therefore have opportunities to help shape the reporting process. They can identify what information is most useful, how it should be shared, what questions need to be answered, and how reporting can be more transparent and accessible.

Some of the people and groups you might involve include:

• People and communities most directly affected by the issue or effort
• Local and other relevant officials
• Local businesses and employers
• Community advocates and organizations, particularly those already involved with the issue
• People whose work, responsibilities, or services may be affected by changes resulting from the effort (for example, law enforcement personnel may need additional training related to responses to domestic violence)
• People who will implement the effort

When should you create a formal public reporting process?

Ideally, a formal reporting process should be established when an organization or effort begins implementation so that community members can understand its work, follow its progress, and provide feedback over time. If that has not happened, there are other points when establishing a reporting process may be especially useful.

• When community participation or support is needed. If community advocacy, financial resources, volunteer participation, partnerships, or other contributions are important to the effort, people need clear information about its goals, progress, expected benefits, limitations, and use of resources.
• When there are questions about the effort. Questions may arise about the effort's necessity, cost, effectiveness, fairness, or implementation. A transparent reporting process can provide evidence, explain what is known and not yet known, and invite community members into meaningful discussion.
• When the issue the effort addresses has become urgent or may cause significant harm. Timely reporting can help community members understand the nature and scope of the issue, what actions are being taken, what uncertainties remain, and how people can participate in or respond to the effort.
• To alert and inform the community about emerging or ongoing issues and the actions being considered or taken in response.

How do you create formal public reporting processes?

Assemble a group to plan the reporting process

The group should include people representing the communities and organizations affected by or involved in the effort, as well as relevant advocates and partners. It may also be helpful to include people with communication expertise, such as journalists, communications professionals, interpreters, accessibility specialists, or community media representatives. The group should understand the intended audiences and their preferred ways of receiving information. Its task is to develop a reporting process that can reach and inform key audiences and the broader public while supporting accessibility, transparency, participation, and accountability.

Define the aim of the reporting process

In consultation with people and groups affected by or involved in the effort, decide what you want the reporting process to accomplish.

Some possibilities include:

• To comply with funders' or government agencies' reporting requirements
• To inform the public about the issue and your work
• To make sure that the effort gathers and analyzes appropriate information so that its work, progress, outcomes, challenges, and lessons learned are accurately documented and can inform ongoing improvement
• To hold the effort accountable
• To build public understanding and support for appropriate policy or community action
• To raise funds or other resources

Consult with and collect information from stakeholders

Remember that consultation should include people who are affected by the effort, people involved in carrying it out, and others who can contribute useful knowledge, perspectives, or resources to the reporting process.

There are a number of purposes for consulting with these individuals and groups:

• To understand what they already know about the issue
• To understand what they know about the effort and/or the organization, institution, or coalition
• To identify what information about the process, progress, results, and challenges would be useful to them
• To learn about community priorities, strengths, needs, concerns, and whether modifications to the effort or reporting process may be needed
• To understand what they see as the benefits, limitations, or challenges of public reporting
• To invite them, where appropriate, to participate in the reporting process
• To give community members meaningful opportunities to influence and participate in the effort
• To make the reporting process as fair, accessible, open, and accountable to the community as possible

To accomplish these purposes, you can conduct individual and group interviews, listening sessions, public forums, community meetings, surveys, and informal conversations with community members and other relevant groups.

Identify and prioritize the various audiences you want to reach

It is important to know who you are trying to reach and what kinds of information will be most useful to each audience. Community audiences may differ in how they are affected by or connected to the issue, their level of interest, their existing knowledge, their preferred communication channels, the languages they use, their accessibility needs, their level of trust or support, and their ability to influence or participate in decisions.

Some of the audiences you may want to reach include:

• People and communities affected by the issue
• People who use particular languages or communication formats
• Elected officials, public officials, and policymakers
• Other community leaders, including leaders of businesses and institutions and community members who are trusted or respected for their knowledge, service, relationships, or experience
• The general public
• Public and private funders, which may include local, national, or international foundations, agencies, or development organizations

You may decide to prioritize audiences depending on the goals of the reporting process, while making sure that people most directly affected by the issue are not excluded simply because they have less formal power or influence.

Understand the interests and preferred communication methods of your intended audiences

Different audiences may need different information. People directly affected by an issue may want clear information about what the effort means for them, while policymakers may need information about outcomes, community priorities, costs, implementation, and possible policy implications. Tailoring information should make it more relevant and accessible without changing or selectively presenting facts in ways that could mislead different audiences.

Another important consideration is how different audiences prefer or are able to receive information. Some people may rely on television or radio, others on newspapers, websites, email, social media, text messaging, printed materials, or trusted community sources such as faith leaders, community health workers, educators, or local organizations. In communities where digital or mass-media access is limited, in-person meetings, local gatherings, community radio, or other locally appropriate approaches may be more effective. Ask community members which channels they use and trust rather than assuming that one method will work for everyone.

Timing is also important. Consider when people are most likely to have the time and opportunity to engage with reports. Community events, legislative sessions, organizational planning cycles, or other relevant periods may provide useful opportunities for sharing information, as long as timing does not compromise accuracy or transparency.

Tailor your reporting to each audience

Once you have identified priority audiences and learned about their interests, information needs, languages, accessibility needs, and preferred communication methods, design reporting materials that are clear and useful to them. Use accessible language, relevant examples, appropriate formats, and communication channels that people are likely to use and trust. Tailoring should improve understanding and access rather than manipulate how information is interpreted.

For example, a report on the progress of an immunization program for Spanish-speaking families in a U.S. community might be shared in Spanish through trusted Spanish-language media, community organizations, health workers, and digital channels. A similar effort in a rural community elsewhere might use the locally preferred language and communication channels, such as community radio, local gatherings, health workers, or market-day outreach. The appropriate approach should be determined with the community rather than assumed in advance.

Plan an ongoing communications campaign that includes annual reports

The reporting process should be part of an overall communication strategy that may include:

• Clear and memorable information about the issue and the effort
• Stories and experiences, shared with appropriate consent, that illustrate community strengths, challenges, progress, and lessons learned
• Invitations for people to participate or contribute through advocacy, volunteering, partnerships, funding, or in-kind support
• Regular periodic progress reports about the effort
• An annual comprehensive report on the state of the effort and the issue, including accomplishments, challenges, lessons learned, and possible adjustments for the next year

These communication elements should be shared through multiple channels and formats so that people with different communication preferences and access needs can receive them. When appropriate, trusted community messengers – such as community leaders, faith leaders, educators, health workers, advocates, media figures, athletes, or other respected community members – can help share information. Choose messengers with input from the audiences you hope to reach.

Test your communications and public reports with the intended audiences

This is a three-step process:

• Share draft materials with members of the intended audiences through focus groups, interviews, user testing, or other feedback methods
• Adjust messages and formats to improve clarity, accessibility, accuracy, relevance, and usefulness based on feedback
• Adjust the overall communication plan based on feedback, available resources, effectiveness, and accessibility

Assess and respond to public understanding and perspectives about the effort

Based on your testing and ongoing engagement, determine what community members know, understand, and think about your effort. Do they have access to accurate and sufficient information? What questions or concerns do they have? Do they understand how the issue affects different parts of the community? Do they see value in the effort, and where do they believe it needs improvement? Surveys, public forums, focus groups, listening sessions, and interviews can deepen your understanding of these perspectives.

Once you understand community perspectives, respond to gaps in information, misinformation, questions, criticism, and disagreement with clear and accurate information. Use public education activities, meetings and forums, presentations to community groups, websites, email lists, social media, and other appropriate communication channels. The goal is not simply to persuade people to support the effort, but to create informed discussion and give people meaningful opportunities to raise concerns and influence improvement.

If concerns, objections, or criticism identify legitimate weaknesses in the effort – such as gaps in planning, inequitable effects, barriers to participation, or implementation problems – acknowledge them and determine how they can be addressed. Transparency about challenges can strengthen accountability and trust more than defending approaches that are not working.
 
Developing constructive relationships with local and community media can also help make accurate information about the effort available to the public and create opportunities for community questions and discussion.

Engage public officials about the issues and the effort

Legislators and policymakers can help raise awareness of an issue, connect community concerns with policy discussions, support appropriate funding, and influence policies that affect long-term conditions. Public reporting can provide them with evidence, community perspectives, and information they need to make informed decisions.

• Identify potential legislative or policy champions. An elected or appointed official who understands the issue and is willing to engage with community perspectives may be able to help bring attention to the effort and related policy needs. Personal or professional experience with the issue may strengthen that interest, but community priorities and evidence should remain central.
• Inform policymakers about the issue and your effort. Share evidence, community perspectives, program results, challenges, and policy implications. Supportive policymakers may help arrange presentations, connect organizations with relevant committees or agencies, and bring community concerns into policy discussions.
• Mobilize your local partners. Encourage people affected by the issue, community organizations, advocates, service providers, and other partners to communicate with policymakers when appropriate. Coordinated and informed public participation can help policymakers understand community priorities, experiences, and concerns.

Implement the communication and reporting campaign

Develop action plans for the communication and reporting effort, dividing responsibilities among participants and identifying who will be involved, what the timeline is, what resources are needed, and what outcomes are intended. Then use the communication and reporting formats you have developed and tested to share progress, results, challenges, lessons learned, and implications for future work.

Encourage your intended audiences to use the reports to carry the effort further

Use reports in discussions with community members, partners, decision-makers, and other relevant groups to reflect on and interpret results and discuss what they mean for future work. What adjustments do the findings suggest? What evidence supports those adjustments? What perspectives or information may still be missing?

Use accessible language and explain information in ways that are clear to the intended audience. Invite feedback about how to improve the effort, and when you ask for feedback, explain how it will be considered. Implement appropriate modifications when possible and communicate those changes. When recommendations cannot be adopted, explain the reasoning transparently. Ultimately, the goal is to use reporting and community feedback together to improve the effectiveness, accessibility, equity, and responsiveness of the effort.

Continue the reporting and communications campaign

A public reporting process is not a one-time activity. It should continue over the long term so that community members can follow progress, ask questions, contribute ideas, assess accountability, and remain meaningfully involved as the effort evolves.

In Summary

Throughout a community effort, it is important to establish and maintain communication with people and groups affected by or involved in the work and with the broader community. Effective communication is two-way: organizations share information, and community members have meaningful opportunities to ask questions, provide feedback, contribute knowledge, and influence decisions.

Formal public reporting is a more structured part of that communication. It provides information about the state and progress of an effort, what has been learned, what results have occurred, what challenges remain, and what changes may be needed. When community feedback is taken seriously and visibly informs decisions and improvements, reporting can strengthen trust, shared investment, accountability, and participation. Over time, these processes can help create both a more effective effort and a better-informed community prepared to address future issues collaboratively.

What do we mean by formal public reporting processes?

___It is conducted on a regular basis

___It is based on consistent measures

___It includes suggestions for adjustment and change in order to improve the effort

___It allows for feedback from its audience

___It continues throughout the life of the effort

Why create formal public reporting processes?

___To involve the community and garner support

___To bring the issue to the fore and raise the profile of the effort

___To hold the effort accountable

___To keep track of progress

___To collect new ideas for the effort

___To be open and transparent

Who should be involved in creating formal public reporting processes?

___Those who are most affected by the issue, and who would therefore stand to benefit from a successful effort

___Local and other relevant officials

___The business community

___Community activists, particularly those who have been involved with the issue at hand

___Those who might see changes in their work if the effort gains momentum

___Those who will actually implement the effort

When should you create formal public reporting processes?

___When community support is needed

___When there are questions about the effort

___When the issue that the effort addresses has reached, or threatens to reach, dangerous proportions

___To alert the community to one or more issues that need addressing, and to the fact that something is being done about them

How do you create formal public reporting processes?

___Assemble a representative group to plan the reporting process

___Define the aim of the reporting process

___Consult with and collect information from stakeholders and others who would benefit from and/or could contribute to the public reporting process

___Identify and prioritize the various audiences you want to reach, and what types of messages and information each might receive

___Understand the interests and preferred communication methods of those the report is aimed at

___Tailor your reporting to each audience you want to reach

___Plan an ongoing communications campaign that includes annual reports

___Test your communications and public reports with their intended audiences during development

___Assess and address public opinion about the effort

___Educate public officials about the issues and the effort

___Implement the communication and reporting campaign

___Encourage your intended audiences to use the reports to carry the effort further

___Continue the reporting and communications campaign over the life of the effort

• Why is this section in the Tool Box?

• When should you throw a party?

• How do you throw a party?

 

Why is this section in the Tool Box?

Celebrating the contributions and accomplishments of people involved in an organization or community effort is an important part of sustaining the work. Too often, celebrations are treated as rare occasions rather than as opportunities to recognize people, strengthen relationships, reflect on progress, and enjoy time together. Recognition does not have to be elaborate or expensive. If you're looking for a reason to celebrate, here are a few.

Arranging celebrations strengthens relationships

Celebrations create opportunities for people involved in an initiative to connect outside their usual tasks and responsibilities. Regular social gatherings can strengthen trust, relationships, and a sense of belonging among staff, volunteers, participants, partners, and community members. They can also provide welcome opportunities for enjoyment and connection during work that may sometimes be demanding or serious.

Arranging celebrations rewards hard work

Celebrations provide an opportunity to recognize people whose time, effort, knowledge, and contributions might otherwise go unnoticed. They can bring together volunteers, staff, participants, community members, partners, funders, and others who have contributed to the work. A celebration can recognize not only major accomplishments, but also persistence, collaboration, learning, and the many contributions that make community change possible.

Arranging celebrations provides a moment to stop for reflection

A celebration can create structured time to recognize accomplishments, reflect on what has been learned, and consider what comes next. Celebration can also be valuable when an effort has not fully reached its goals. Recognizing progress, relationships built, lessons learned, and challenges overcome can help people see how far the effort has come while still being honest about what needs improvement. A relaxed and welcoming gathering may also provide opportunities for conversations about challenges and future directions that feel different from a formal meeting. Make sure, however, that reflection remains respectful and that people who prefer more structured or private ways of providing feedback have those options as well.

When should you throw a party?

• After reaching an important goal. Recognize achievements throughout the life of an effort, including planning, organizing, implementation, evaluation, and advocacy. Examples might include hiring a new staff member, completing a grant proposal, forming a new partnership or task force, launching a program, reaching a participation goal, presenting to a city council or school board, or completing a major project.
• At the end of the year or another important period. An annual or seasonal gathering can recognize accomplishments, thank contributors, and create space to reflect on the year.
• When you don't quite reach a goal. If results fall short of what you hoped for, gathering people together can still recognize effort, learning, persistence, and progress while strengthening morale for the work ahead.
• During moments of transition. When staff members, volunteers, or leaders join or leave; when someone takes on a new role; or when a project enters a new phase, a celebration can recognize the significance of that transition and the people involved.
• Any time! Sometimes it's valuable to gather simply to enjoy one another's company and strengthen relationships. Not every celebration needs a formal agenda or major accomplishment behind it.

How do you throw a party?

Check the budget

The resources available will influence the type of celebration you plan, but meaningful recognition does not have to be expensive. Consider your budget along with accessibility, transportation, dietary needs, scheduling, cultural preferences, and what participants actually enjoy. Here are some possibilities for different levels of spending.

Low budget

• A casual park gathering with bring-your-own lunches or simple refreshments
• A swimming or recreation gathering at a local pool, with accessible alternatives for people who do not want to swim
• A potluck at the office, community center, or other gathering space
• A basketball, volleyball, or other recreational activity at a local community center
• A talent show, open mic, or creative showcase
• A picnic or cookout at a park or other accessible gathering place
• An informal group meal at a local restaurant or café
• A watch party for a sporting event or other program the group enjoys
• Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and snacks on a cold morning
• Birthday or milestone recognition for staff members or volunteers who want to participate
• A seasonal decorating, costume, trivia, or creative contest that is optional and appropriate for the group

Moderate budget

• Cater lunch for staff, volunteers, participants, or partners
• Host a community coffee or reception to recognize accomplishments and share progress
• Provide tickets to a community theater, museum, sporting event, or cultural event
• Have an ice cream, dessert, or snack social for volunteers and participants
• Host a seasonal celebration with food, drinks, and activities
• Cater a picnic or cookout at a local park
• Hold an appreciation reception for community partners, volunteers, and contributors
• Host a family-friendly seasonal activity for community members
• Take the group miniature golfing, bowling, skating, or to another accessible recreational activity
• Hold a themed appreciation event connected to a season, milestone, or community tradition
• Hold a baking, cooking, trivia, art, or other friendly contest
• Provide snacks or treats from a local bakery, restaurant, or community vendor
• Organize a recreational tournament with both active and non-active ways to participate
• Invite another local organization or public agency to join in a friendly recreation or community-building event
• Have a pizza party, picnic, or other appreciation gathering for young people who contributed to the organization
• Plan a group karaoke, game, arts, or entertainment outing

Robust budget

• Reserve a recreation facility for an evening celebration for people who contributed to the initiative
• Turn a community space into a family-friendly festival or carnival
• Hire local musicians or a DJ for a celebration at the community center
• Hold a banquet, awards dinner, or recognition reception
• Organize a group trip to an amusement park, museum, performance, or other destination
• Arrange a facilitated outdoor or team-building activity that offers options for different mobility, comfort, and participation levels
• Organize an optional weekend retreat or camping trip, with accommodations for people who need alternatives
• Arrange an outdoor recreation experience appropriate to the group's interests and abilities
• Cater an appreciation dinner featuring food from local restaurants or community vendors
• Provide tickets or transportation to a regional performance, cultural event, or attraction
• Plan a boating, sailing, or other outdoor activity when safe, accessible, and appropriate for the group
• Attend a comedy, theater, music, or other live performance
• Visit a zoo, aquarium, museum, botanical garden, or similar community attraction
• Reserve a recreation facility with a variety of activities so people can choose how they participate
• Visit an art studio, makerspace, or craft venue where participants can create something to take home
• Sponsor an inclusive community dance, formal celebration, or recognition event
• Provide tickets to a local concert, performance, or sporting event
• Sponsor a team, rest stop, activity station, or celebration area at a community walk, run, or other event

Whatever the budget, avoid assuming that everyone will enjoy the same type of activity. Consider physical accessibility, transportation, caregiving responsibilities, religious or cultural considerations, sensory needs, dietary restrictions, cost to participants, and whether people are comfortable attending social activities outside normal program or work hours.

Decide the scale

Once you have ideas in mind for the type of celebration, think about who should be included.

• For a small gathering, start with the purpose of the celebration and develop the invitation list from there. For example, if the gathering is intended to recognize a staff team's work, staff may make up most of the group. Other possible participants might include volunteers, participants, funders, public officials, youth leaders, community leaders, members of the media, faith and spiritual community leaders, educators, or other partners. Make sure the invitation list reflects who actually contributed to or was affected by the accomplishment being celebrated.

• A larger gathering can bring together several groups connected to the organization or effort. For example, after reducing tobacco use among adolescents, a celebration might include young people, families, school representatives, community partners, funders, health professionals, and others who contributed to the work.

   

Pick a place

The location of a celebration can influence who is able to attend and how comfortable people feel participating. Consider physical accessibility, transportation, cost, privacy, noise, weather, safety, childcare or family participation, and whether the setting is welcoming to the people you hope will attend.

Here are a few possibilities:

• The office or organization's meeting space
• A restaurant or café
• A community center
• A recreation center or pool
• A private home, when appropriate and comfortable for everyone involved
• An amusement park or local attraction
• A park
• An indoor gym or recreation facility
• A banquet hall or event space
• A school
• A faith-based or community gathering space
• A ballroom or multipurpose event space
• A campsite or outdoor retreat location
• A sports field
• Tennis, basketball, volleyball, or other recreation courts
• A miniature golf course or similar recreation venue
• A lake, waterfront, or outdoor recreation area
• A shopping, dining, or entertainment district
• A restaurant, café, community venue, or other appropriate social space
• A tea room, coffee shop, or café
• An ice-skating or roller-skating rink
• A bowling alley
• A movie theater or performing arts venue

Invite the people

Think carefully about the invitation list and the purpose of the event. Is the gathering primarily for staff, volunteers, participants, or the broader community? Should community partners, funders, public officials, or media representatives be included? Who contributed to the accomplishment being recognized, including people whose work may be less visible? Are there people you hope to inform, engage, or build stronger relationships with? Make sure the guest list reflects the purpose of the celebration and does not overlook people whose contributions made the accomplishment possible.

Get food

Sharing food can create a welcoming atmosphere and provide a natural gathering point, but food should be planned with participants rather than treated as one-size-fits-all. Consider allergies, dietary restrictions, religious and cultural practices, vegetarian and vegan options, disability-related needs, and whether food or drink costs could create barriers to participation.

Here are a few possibilities:

• Picnic foods such as sandwiches, grilled foods, salads, fruit, vegetables, and desserts
• A cookout or barbecue with vegetarian, vegan, and allergy-aware options
• Movie-night snacks such as popcorn, candy, fruit, and drinks
• Sporting-event foods such as sandwiches, pretzels, popcorn, fruit, and nonalcoholic drinks, with other beverages where appropriate
• Tea or coffee with sandwiches, pastries, fruit, or other snacks
• Vegetarian or vegan dishes
• Appetizers, finger foods, fruit, vegetables, dips, and small sandwiches
• Desserts such as cookies, cakes, pies, fruit, or other treats
• Breakfast or brunch foods such as eggs, waffles, pancakes, fruit, pastries, and plant-based options
• Fresh fruit, specialty beverages, kabobs, and other seasonal foods
• Catered food from local restaurants or community vendors
• A potluck, with clear labeling for common allergens and dietary needs

Get entertainment

Entertainment can add energy to a gathering, provide opportunities for participation, or simply create an enjoyable background for conversation. Choose activities with the interests, ages, abilities, cultures, sensory needs, and preferences of the people attending in mind.

• A few ideas to get you started:
• Have an optional theme party based on a season, decade, sport, book, movie, or other interest shared by the group
• Have a talent show or open mic
• Invite local musicians or performers
• Have a DJ or create a shared music playlist
• Decorate the gathering space
• Set up karaoke
• Show a movie or attend a film together
• Hire a band or other local performers
• Offer games or recreational activities appropriate to the space and participants
• Visit a zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, museum, or other attraction
• Visit an amusement park or community festival
• Set up a dance floor while also providing quieter social spaces
• Use a light display, projection, decorations, or another visual celebration when appropriate
• Invite a string quartet or other small ensemble
• Invite a jazz, swing, or other local band
• Invite a local school, youth group, or community arts organization to perform, with appropriate permission and support
• Include an art exhibit or creative display
• Provide sports or recreation equipment for optional activities
• Provide board games, card games, drawing games, puzzles, or trivia
• Offer arts and crafts
• Hold optional costume, baking, cooking, art, or other friendly contests
• Invite a comedian, storyteller, spoken-word artist, or other performer

Get organized

A successful celebration benefits from clear planning and shared responsibility. Decide who will coordinate invitations, accessibility, food, transportation, activities, timing, setup, cleanup, and other logistics. Avoid assuming that one staff member will naturally take responsibility for all of the organizing. Sharing tasks can reduce burden and give more people an opportunity to shape an event that reflects the group.

Thank everyone

The celebration should recognize the people whose time, knowledge, work, and support gave the organization a reason to celebrate. Thank volunteers, participants, community members, young people, staff, partners, funders, and others who contributed. Be attentive to people whose work may be less visible, and don't forget to recognize those who planned and supported the celebration itself.

In Summary

Celebration is an important part of sustaining a community initiative. Recognizing accomplishments, effort, learning, and relationships can strengthen morale, deepen connections, and remind people why their work matters. Celebrations can also create opportunities to reflect on progress, acknowledge challenges, thank contributors, and build a stronger sense of community.

Effective celebrations do not have to be expensive or elaborate. What matters most is that they are welcoming, accessible, appropriate to the people involved, and centered on genuine appreciation. Ask people what kinds of recognition and gatherings they value, provide different ways to participate, and make sure that the celebration reflects the people and relationships that made the work possible.

Why should you arrange a celebration?

___It strengthens relationships in your workplace

___It is a good way to recognize the hard work by those involved in every aspect of your organization

___There is much to be gained through reflection

When are some good times to arrange a celebration?

___After reaching an important goal

___At the end of the year

___You didn't quite reach a goal

___During a moment of transition

___Anytime!

How should you plan your celebration?

___Decide on the budget

___Make a guest list of who you would like to attend and be sure that it reflects the nature of your party

___Choose a place to have the party, keeping in mind the type of atmosphere you want

___Make sure the venue matches the agenda for the party

___Decide on the appropriate food and drink

___Make sure you have entertainment, whether it is live music, wall decorations, or games to play

___Send invitations to the people you would like to attend

___Have a skilled organizer plan the party to keep things running smoothly

___Recognized everyone and thank them for their contributions

___Feel proud of your work

Example 1: Recognition dinner

I used to work for the University of Kansas Upward Bound Program that does college prep work with high school students who are from low income families and/or are potential first-generation college students. During the school year, participants attended a variety of educational workshops, visited college campuses, and received tutoring assistance. In the summer, students attended a summer camp where they took college preparatory classes and got a taste of campus life.

Every year, KU Upward Bound celebrates the conclusion of the summer program with a formal banquet. The annual awards banquet is primarily a celebration for the students and their parents, but attention is also given to showing appreciation for program staff.

Since the banquet was an annual event, we would choose the date several months ahead of time. This allowed us to reserve a location (either the ballroom at the university's student union or a banquet room at the alumni center) well in advance. It also gave us plenty of time to line up a keynote speaker - for high school kids, local sports figures are always a good bet - which was always more difficult than we thought it would be! If you're trying to get anyone notable, you may find the process takes several months, so start early.

The banquet gave the kids a chance to dress up and feel appreciated for their efforts over the past year, and their parents just ate it up. Most of these students had rarely, if ever, attended any formal occasions, so it was a big deal to them. However, we did have to make some adjustments to make them more comfortable. For several years, we tried having fancy foods on the menu, until one year some kids showed up with McDonald's bags! That was a big enough hint for us. We decided to go with foods that had more appeal to the kids; after all, the banquet was for them, and it worked out well because it was cheaper than the fancy meals anyway. We found that by having something simple (roast beef or turkey and dressing, for example), we were able to afford a big dessert buffet, and the students absolutely loved that!

Over time, we learned to keep the speeches by staff members and university officials to a minimum, and we started incorporating speeches and performances by the students themselves into the program. It made for a more entertaining evening, and made the students feel more like they were really a part of the banquet. Teachers of the summer classes presented awards to students who had done well in their classes, but we also gave awards to students who may not have done so well in the classes but had shown leadership and positive behavior in the residence hall. To make sure everyone felt recognized, certificates of participation were given to all students.

We also recognized staff members at the banquet, to a degree. Staff were thanked by the director, and the teachers and residence hall staff participated by presenting the student awards. However, since this event was supposed to be for the students and their parents, we didn't do any sort of staff awards at the banquet. That was saved for a separate, end-of-summer staff party.

The annual awards banquet takes a lot of advance work, but we found that if we started early and planned well, it wasn't too hard to pull off.

Example 2: Arranging a party

A medium-size organization is putting together an end-of-the-year party, and they have completed this chart for the party organization.

Budget: How much can you spend?

• $1000

Who do you need to contact?

• DJ
• Caterer
• Community center
• Key speakers
• Guests

Place:

• Community center

Time:

• Saturday, Dec. 22, 6 p.m.

Who's helping with the organization? What are their functions?

• Mark - decoration
• Anne - contact DJ
• Star & Trey - buy food/beverages
• Myself - contact the community center, caterer
• Diana - contact guests, send out invitations
• Jean - clean-up

Food:

• Pizza, chips, sandwiches, desserts, gelatin + caterer

Beverages:

• Soda, beer, wine, coffee, juice

Entertainment:

• DJ

Other details:

• Select music for DJ
• Buy recognition plates
• Get fireworks

Guest list:

• Dr. Stone
• Prof. Carvey
• Mayor
• Mr. Delaway

Tool 1: Reasons to celebrate

As we learned in this chapter, celebrating is an important part of any initiative or project. But sometimes the reasons to celebrate are not so apparent and this tool will help you go beyond the obvious party reasons and will show you that pretty much any effort is worth celebrating.

You should celebrate:

• If your goal was accomplished
• If your goal was not accomplished, but you are on your way
• If your goal was not accomplished, but you and your team worked hard
• If your goal was not accomplished, but you and your team put effort into it
• If your goal failed miserably, but you and your team tried all you could
• If you decide to set another goal
• If a team member is leaving the group (good-bye party)
• If a new team member is joining the group (welcome party)
• If your team received a grant, an award, a recognition prize, a contribution
• If a team member did something outstanding
• If a team member tried to do something outstanding
• If you want different sections of your team to get to meet each other
• If you want to recognize the work of a volunteer
• If you notice that people are feeling down
• If you notice that people are excited at the end/start of a project
• If your team needs to thank somebody
• If you have any reason at all to celebrate!

And of course, don't forget to:

• Celebrate holidays (Christmas parties, Hanukkah parties, Easter parties, 4th of July celebrations, and any other date that may have significance for you and your team members)
• Celebrate meaningful anniversaries, such as the date your group was formed, the date you achieved an important goal, the date an important grant was received
• Celebrate birthdays (if not all of them, have a monthly party for all whose birthday is on that month)
• Celebrate the end/beginning of the year
• Celebrate the birth of team member babies
• Celebrate the sheer existence of your group

Tool 2: Arranging the party

We all know that arranging a party can be an exhausting, frustrating experience if you're not organized. But if you get things straight, the arranging of the party can be as much fun as the party itself. Here, we offer a chart to guide you through the arduous and rewarding task of being a party manager.

Budget: How much can you spend?

Who's helping with the organization? What are their functions?

Place:

Time:

Who do you need to contact?

Food:

Beverages:

Entertainment:

Other details:

Guest list:

Tool 3: Budget

Budget can make or break your party. It's important to stick to the budget plan so that your celebration doesn't get out of hand. This budget guide will help you keep track of the money and plan your party within the boundaries of your budget. Of course, the items in the budget will vary accordingly to the kind of celebration you'll organize.

Budget item	Estimated cost
Food
Beverage
Entertainment
Location
Decoration
DJ
Services (caterer, clean-up, etc.)
Other expenses
Total expenses:
Total budget:

Tool 4: Reflect

Of course, there's more to celebration than the party itself. You need to have an underlying reason to put this party together, whether it is to thank somebody, celebrate an occasion, or recognize a success. Here is a list that can help you focus on what the party is all about.

Reason:

• What is this party for?
• Why are you celebrating?

Reflect on:

• How you achieved success.
• How you can improve.
• How to reorganize in times perceived as failure.
• How each team member contributed.
• How important your goal is/was.

Characters:

• Are you celebrating somebody in special?
• What did this person do?
• Is this person leaving your team?
• Is this person joining your team?
• What was/is this person's contribution?

Next step:

• Final thank-yous
• So, what's next?
• What is going to be your next goal?

• Why should you develop a plan for providing incentives?

• When should you provide incentives?

• Examples of incentives

• How do you design and implement an incentive plan?

• Sustaining the incentive program

Why do people choose to contribute their time and effort to an organization? Motivation can come from many sources: meaningful work, fair compensation, connection with others, opportunities to learn, recognition, flexibility, a sense of purpose, and the belief that one's contributions matter.

Different people value different things, and those priorities can also change over time. A staff member may value flexible scheduling because of caregiving responsibilities. A volunteer may value learning a new skill or meeting other people who care about the same issue. Another person may appreciate public recognition, while someone else may prefer a private thank-you.

Compensation and incentives can influence people's choices, but they are only part of what makes an organization a place where people want to contribute and stay. Working conditions, relationships, respect, fairness, workload, autonomy, inclusion, professional growth, and alignment with the organization's mission can all affect motivation and retention.

The people who work with your organization, whether as paid staff or volunteers, contribute time, knowledge, skills, and energy to its mission. An effective recognition and incentive plan can help acknowledge those contributions and support retention, morale, learning, and engagement.

This section focuses on developing a fair, transparent, and flexible approach to incentives and recognition. Rather than assuming that one reward will motivate everyone, involve staff and volunteers in identifying what forms of recognition, support, and opportunity they actually value.

Why should you develop a plan for providing incentives?

How can a plan for providing incentives help staff, volunteers, and your organization as a whole?

• Recognition can strengthen morale and belonging. A sincere "thank you," specific acknowledgment of someone's contribution, or another form of recognition can reinforce that people's work is noticed and valued. Recognition is most meaningful when it is genuine, specific, timely, and appropriate to the individual's preferences.
• A supportive organization is better positioned to retain valued staff and volunteers and attract new ones. Incentives can contribute to retention, but they work best alongside fair compensation where applicable, respectful relationships, manageable expectations, meaningful participation, opportunities to grow, and working conditions that support people's well-being.
• Recognition and incentives can reinforce organizational priorities. When an organization clearly recognizes collaboration, learning, safety, quality, innovation, service, or other valued contributions, it communicates what matters. Incentives should not encourage people to sacrifice well-being, fairness, safety, or teamwork simply to reach a target.
• A clear incentive plan can reduce real or perceived favoritism. Establishing transparent criteria can make recognition more consistent and equitable. At the same time, fairness does not always require giving everyone exactly the same reward; people may value different forms of recognition, so offer choices where possible while applying the underlying criteria consistently.

When should you provide incentives?

If you decide to provide incentives or formal recognition for staff and volunteers, when should you do so? The answer will depend on your organization, but two general principles can help:

• Recognize contributions at meaningful and clearly understood milestones. Your organization might recognize years of service, completion of an important project, achievement of a challenging goal, completion of training or certification, successful collaboration, or another significant contribution. Whenever possible, establish the general criteria in advance so that people understand how recognition decisions are made.

For example, a local symphony might celebrate the end of a concert season, receiving an important award, or reaching a major fundraising milestone. A children's rights advocacy organization might recognize people who contributed to the passage of important legislation or staff members and volunteers who completed a major annual report. Both organizations might also recognize people who have contributed over many years.

• Recognize contributions regularly and promptly. Recognition is often most meaningful when it occurs reasonably close to the accomplishment. Don't wait months after a major milestone to acknowledge the people who made it possible. Timely appreciation can reinforce connection between the contribution and the recognition while the accomplishment is still fresh.

Examples of incentives

What makes a good incentive? The answer depends on the people involved. Some people value financial rewards, while others value flexibility, learning opportunities, additional responsibility, time, public recognition, or a simple private expression of appreciation.

Before choosing incentives, ask staff and volunteers what they value. Also consider fairness, accessibility, organizational resources, tax or employment implications where relevant, and whether an incentive could unintentionally disadvantage people because of disability, caregiving responsibilities, health, scheduling constraints, or other circumstances.

Primarily material incentives

Pay and financial recognition

• Fair and competitive compensation for paid staff
• Promotions accompanied by appropriate increases in compensation and responsibility
• Raises
• Performance-based pay when criteria are transparent, equitable, and appropriate to the work
• Bonuses for significant accomplishments, added responsibilities, or exceptional contributions
• Additional compensation connected to clearly defined responsibilities or results
• Profit sharing, gain sharing, or other appropriate shared financial benefits where applicable
• Gift cards, stipends, or other modest tangible forms of recognition
• Team-based awards or recognition tied to meaningful accomplishments

Avoid relying heavily on incentives tied to factors such as perfect attendance when those measures may disadvantage people because of illness, disability, caregiving responsibilities, transportation barriers, or other circumstances outside their control.

Benefits and supports

• Benefits packages that may include paid leave, health coverage, retirement contributions, or other supports where resources allow
• Opportunities for qualified volunteers to apply for paid positions when openings are available
• Additional paid time off or flexible leave options
• Workplace supports such as meals, refreshments, transportation assistance, parking or transit benefits, wellness resources, or equipment that makes work easier
• Flexible or expanded leave policies where feasible
• Tuition assistance, training, certification, conference support, or other professional-development opportunities
• Flexible scheduling or remote-work options where the work allows, which can support people with caregiving responsibilities, school schedules, disabilities, second jobs, transportation needs, or other commitments
• Paid release time for professional development, community service, mentoring, civic participation, or other activities consistent with organizational policy

Less material or nonmaterial incentives

• Appreciation and praise - offer sincere, specific acknowledgment in the form the person prefers, such as a conversation, note, email, team recognition, or other expression of appreciation
• Recognition programs, such as staff or volunteer recognition awards, nominations for community awards, or other forms of acknowledgment
• Awards and tokens of appreciation, such as certificates, plaques, pins, organization-branded items, books, or other meaningful gifts
• Celebrations, such as appreciation meals, potlucks, picnics, receptions, or other gatherings
• Training and professional development - opportunities to develop skills, earn certifications, attend conferences, or learn new areas of work
• Public recognition, when the person wants it, such as highlighting their contribution in an organizational newsletter, website, meeting, or community publication
• Staff and volunteer retreats or learning gatherings - opportunities to reflect on the work, build relationships, learn together, and plan for the future
• Optional social activities - informal meals, recreational activities, celebrations, or other gatherings can strengthen relationships when they are welcoming and do not create pressure to participate outside work or volunteer hours
• Increased autonomy and trust - giving people appropriate discretion over how they carry out their responsibilities can demonstrate confidence in their judgment and skills
• Networking and mentorship opportunities - provide opportunities to meet others, develop professional relationships, receive mentoring, or participate in conferences and community networks
• Opportunities for leadership and decision-making - invite staff and volunteers to lead projects, participate in planning, contribute ideas, or take on responsibilities that support their goals and interests

How do you design and implement an incentive plan?

There are many possible ways to recognize and support staff and volunteers. The goal is not simply to create more rewards, but to develop an approach that is meaningful, fair, transparent, sustainable, and appropriate to your organization.

• Decide if you need and want an incentive plan.
  • A formal plan may be helpful for larger organizations or organizations that need consistency across many staff members and volunteers. A small or informal neighborhood group may not need a formal system at all; personal appreciation and informal recognition may be more appropriate. You may also want to learn from comparable organizations about approaches that have worked well for them.
• Consult with staff and volunteers who may participate in or be affected by the plan.
  • The best way to learn what people value is to ask. People may differ greatly in whether they prefer financial recognition, flexible schedules, time off, professional development, private appreciation, public recognition, additional responsibility, or something else. Whenever possible, provide choices instead of assuming that everyone wants the same thing.

For example, leaders of a small environmental advocacy organization in the Northwest thought staff members would appreciate more public recognition, so they proposed an "employee of the month" program and local newspaper features. Staff and volunteers explained that public recognition was less valuable to them than greater scheduling flexibility. Because many had school-age children, flexible hours could better support their responsibilities outside work. They also suggested opportunities for paid staff to contribute some work time to other local nonprofit organizations, supporting both professional relationships and broader community engagement. The example illustrates why incentive plans should be shaped by the people they are intended to support.

If you have several possible incentives in mind, develop a list and ask staff members and volunteers what they value, what they would change, and whether any options might create barriers or inequities. You can also invite them to generate ideas before organizational leaders make final decisions.

• Write a draft of your incentive program, including:
  • Your goals: What do you want the plan to accomplish? Do you hope to improve volunteer retention, staff well-being, engagement, learning, collaboration, recognition, or effectiveness? Establishing goals makes it easier to determine later whether the plan is useful. You may want to decide on some baseline measures so you can understand changes over time.
  • The contributions, accomplishments, or practices you want to recognize - and how you will do so consistently and fairly. Make sure the incentive structure aligns with the organization's values and does not unintentionally reward unhealthy workloads, competition, exclusion, or other practices you are trying to avoid.
  • The right incentives. Establish criteria for incentives, such as affordability, fairness, accessibility, usefulness, sustainability, and alignment with organizational values. Get feedback from staff and volunteers before finalizing the plan, and keep the system understandable and manageable.
• Consult again with staff and volunteers.
  • After you have developed a draft, invite people who will be affected by the plan to review it. Ask whether the criteria seem fair, whether the incentives are meaningful, whether the plan is accessible, and whether there are unintended consequences you have not considered.
• Revise the plan as needed, incorporating feedback wherever possible.
• Implement the plan.
• Review the program after an appropriate period of time.
  • Review whether the program is meeting the goals you identified and whether staff and volunteers still view it as fair, useful, and meaningful. Depending on the organization, an initial review might occur after several months, followed by regular reassessment.
• Continue to revise the plan as needs, resources, and circumstances change.

Sustaining the incentive program

Even a well-designed incentive or recognition plan can lose relevance if it is not maintained. Build the process into organizational practice so that it does not depend entirely on one person and can adapt as staff, volunteers, resources, and priorities change.

Four things can help keep it going:

• Consistency and equity: Apply the same underlying criteria fairly across roles and levels of responsibility. At the same time, allow flexibility in how recognition is provided, because people may value different forms of appreciation. A staff member might prefer professional-development funding while another might value time off or private recognition. Clear criteria combined with reasonable choice can support both fairness and individual preference.
• Follow-through. If the organization promises recognition, professional development, time off, or another incentive, follow through. Repeated promises that are not honored can undermine trust.
• Involvement. Involve people from different roles in maintaining and reviewing the program. This reduces dependence on one individual and helps ensure that the plan continues to reflect what staff and volunteers actually value.
• Review. Periodically review the incentive program for relevance, fairness, accessibility, effectiveness, and sustainability. People's priorities may change, an incentive may no longer be useful, or new opportunities may become available.

For example, when a small theater company began, limited funding meant that most recognition had to cost little or nothing. Staff and volunteers received complimentary tickets, participated in an annual appreciation potluck, received handmade awards, and gathered for inexpensive social events. As the organization grew and gained additional resources, it expanded its appreciation efforts while keeping traditions that people still valued. The lesson is not that incentives always need to become more expensive; rather, organizations can adapt recognition as their resources and participants' preferences change while preserving the practices people find meaningful.

In Summary

A thoughtful incentive and recognition plan can help an organization acknowledge contributions, strengthen morale, support retention, and create opportunities for staff and volunteers to learn and grow. Incentives work best when they complement – rather than substitute for – fair treatment, appropriate compensation for paid work, meaningful participation, supportive working conditions, respect, and clear communication.

Ask people what they value, apply criteria transparently and equitably, provide choices where possible, and review the plan regularly. The goal is not simply to encourage particular behavior, but to show that the organization values the people whose work, knowledge, time, and commitment sustain its mission.

___You understand the advantages of an incentives plan

___You understand that incentives should be provided regularly and promptly at certain clearly defined milestones

___You know some possible incentives

___You have decided if you need and want an incentive plan

___You have consulted with possible recipients of incentives

___You have written a draft of your incentive program

___You have consulted again with recipients

___You have revised the plan as needed

___You have implemented the plan

___You have reviewed the program after a predetermined period of time

___You continue to revise the plan as needed

___You understand that consistency, follow-through, involvement, and review are necessary to sustain the incentive program

Example 1: United Nations Honors Volunteers with Online Awards

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide.

The award recognizes the important contributions UN Online Volunteers are making to the work of the UN, NGOs and governments, and demonstrates how active citizens engage in addressing global challenges.

“Being on this year’s jury for the award has been an eye-opener for me. I read so many inspiring stories of how UN Online Volunteers are engaging in the Sustainable Development Goals through the Internet – volunteering their skills, time and commitment from wherever they are to seek to end poverty, reduce inequality, and help keeping people safe. On this International Day of Happiness, the winners of the 2017 Online Volunteering Award demonstrate how volunteering is a vehicle for innovative change and contributes to a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to sustainable development, happiness and the well-being of all peoples.”  

Executive Coordinator: Olivier Adam

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) is a website-based volunteer program. It connects local needs to worldwide volunteers who have the resources and talents to meet those needs. The website empowers those who have a voice and dreams to put them to great use. Many new programs have been implemented thanks to the knowledge and power of local people.

A main task any volunteer-based organization has is to keep volunteers engaged. This is a great example of recognizing the hard work and achievements of the volunteers. Awards and recognition help the volunteers to feel seen and appreciated. The UNV names the team and the members within the team and gives them credit for what they created. Honoring the volunteers online not only provides public acknowledgment of the volunteers’ work, but also allows others to see their innovations.

 

Example 2: Johanna Woodchild discusses volunteer recognition

Johanna Woodchild of the Greenville County Chapter of the American Red Cross in South Carolina knows the importance of recognizing volunteer service. She works with more than a thousand volunteers, and celebration is a year round business for her. From Christmas drop-ins to recognition dinners, Johanna is always organizing ways to thank volunteers and allow them to meet, have refreshments, and keep in touch with each other.

One way for Johanna to recognize her volunteers is to offer recognition ceremonies. That is what Johanna was doing when we talked to her. She was expecting a couple hundred people to show up the annual business meeting and recognition dinner. "We invite all of our volunteers, and there are several steps that go along leading up to this. In the past, we've had pretty interesting entertainment, and we encourage the volunteers to bring their families. It's a volunteer committee who selects what were going to do and what the menu is and so on. This year they decided to dispense with outside entertainment and have a huge icebreaker game, because they think we are too isolated in our services and need to meet Red Cross volunteers that work in other areas of service. We don't have very many expenses regarding the place (they had it in gyms churches, cafeterias), or the food (donations), or the preparation of the food. The teen volunteers serve the food. Most of our expense comes in the awards. I believe we spent twelve hundred dollars last year. Some of them are large framed certificates, and we give quite a few plaques."

"We have so many really dedicated and hard-working volunteers. For any of them to be singled out as being the epitome of what a Red Cross volunteer should be is something that means a lot to them," Johanna said. "I talked with two volunteers recently about their awards, each of them had won the Outstanding Male Volunteer of the Year Award. One of the gentlemen has his plaque on his wall in such a place that as soon as you open the door to his apartment that is the first thing you see. The other gentleman, who is a retired businessman who has served on many boards, is involved with us through a Learn to Swim program. He centered [his plaque] over his living room couch. So, the award itself is very prestigious, and it's a very high honor."

To recognize its volunteers, the chapter gives away various types of awards: competitive awards, top male and top female volunteer, diversified service volunteer, and new outstanding volunteers. Awards to organizations and companies are also given. The number of awards varies from eight to 50. "We give pins, year pins, (five, ten, fifteen, twenty) to volunteers who have been with us those numbers of years. This year, I was just going over the list, we have 66 people who have been active volunteers for five years. That's always the largest category but it's never been that large before. We give award recognition for people who have given the most hours in disaster services. Last year's winner was 1,452 hours. Armed Forces volunteers are also given certificates in recognition of hours of service given. We're retaining people better, and that's real encouraging."

Recognition goes beyond her organization's frontiers, Johanna said. "It's an ongoing process, and we nominate our volunteers for awards outside of Red Cross. For example, the Jefferson Award is a big award that is given to five people in a three to four county area and, in the past five years, we've had three winners. In the past two years our youth volunteer has been the winner of the Youth Volunteer of the Year Award, given by "Volunteer Greenville" (an arm of the United Way) and the J.C. Penny Co."

Johanna understands that recognizing and thanking volunteers is one of the most important ways to keep them. "One of the big things is the awards," said she. "We try to get people recognized in newspapers and on TV. Every time there's a disaster that's away from here, one that is a national level disaster, the local TV stations come over and film our national level volunteers as they drive away in the emergency response vehicle. That's neat, to see us on the news. People feel valued. We also have a newsletter that comes out four times a year. It's very folksy and it highlights volunteers and tries to educate the volunteers about what the different areas do. We're trying to build a family, so we all need to know who each other are, and what we are doing."

Example 3: Thank you note

Johanna also sends a thank you note to volunteers every year. One year, the following text was on the cover.

Our Red Cross Chapter is like a large extended family. Each service area represents a smaller, nuclear family. We don't see each other on a day-to-day basis, and are not even aware sometimes of what the other members of our family, the other services of our chapter, are doing. Our annual recognition dinner is our family reunion. We greet, we hug, we applaud the work that each of us does.  We celebrate the enormous impact for the good that our family, all 1,200 of us, does for the Greenville community, for America, and for the world. Thank you for being a vital part of that celebration! Thank you for making our family reunion such a special event - an event that we will cherish always.

On the inside of the card, Johanna included a personal message.

• What kinds of goal attainment should you recognize?

• Why recognize goal attainment?

• Whom should you include in the recognition of goal attainment?

• When is the best time to recognize goal attainment?

• How do you recognize goal attainment?

As the end of its first year approached, the North Quabbin Community Coalition had become a going concern, with over 60 people having attended meetings and served on task forces. Funding for an Information and Referral service - one of the area's greatest needs - had been proposed and obtained, and planning for new initiatives was under way. Now it was time for the Coalition to mark the occasion, recognize the people who contributed, and share its first-year accomplishments with the community.

After some debate, the Steering Committee decided on a year-end luncheon and formed a subcommittee to organize it. The subcommittee found a local caterer whose prices were reasonable, set a modest ticket price that would cover most of the costs, and created a way for people who could not afford the charge to attend without embarrassment. In addition to invitations to everyone on the Coalition's mailing list, it sent press releases and invitations to local media.

The luncheon featured a keynote speaker, short addresses by state and local officials, recognition for community service and contributions to the Coalition's first-year accomplishments, and, most important, a celebration of the fact that the Coalition had reached its initial goals.

When an organization or initiative achieves a meaningful goal, it is worth recognizing the accomplishment. Community members may benefit from knowing what has been achieved, how it was accomplished, and who contributed. Recognition also gives the organization an opportunity to appreciate its staff, volunteers, participants, partners, and community members, reflect on what has been learned, and prepare for the next stage of the work. This section, part of a chapter about celebrating work well done, focuses specifically on recognizing goal attainment.

What kinds of goal attainment should you recognize?

There are a number of different types of goal attainment that may be worthy of recognition. They include organizational milestones; organizational accomplishments; important events; and achievements by individuals or teams involved in the organization.

Organizational time milestones

For many community-based and grassroots organizations and initiatives, sustaining the work over time is itself an important accomplishment. Reaching a first anniversary, a fifth year, a tenth year, or another meaningful milestone can provide an opportunity to recognize persistence, relationships, learning, and the contributions that have helped the organization continue its work.

For example, one adult literacy organization held an open house on its first anniversary and invited learners, staff, volunteers, community partners, and the press. In subsequent years, it continued to celebrate its anniversary and share information about the program's accomplishments and development.

On its tenth anniversary, the organization staged a celebration and invited people who had been involved throughout its history, as well as members of the media. A scrapbook documenting the organization's history - press clippings, photographs, flyers, brochures, grants, and other materials - was displayed and eventually given to the founders. People who had contributed to the organization's development were also recognized and thanked.

The celebration served several purposes: it increased community awareness of the organization; recognized that the program had sustained its work for ten years; honored people who had contributed; helped newer learners and staff feel connected to the organization; and gave people with longer involvement an opportunity to reflect on what their efforts had accomplished.

Organizational accomplishments

Some examples of goal attainment that may be worth recognizing include:

• Reaching program or community outcome goals. These goals may involve specific changes the organization hoped to support - for example, pregnancies among adolescents decreased by 15% - as well as increased access to services, improved community conditions, or development of a new program or resource.
• Reaching participation or membership goals. This might involve growth in membership or participation, greater representation from groups previously underrepresented in the effort, or broader involvement from neighborhoods or communities affected by the issue.
• Reaching fundraising goals. Organizations may choose to recognize reaching a financial goal that supports important programs, services, or community work. Public reporting of fundraising progress should be accurate and transparent about how resources will be used.
• Receiving a significant grant or other funding. A new public appropriation, foundation grant, major donation, or other funding commitment may make possible work that the organization and community have pursued for a long time.

Public agencies and funders sometimes hold ceremonies to announce major grants or investments in community programs. Such occasions can recognize the organizations and communities involved while also providing an opportunity to explain what the resources will support and what outcomes are expected.

• Awards or other recognition of the organization from outside sources. Although these may not have been formal organizational goals, they can mark important milestones, recognize the quality or impact of the work, and affirm the contributions of the people involved.

Important events

Important events may represent the achievement of a long-term community goal. An agreement that helps resolve longstanding conflict among community groups, an adult literacy or job training graduation, or the opening of a local clinic or mental health center may represent the result of years of work. Such moments can be opportunities to recognize the people involved, reflect on what made the accomplishment possible, and share the achievement with the broader community.

Attainment of specific achievements by staff members or other significant people in the organization

Examples of achievements to recognize might include:

• Significant anniversaries of service or involvement
• Completion of a degree, certification, training program, or other educational milestone
• Election to a professional role or receipt of an award from a professional or community organization
• Promotion, expanded leadership responsibility, or another important transition within the organization

Why recognize goal attainment?

There are reasons for celebrating reaching your goals that relate to both the community and the internal life of your organization.

• Public recognition of goal attainment can increase community understanding of your organization and its work. Sharing accomplishments can:
  • Remind community members who you are, what you do, and why the work matters
  • Invite new participants, volunteers, partners, or contributors
  • Demonstrate progress toward goals and accountability for the organization's commitments
  • Draw attention to the priorities, strengths, needs, and experiences of people and communities most directly affected by the issue
  • Highlight opportunities for people to contribute time, knowledge, partnerships, or resources
  • Help community members understand the issue and what has been learned through the work
• Public or private recognition of goal attainment can support morale, connection, and motivation among staff and volunteers.
  • Reaching an important goal can give people a sense of accomplishment and pride in their work.
  • Explicit recognition acknowledges the time, knowledge, creativity, and effort people contributed.
  • Reflecting on progress can remind people that change is possible and renew energy for future work.
  • Celebration can also provide an important opportunity for connection and rest. Community health and development work can be demanding, and recognizing accomplishments can remind people why the work matters.
• Celebration of goal attainment contributes to the organization's culture, shared history, and identity.

Every organization develops its own culture - the values, practices, relationships, and ways of understanding its work - and its own history and shared story. Stories about how the organization began, the challenges it faced, the people who contributed, and the accomplishments it achieved can help create identity and continuity. These stories should remain open to multiple perspectives rather than presenting only one official version of the organization's history.

• Recognition occasions mark important achievements in the organization's history and help people remember them.
• Stories, photographs, reflections, and other records from these occasions can contribute to the organization's shared history.
• Including newer staff, volunteers, members, and participants can help them understand the organization's history and feel connected to its work.
• A public celebration can also connect the organization's story with the broader community and recognize the community's contribution to the work.

Whom should you include in the recognition of goal attainment?

There are many different ways to recognize reaching a goal. Whom you invite depends on the purpose and format of the recognition. Some acknowledgments may involve only the people directly connected to the work, while others may appropriately include the broader community.

If your purpose is primarily internal, a smaller recognition may be appropriate. If your purpose includes community accountability, public communication, or broader celebration, consider including community members and partners as well. The people who contributed to or were most affected by the work should not be overlooked simply because they do not hold formal positions within the organization.

Internal recognition

A brief announcement through email, an internal messaging platform, a meeting, or another staff communication may sometimes be enough. If you're planning something larger, consider who contributed to the accomplishment and who should have the opportunity to participate.

From the narrowest to the widest range, possible invitees are:

• The staff members directly involved in reaching the goal.
• All relevant staff. Include administrative, support, program, leadership, and other staff whose contributions made the work possible. Make arrangements so that essential duties do not prevent support staff or others from participating.

"All staff" may mean something different in a large organization. In a university, hospital, government agency, or other institution with hundreds or thousands of employees, recognition may appropriately focus on the department, unit, or cross-functional team connected to the achievement. Within that group, however, inclusiveness should still apply.

• Volunteers. Volunteers may have played a central role in reaching the goal and should be recognized when their contributions helped make the achievement possible.
• Participants or people using services. Participants may have contributed knowledge, leadership, feedback, advocacy, or other essential work toward the goal. Where appropriate, include them as partners in the accomplishment rather than only as recipients of the organization's work.
• Board members. Involving board members can help them understand and recognize accomplishments, strengthen connections with staff and community partners, and support their role as advocates for the organization.
• Members, if you're a membership organization, particularly when their participation or contributions helped make the accomplishment possible.
• Community partners, officials, and other contributors who played meaningful roles in the accomplishment.

Public recognition

For a public ceremony or celebration, you might include many of the people above along with other community members and partners connected to the accomplishment.

• Relevant public officials. Consider inviting officials whose responsibilities connect to the issue, including those who may not have previously been involved in the effort. Recognition events can create opportunities to share information, strengthen communication, and build constructive relationships where appropriate.
• Community leaders and partners, depending on the event. For example, a clinic opening might appropriately include health professionals, community health workers, neighborhood organizations, public health officials, faith and spiritual community leaders, local businesses, advocates, and people who helped plan or support the clinic.
• Other community members who contributed to the effort.
• The general public, when an open celebration is appropriate and resources allow.
• The media. Consider informing or inviting media when public coverage would help community members understand the accomplishment, recognize contributors, or learn about the issue.

How you involve the media depends on the size, purpose, and significance of the event. For a smaller internal event, you might share a photograph and a press release afterward, with appropriate permission from anyone pictured or quoted. For a larger public event, you may choose to invite local television, radio, print, community, or digital media. Participants and community members directly involved in the accomplishment may also be appropriate spokespeople when they want to take part. Media participation should support accurate public understanding rather than overshadow the people and communities whose work made the achievement possible.

When is the best time to recognize goal attainment?

In general, recognize goal attainment reasonably close to the achievement itself. If the achievement is a specific event that can be anticipated - such as an anniversary or the opening of a new facility - the event itself may serve as the recognition. If the achievement cannot be predicted exactly - such as receiving a grant, completing a major evaluation, reaching a fundraising goal, or documenting an important outcome - recognize it soon enough that the accomplishment still feels connected to the work that produced it.

If too much time passes, the connection between the achievement and the recognition may weaken. The people who contributed may no longer feel as connected to the work, and the accomplishment may be less meaningful or timely to community members and partners.

How do you recognize goal attainment?

Once you know what you're recognizing, whom you want to include, and roughly when the recognition will take place, decide what form it should take. Begin by clarifying what you want the recognition to accomplish.

Decide on your purpose in recognizing the attainment of this goal

There are several possible purposes:

• Purposes related to the internal life of the organization, such as:
  • Acknowledging the work and contributions of staff, volunteers, participants, or partners
  • Strengthening people's sense of connection, participation, and shared investment in the organization and its work
  • Marking an important point in the organization's development
  • Strengthening relationships and organizational cohesion
  • Simply taking time to celebrate
• Purposes related to the community and people outside the organization, such as:
  • Public communication and increasing awareness of the organization and its work
  • Recognizing the organization's work and the contributions of community partners
  • Thanking community members for their participation, knowledge, support, and resources
  • Strengthening relationships with community partners, leaders, and decision-makers
  • Demonstrating accountability and building organizational credibility
• Some combination of the above

Decide whether you want public or private recognition - or both

• Private recognition. If the primary purpose is internal or if the people involved would prefer a smaller gathering, a private recognition may be most appropriate. Consider what will feel meaningful and comfortable to the people being recognized rather than assuming that everyone wants public attention.
• Public recognition. A public ceremony or event may be appropriate when you want to inform the community, recognize community contributions, demonstrate progress and accountability, or invite broader participation in the work.
• Both. A public event combined with a separate smaller recognition can meet both community-facing and internal purposes.

Decide what kind of commemoration you have the resources for

If you're planning more than a simple announcement, consider the resources available. These may include money, donated supplies, staff and volunteer time, accessible space, transportation, interpretation, technology, entertainment, food, equipment, and planning capacity. Match the scale of the event to your resources so that the celebration does not place an unreasonable burden on staff, volunteers, or the organization's budget.

Decide on the tone you want to set

Once you've clarified your purpose, audience, and available resources, decide what kind of recognition fits the occasion. It could be as modest as an announcement or appreciation gathering or as large as a public community celebration.

An event can be formal or informal, reflective or festive, educational or recreational, or some combination of these. Consider accessibility, cultural relevance, transportation, caregiving responsibilities, sensory needs, dietary needs, cost, and the preferences of the people involved.

• Food and drink. Sharing food can help create a welcoming atmosphere, but it should not be assumed that every celebration needs food or that the same menu will work for everyone. Consider allergies, dietary restrictions, religious and cultural practices, accessibility, and whether food costs could create barriers to participation.
  • If food is part of the event, decide how it fits with the purpose and schedule. For example, you may want recognition or important announcements to occur before or during the meal so that the event remains centered on the accomplishment rather than only on the refreshments.

For a large public meal or picnic, estimate attendance carefully and plan enough food while minimizing waste. Registration or free tickets may help with planning, but avoid creating unnecessary barriers to participation. Consider options for people who cannot afford any requested contribution.

If alcohol is being considered, think carefully about the purpose of the event, the ages of participants, transportation and safety, organizational policies, and the inclusion of people who do not drink or who are in recovery from alcohol use disorder. Many community organizations may decide that alcohol-free events are the safest and most inclusive option. Whatever decision is made, provide appealing nonalcoholic beverages and avoid making alcohol central to participation.

• Activities. If the event is primarily a celebration, activities might include music, games, storytelling, art, dancing, or other options that people can choose to participate in. Recognition of staff, volunteers, participants, or community partners who contributed to the accomplishment may also be an important part of the event.

Recognition might include a public thank-you, an award, a gift, a short tribute, or another form of appreciation. Ask people how they prefer to be recognized whenever possible. Humor can be part of a celebration, but avoid forms of recognition that could embarrass, stereotype, or single someone out in a way they do not welcome.

• Organizational stories, photographs, scrapbooks, videos, news clippings, and other records can help document the organization's shared history and recognize the people and communities who contributed to it.
• If the event is meant to provide information to the community, activities might include presentations or reflections from participants, community members, staff, organizational leaders, public officials, or others who played significant roles. People and communities directly affected by the issue should have opportunities to speak for themselves when they want to participate.
• Films, videos, performances, exhibits, ceremonies, walks, art, or other symbolic activities can also help communicate the meaning of an accomplishment. When drawing on cultural traditions or symbols, involve people from the relevant community and use those traditions respectfully rather than relying on stereotypes or using cultural practices merely as decoration.

Decide on a specific way to recognize goal attainment

What will your recognition actually consist of? There are many possibilities, and the right choice will depend on the accomplishment, the people involved, the organization's resources, and the preferences of those being recognized.

A party or meal for staff, volunteers, participants, partners, and/or others connected to the organization.

It could be as small as a gathering of the people directly involved in reaching the goal or as large as a community picnic or celebration. Possible formats include:

• A themed gathering connected to the accomplishment or to an interest shared by participants
• A dinner and dance, with a live band or DJ
• A sit-down meal, held at a restaurant, catered, or prepared with appropriate support
• An informal buffet or potluck, with attention to dietary and accessibility needs
• A picnic or cookout

Other types of internal recognition. Depending on the importance of the goal and available resources, you may choose a smaller or different type of recognition.

Possibilities include:

• A gathering during or outside regular work hours, with snacks, dessert, or other refreshments, while avoiding pressure on people who cannot participate outside their normal schedule
• An internal recognition event specifically acknowledging people who contributed to reaching the goal
• An optional outing, such as a hike, museum visit, recreation activity, or another experience with accessible alternatives
• Compensatory time off or another appropriate form of recognition for people who worked substantial additional hours, consistent with organizational policy and employment requirements

An occasion designed to share information and increase community awareness. Public recognition can help community members learn about the accomplishment, the issue, the people involved, and what work remains.

• News release. A news release can provide clear information about the accomplishment, explain its significance, recognize contributors, and direct people to additional information. Photographs, quotes, or personal stories should be used with appropriate permission.
• News conference. A press conference may be appropriate for a significant public accomplishment. Participants, community members, staff, or partners who played important roles may speak when they want to participate, alongside organizational leaders or officials.

Maintaining constructive relationships with reporters, editors, community media, and other communication outlets can make it easier to share accurate information when an important goal is reached. Rather than trying to control exactly what journalists say, prepare clear information, identify knowledgeable spokespeople, and be ready to answer questions honestly about accomplishments, limitations, and what remains to be done.

• Reception. A reception can be invitation-only or open to the public. It may include refreshments, speakers, entertainment, exhibits, or other elements that recognize the accomplishment and create opportunities for community members and organizational partners to connect.
• Public ceremony. The opening of a new facility, launch of a new program, completion of a major community project, or another milestone may appropriately be recognized with a ceremony. Make sure the people and communities whose work made the accomplishment possible are represented rather than allowing the event to focus only on organizational leaders or public officials.
• Rally. If the goal involved broad community participation or advocacy, a rally may provide an opportunity to celebrate, thank supporters, communicate what was achieved, and renew energy and commitment for future work.

A public celebration

A public celebration can take many forms: a community gathering, picnic, block party, performance, festival, open house, or an activity closely connected to the goal itself. Plan the event with the interests, needs, accessibility, and cultural context of the community in mind.

• You can provide food by purchasing it, arranging catering, or seeking donations.

A community-based organization may develop relationships with local businesses willing to contribute food, space, supplies, or other resources to community celebrations. Be transparent about what is being requested, avoid pressuring businesses to contribute, and acknowledge donations in ways agreed upon with the donor.

Sustainable partnerships depend on respect and reciprocity rather than repeated requests for donations. Thank businesses and other contributors appropriately, and consider how the relationship can benefit the broader community as well as the organization.

• You can provide food at low or no cost to participants, depending on available resources
• You can organize a community potluck while making participation voluntary and providing alternatives for people who cannot bring food
• You can invite local food vendors or community organizations to participate, following appropriate food-safety and event requirements
• For an outdoor event, participants can bring their own picnic while the organization provides activities, seating, entertainment, or other shared resources
• You can hire professional performers
• You can invite professional performers to donate or discount their services when they are interested and able to do so
• You can invite local community performers, artists, youth groups, or other people who want to share their skills
• You can present entertainment related to the occasion, such as a performance, storytelling activity, or creative reflection on the accomplishment
• You can create opportunities for people to participate in games, sports, music, dancing, arts, crafts, or other activities, with options for different ages, abilities, and comfort levels
• You can provide age-appropriate activities, games, art supplies, or family-friendly spaces for children and caregivers

Other public celebrations might connect directly to the goal. Protection of a natural area could be recognized with an accessible community nature walk, educational program, or birding activity. Restoration of a historic building might be celebrated with tours or exhibits. A clinic opening might include health information, demonstrations, or voluntary screenings when appropriate.

Make sure that your celebration achieves its goal

The content and structure of the recognition are limited mainly by your purpose, resources, creativity, and the needs and preferences of the people involved. What's most important is that the recognition accomplishes what you intended.

In general, desired outcomes may include:

• People within and around the organization feel that their contributions were recognized and that the accomplishment reflects shared work.
• Community members have a clearer understanding of the organization, its work, and what was accomplished.
• The community understands that reaching one goal is an important milestone but does not necessarily mean the work is complete.
• People inside and outside the organization have opportunities to remain involved in or support the next stage of the work.

If the recognition produces some or all of these outcomes, strengthens relationships, and appropriately honors the people involved, then it has served its purpose.

In Summary

When an organization or initiative reaches a meaningful goal or milestone, taking time to recognize that accomplishment can benefit both the organization and the broader community. Recognition can increase public understanding, demonstrate accountability, strengthen relationships, and acknowledge the people whose work made the accomplishment possible. Within the organization, it can support morale, connection, reflection, and renewed commitment.

At a minimum, include or recognize the people who contributed directly to reaching the goal. Depending on the purpose, you may also involve other staff and volunteers, participants, community partners, board members, public officials, people and communities affected by the issue, and the broader public. Whenever possible, recognize accomplishments while they are still timely and meaningful.

Recognition may take many forms, from a simple announcement or private thank-you to a community celebration, reception, ceremony, media event, or gathering connected to the achievement itself. Choose an approach that fits your purpose, resources, community, and the preferences of the people being recognized.

Ultimately, effective recognition should acknowledge contributions, strengthen relationships, help people understand what has been accomplished, and connect the achievement to the work that still lies ahead.

What kinds of goal attainment should you recognize?

___Organizational time milestones

___Organizational accomplishments, such as reaching service goals, reaching membership goals, reaching fundraising goals, the receipt of a particular grant or other funds, and organizational awards or other recognitions

___Important events

___Achievements by staff members or other significant people in the organization, such as significant anniversaries (ten years as director; five years as a volunteer); receipt of a higher education or graduate degree; offices in or awards from a professional organization; or promotion within the organization

Why recognize goal attainment?

___Public recognition of goal attainment can provide your organization with good public relations

___Public or private observance of goal attainment can provide staff members and volunteers with motivation

___Celebration of goal attainment contributes to and sustains the organization's culture, history, and myth

Whom should you include in the recognition of goal attainment?

___If you're recognizing goal attainment only within the organization, you include some or all of the following:

• The staff members directly responsible for reaching the goal
• All staff
• Volunteers
• Participants or beneficiaries of service
• Board members
• Members, if you're a membership organization
• Supportive officials and community members

___If you're recognizing goal attainment publicly, you include, in addition to those above, some or all of the following:

• Community officials
• Specific community leaders, depending upon the event
• Other community members who contributed to the effort
• The general public
• The media

When is the best time to recognize goal attainment?

___As close to the actual goal attainment as possible.

How do you recognize goal attainment?

___Decide on your purpose in recognizing the attainment of this goal

___Decide whether you want a public or private recognition, or both.

___Decide what kind of recognition you have the resources for.

___Decide on the tone you want to set

___Decide on a specific way to recognize goal attainment, such as:

• A party or meal for staff, volunteers, and/or others connected to the organization
• Another type of in-house recognition
• An occasion designed to convey information and/or bring you publicity
• A press release
• A press conference
• A reception
• A public ceremony
• A rally
• A public celebration

• Why should you hold awards ceremonies?

• When should you present an award ceremony?

• How do you organize and conduct an award ceremony?

Someone involved in your initiative has been doing excellent work and has just reached a meaningful professional or community accomplishment. People have recognized the contribution informally, but you would like to do more to acknowledge the person's time, effort, leadership, or impact.

An awards ceremony can be one way to provide that recognition. Presenting awards at a special ceremony or gathering can honor staff members, volunteers, participants, partners, and community members who have demonstrated meaningful commitment or made important contributions.

Achievements worth recognizing can take many forms. They may include successfully organizing a major fundraiser, leading a community project, completing years of volunteer service, developing an innovative program, mentoring others, or making an important contribution that might otherwise go unnoticed. What these accomplishments often share is effort, commitment, collaboration, persistence, or positive impact.

In this section, we'll discuss how your organization can conduct awards ceremonies or other recognition activities. We'll look at why formal recognition can be valuable, when an award may be appropriate, who should receive awards, and how to organize a ceremony that leaves people feeling genuinely appreciated and included.

Why should you hold awards ceremonies?

There are many good reasons to recognize meaningful achievements. For example:

• An awards ceremony can help people feel that their work is valued. Recognition shows appreciation for people's contributions and lets staff members, volunteers, participants, partners, and the broader community know that meaningful work is noticed. Recognition can also reinforce the values and contributions that are important to the organization.
• Recognition can support motivation, morale, and belonging. When people see that their time, knowledge, creativity, and effort are appreciated, it can strengthen their connection to the work and to the organization. Recognition may also encourage others by showing what kinds of contributions the organization values, but awards should complement rather than replace fair treatment, supportive working conditions, meaningful participation, and appropriate compensation for paid work.
• An awards ceremony or recognition activity is a chance for celebration and reflection. It can provide a break from everyday responsibilities while creating space to recognize accomplishments, share experiences, and reflect on why the work matters. Gathering together can strengthen relationships and renew energy for future work.

When should you present awards for exemplary accomplishment and achievement?

How often and under what circumstances your organization presents awards will depend on its size, culture, resources, and preferences. Some organizations hold an annual recognition event, while others present awards only when a particularly meaningful contribution or milestone occurs.

You may also choose to present an award during another event rather than creating a separate ceremony. For example, an organization might recognize a board member, volunteer, staff member, participant, or community partner during an annual meeting or celebration. In that case, planning mainly involves incorporating the recognition thoughtfully into the larger event.

Who should receive awards?

Decisions about who receives awards may be made by an individual, committee, staff group, board, participant advisory group, or another appropriate body. Some organizations recognize milestones such as years of service alongside awards for exceptional contributions. Whatever process you use, establish criteria that are clear, consistent, equitable, and connected to the organization's values. Also consider whether nomination or selection practices might unintentionally favor more visible roles while overlooking behind-the-scenes contributions, teamwork, community knowledge, or forms of service that are harder to measure.

Awards ceremonies can be especially valuable for recognizing volunteers and others whose contributions are essential but may not always receive public attention. For example, the Lied Center theater at the University of Kansas has held recognition activities for volunteer ushers whose work helps performances run smoothly. Their contributions may not involve a single extraordinary event, but their ongoing service is important to the organization. Recognizing sustained, dependable contributions can be just as meaningful as recognizing a highly visible accomplishment.

How do you organize and conduct an award ceremony?

Awards ceremonies can range from large formal events to small, informal gatherings. What matters is not the scale of the event but whether the recognition feels genuine, appropriate, accessible, and meaningful to the people being honored.

A recognition event does not have to consist only of speeches. Depending on the group, it might include food, music, storytelling, photographs, performances, videos, activities, or informal conversation. Keep the focus on the people and accomplishments being recognized.

You don't have to hold a formal ceremony to present an award. A concert, play, picnic, party, community gathering, meeting, reception, or other activity might be more appropriate or more meaningful to the person being recognized. Whenever possible, consider the recipient's preferences rather than assuming that everyone wants formal or highly public recognition.

Organizing the awards ceremony

A successful awards ceremony usually reflects careful planning. Speakers, recognition materials, accessibility, food, timing, technology, seating, and other details all need attention. Depending on the size and type of event, consider forming a planning group or assigning a coordinator who can share responsibilities with others. Avoid placing the entire burden of planning on one person when tasks can reasonably be distributed.

Planning should also reflect the available budget and the purpose of the event. Are you holding a formal reception or a simple gathering? What type of recognition will you offer – certificates, gifts, plaques, professional-development opportunities, or another form? Who should be invited? Will there be speakers or entertainment? Planning these details in advance can help the event run smoothly.

Elements to consider when planning an awards ceremony

Money

First, decide on your budget. The cost of an award presentation can vary greatly, and meaningful recognition does not have to be expensive. Consider what your organization can reasonably afford without taking resources away from essential programs or services. Your budget may influence the venue, food, number of guests, awards, accessibility services, transportation support, technology, and other event needs.

Location and accessibility

Choose a location that fits the purpose and size of the event and is accessible to the people you want to include. Consider physical accessibility, transportation, parking or transit, restrooms, seating, noise and sensory needs, interpretation or language access, technology, and whether people can participate remotely if necessary. If food will be served or presentations given, make sure the space can support those activities.

Type of award

Recognition should fit the contribution, the recipient, and the occasion. Different people value different forms of recognition. Some may appreciate a plaque or certificate; others may prefer professional-development support, a contribution to a cause they care about, additional responsibility, time off where appropriate, or simply a thoughtful expression of appreciation. When possible, learn what forms of recognition are meaningful to the person receiving the award.

Here are some types of recognition you might consider:

• Pins or other small commemorative items
• Statuettes or trophies
• Certificates
• Prizes or meaningful gifts
• Plaques
• Framed recognition citations
• Gifts chosen with the recipient's interests or preferences in mind
• A promotion, leadership opportunity, or expanded responsibility when appropriate
• Complimentary tickets or experiences
• Professional-development opportunities, conference registration, training, or educational support
• A charitable contribution made in the recipient's honor, when that is something the recipient values

Consider whether the recipient wants the award to be a surprise. Surprises can be enjoyable for some people, while others may feel uncomfortable being unexpectedly called in front of an audience or having personal information shared publicly. When possible, confirm the person's comfort with public recognition, photography, media attention, or other aspects of the event while preserving whatever element of surprise is appropriate.

Number of guests

Decide whether the gathering will be large and open or smaller and invitation-only. Consider whether recipients may invite family members, partners, friends, mentors, colleagues, or other people important to them. Also think about the capacity of the venue and whether attendance costs, transportation, caregiving responsibilities, or scheduling could prevent important people from participating.

Food

Refreshments can contribute to a welcoming atmosphere, but they are not required for every ceremony. If food is served, consider allergies, dietary restrictions, cultural and religious practices, vegetarian or vegan options, and other participant needs.

You may prepare food yourselves, use a caterer, work with local restaurants, or choose another approach appropriate to your resources. Consider the staffing capacity required for shopping, preparation, serving, and cleanup, and avoid placing these responsibilities automatically on particular staff members or volunteers.

Catering and event support

Depending on the size of the event, you may need people to prepare the room, serve food, support speakers, manage registration, assist with accessibility or technology, and clean up afterward. Responsibilities can be shared among a planning team or handled by hired catering or event staff. Make roles clear in advance and distribute tasks fairly.

Tables/chairs arrangement

Arrange tables and chairs so that people can move safely and comfortably and see or hear the presentation. Leave adequate space for wheelchairs and other mobility devices, accessible routes, service animals, interpreters, and anyone who needs particular seating. For larger events, consider whether reserved seating is needed for award recipients, speakers, or people with accessibility needs.

Decorations

Decorations can help establish the tone of the ceremony, but they should not interfere with accessibility, visibility, movement, or safety. Choose decorations that fit the atmosphere and purpose of the event.

• Flowers
• Balloons, when appropriate for the setting and participants
• Bows or ribbons
• Tablecloths
• Centerpieces
• Photographs or displays
• Banners
• Posters or digital displays
• Plants
• Candles or flameless candles, when safe and appropriate

Key speakers

Decide who will present the award or speak about the recipient's contribution. Depending on the accomplishment, this might be a colleague, supervisor, community partner, participant, mentor, organizational leader, family member, or friend. Ask the recipient before involving family members or sharing personal information. Contact speakers in advance, explain the purpose of the event, and give them guidance about timing and tone.

Order of presentation

Develop a clear schedule for the ceremony. Decide who will open the event, when awards will be presented, how much time speakers will have, and when the ceremony should end. The schedule does not need to be followed to the minute, but clear expectations help prevent the program from running much longer than intended and make the event easier for participants to follow.

Preparing your presentation

You've secured a location, arranged refreshments if needed, ordered the awards, and planned the event. If you will be presenting an award yourself, prepare enough that you can focus on the person being recognized rather than on remembering every detail of your remarks.

Tips for a smooth, engaging presentation

• Be warm and genuine. Match your level of formality to the event and the preferences of the people being recognized.
• Even if you prepare written remarks, try to speak naturally. Use language that is clear and comfortable for you.
  • Use clear, accessible language
  • Use a conversational style when appropriate
  • Vary your pace and tone in ways that feel natural to you
  • Speak directly and inclusively to the audience
• If you share stories about the recipient, choose examples that genuinely illustrate the person's contributions and that they would be comfortable having shared publicly. Avoid stories that embarrass, stereotype, ridicule, or disclose private information.
• Brief stories and specific examples can help show why the person's contribution matters. Focus primarily on information relevant to the accomplishment. Personal details should be included only when they are appropriate and the recipient is comfortable with them being shared.
• Pay attention to whether you can be heard and understood, and communicate in a way that feels natural to you. Presentation styles vary across individuals, cultures, disabilities, and communication preferences, so eye contact, gestures, or other forms of body language should not be treated as universal requirements for an effective presentation.

What to avoid during a presentation:

• Making the presentation more about the speaker than the person being recognized
• Using a level of formality that feels disconnected from the occasion or audience
• Using vague, unnecessarily complex, or inaccessible language
• Beginning without being prepared for the tone and purpose of the event
• Allowing normal nervousness to keep you from preparing, slowing down, and focusing on the recipient
• Reading lengthy remarks without engaging with the audience when a shorter, more conversational presentation would work better
• Speaking for so long that the recognition shifts away from the award recipient

Should you invite the press?

Media attention may be useful when the recognition is connected to a larger community accomplishment, when the recipient wants public recognition, or when coverage could help increase awareness of an important issue. Consider the preferences and privacy of the people being honored before inviting media or sharing their names, photographs, quotations, or personal stories.

For example, an LGBTQ+ rights organization might choose to invite media when recognizing people who have been strong allies or advocates, particularly when public recognition can highlight community partnership and strengthen awareness of the organization's work. The people receiving the award should understand and be comfortable with the expected level of publicity.

Audio-visual aids

Photographs, slides, short videos, recorded messages, or testimonials from colleagues and community members can add meaning to an awards ceremony and provide additional perspectives on the recipient's contributions. Obtain appropriate permission before using personal photographs, recordings, or stories, especially when they include other people. If you use audiovisual material, arrange and test the appropriate presentation, sound, captioning, and display equipment in advance and make the content accessible to participants with disabilities.

In Summary

An awards ceremony or recognition activity can be a meaningful way to acknowledge exceptional contributions, sustained service, leadership, collaboration, and other accomplishments. The most effective recognition is genuine, fair, appropriate to the accomplishment, and meaningful to the person receiving it.

Recapping, here are some things to pay attention to when presenting an award:

• Be clear about why the recognition is being given
• Consider what form of recognition is meaningful to the recipient
• Plan carefully for accessibility, inclusion, logistics, and consent
• Keep the focus on genuine appreciation and the people whose contributions are being recognized

Recognizing meaningful accomplishments can show staff members, volunteers, participants, partners, and community members that their contributions are seen and appreciated. When recognition is equitable, thoughtful, and responsive to how people prefer to be acknowledged, it can strengthen relationships, morale, belonging, and the organization as a whole.

___You understand why should hold awards ceremonies

___You know when you should present an award ceremony

___You know how to decide who should receive awards

___You know how you organize an award ceremony

___You decided on a budget for the ceremony

___You decided the location

___You chose the type of award to be presented

___You determined the number of guests

___You decided what to do about food, decorations and arrangements

___You chose people to present the award

___You know how to conduct an award ceremony

• Who are your colleagues?

• Why honor colleagues?

• Who should honor colleagues?

• When should you honor colleagues?

• How do you honor colleagues?

At the annual meeting of a coalition of adult educators, a high point is always the announcement of the Teacher and Administrator of the Year awards. In a recent year, the administrator chosen was the long-time director of a program in a correctional institution. Both the director and the program had reputations for being caring, effective, and consistently supportive of staff members in a challenging setting. Those staff members had nominated him, and their tribute to him was read as part of the presentation.

When the award was announced, the administrator was stunned and deeply moved. He thanked his staff and the coalition for the honor and made a brief acceptance speech. "You have no idea how much this means to me," he said, "because it comes from people who really know what I do, who know me for what I am. To know that I'm appreciated is wonderful, but to know that I'm appreciated by colleagues I respect is gratifying beyond words."

Whether you're recognizing a colleague with a major award or simply sending a sincere note of thanks, appreciation can be an important part of sustaining community and organizational work. This chapter is about celebrating and rewarding accomplishments in health and community work. In this section, we'll discuss why and how you might recognize the contributions of colleagues.

Who are your colleagues?

You may think of colleagues primarily as coworkers, but the term can be broader. Colleagues may include people who work alongside you within an organization, across organizations, in a coalition, in a professional field, or on a shared community effort.

• Others in your organization. This includes people across roles and levels of responsibility. Program staff, administrators, administrative and support staff, outreach workers, specialists, and others who contribute to the organization's mission can all be colleagues.
• Leaders and staff of other organizations in your field or community. People may consider one another colleagues because they work on similar issues, serve the same community, or contribute to related goals even though they work for different organizations.
• Co-members of a coalition or community group. This may include people with whom you serve on committees, organize events, advocate for change, or carry out other shared work.
• Fellow volunteers or members of a community board or advisory group.
• Collaborators on a project. The Community Tool Box team, for instance, has included academics and community practitioners, teachers, students, administrators, writers, and human service professionals working across locations and projects.
• People with whom you work on an initiative or campaign at the local, state, national, or international level. People working together to preserve a neighborhood park, improve community health, advocate for legislation, or pursue another shared goal may consider one another colleagues.

Colleagues may be paid staff members or volunteers, professionals or community members, people in leadership or support roles, or people working across different organizations and locations. What connects them is their contribution to shared work, goals, or values.

Why honor colleagues?

The most basic reason is to let people know that their contributions are seen and appreciated. There are several other reasons recognition can be valuable:

• Their contributions deserve recognition. Colleagues may merit appreciation because:
  • They have made an especially meaningful contribution. They may have developed an effective prevention strategy, created a useful curriculum, strengthened a community partnership, protected an important community resource, or contributed in another significant way.
  • They have been long-standing contributors to the community or field. Some people consistently show up, take responsibility, support others, follow through on commitments, and contribute year after year without seeking attention. Their sustained work deserves recognition.
  • They have helped initiate something successful. They may have helped launch an effective program, intervention, coalition, or community initiative.
  • They have helped strengthen or improve something. They may have helped an organization address significant challenges or brought together organizations with a history of conflict or strained relationships so they could collaborate effectively.
  • They have contributed substantially to achieving an important goal. A colleague may have coordinated a successful fundraising effort, helped secure an important policy change, or supported another major accomplishment.
  • They have demonstrated persistence. Someone may deserve recognition for sustaining high-quality work over a long period, particularly under challenging circumstances.
  • They have demonstrated effective leadership. Leadership that supports others, builds trust, shares responsibility, strengthens collaboration, and helps people accomplish shared goals is worth acknowledging.
• Honoring colleagues can support morale, connection, and motivation. Community and human service work can be demanding, and frustration, exhaustion, and burnout can affect people over time. Recognition cannot substitute for reasonable workloads, supportive working conditions, fair compensation, or adequate resources, but it can remind people that their contributions matter and are appreciated.
• Honoring colleagues can highlight examples of effective practice, leadership, and contribution. Recognition can help people learn about approaches, values, and practices that have strengthened the work. The goal should not be to suggest that everyone must imitate one individual, but to make visible the qualities and contributions the organization or field values.

Recognition is only as meaningful as the choices behind it. Organizations should avoid honoring only people who fit one preferred style, hold highly visible positions, or follow established ways of working. Consider contributions from people in different roles, including those whose work happens behind the scenes, and make sure recognition criteria leave room for innovation, collaboration, community knowledge, and different approaches to effective work.

• Recognition can also increase awareness of the work of the organization, initiative, or field. Celebrating accomplishments can provide an opportunity to explain why the work matters, recognize the people involved, and strengthen community understanding and support.

An occasion honoring colleagues can also be an opportunity for community communication and advocacy. It can highlight an issue, demonstrate what effective work looks like, recognize community contributions, and invite others to participate or support future efforts.

Who should honor colleagues?

Recognition can be meaningful when it comes from people who understand the honoree's work and contributions. Close colleagues may have particular insight because they have worked alongside the person and seen both the visible and less visible aspects of their contribution.

Different groups may recognize colleagues in different ways. Some may be close colleagues themselves; others may coordinate or present recognition based on nominations or recommendations from people who know the honoree's work.

Groups that may honor colleagues include:

• An organization
• Staff members, volunteers, or participants within an organization
• A coalition or initiative
• Co-members of a board, advisory group, or committee
• A professional association
• Practitioners or organizations in a particular field
• Community groups, institutions, or partner organizations

When should you honor colleagues?

Appreciation can be expressed at any time, but there are occasions when formal recognition may be particularly appropriate.

Special occasions

These may have to do with the life of the organization, the professional life of the person being honored, or personal milestones they choose to share. Examples include:

• Retirement or another transition. Recognition can acknowledge a colleague's contributions before or during a significant professional transition.

If someone's contributions are worth recognizing, don't assume appreciation should wait until they leave. Ongoing recognition while people are still doing the work can be especially meaningful.

• A significant anniversary. This might include years of service, years in a particular role, or an anniversary of the organization or initiative.

The staff members of an organization decided to honor their director, who had served in the position for ten years. To thank him for his leadership, support, mentoring, and contributions to the field, they held a reception and invited staff, colleagues from similar organizations, funders, and state officials and agency representatives. People shared reflections on his contributions and presented forms of recognition that had been chosen with him in mind.

• A personal milestone the colleague wishes to share, such as a birthday, marriage, new family member, graduation, or another meaningful event.

Support from colleagues may also matter during times of loss, transition, illness, caregiving, or personal difficulty. This is less about public recognition and more about demonstrating care and respect. Follow the colleague's lead regarding what they want shared and what type of support is welcome.

• The attainment of a personal or professional goal, such as completing a degree, earning a certification, receiving a promotion, or reaching another milestone the colleague wants recognized.

The conclusion of something successful, or the achievement of a goal

The opening of a new facility, completion of a fundraising campaign, passage of an ordinance that advances community goals, completion of a major project, or another significant accomplishment may be appropriate times to recognize the colleagues who contributed.

Regularly scheduled occasions

Annual meetings of coalitions, organizations, community groups, and professional associations often provide opportunities to recognize contributions from the past year. When reviewing accomplishments, consider not only highly visible achievements but also teamwork, mentorship, collaboration, innovation, sustained service, and contributions that may otherwise receive little attention.

To say thank-you for a job well done or for support and mentoring

Sometimes the right time to honor a colleague is simply when you realize that their work, mentorship, or support has gone unacknowledged. A sincere thank-you, thoughtful note, or other recognition can be meaningful precisely because it is not tied to a formal award or scheduled event.

Honoring colleagues does not have to be formal. It can happen in small, everyday ways: a thank-you note, a message after a difficult project, acknowledgment at a meeting, or a private conversation expressing appreciation. People benefit from knowing that their contributions are noticed and valued.

How do you honor colleagues?

There are many ways to honor colleagues, but some general guidelines apply to most forms of recognition.

General guidelines

Make it personal and respectful

Recognition is most meaningful when it reflects the actual person and their contribution rather than using a generic approach. Consider what the honoree values, how they prefer to be recognized, and whether they are comfortable with public attention.

A ceremony, gift, or other acknowledgment can refer to the person's accomplishments, values, relationships, or contributions, but personal details and stories should be included only when the honoree is comfortable having them shared. Family members, mentors, or close colleagues may be involved when the honoree wants them included.

Consider a meaningful form of recognition

Recognition might include a meaningful gift, plaque, certificate, photograph, book, artwork, professional-development opportunity, contribution to a cause, additional time off where appropriate, or another form that fits both the person and the occasion. A tangible gift can be meaningful, but it is not required for recognition to matter.

The most meaningful recognition is often something thoughtfully connected to the person. A scrapbook, collection of messages from colleagues, item related to the person's interests, or another carefully chosen gesture may mean more than an expensive but impersonal gift.

If staff members contribute money toward a gift, make participation voluntary and avoid creating pressure on people who may not be able or willing to contribute financially.

Document the occasion with the honoree's permission

Photographs, video, audio, written reflections, or a guest book may become meaningful records for both the honoree and the organization. Before recording or sharing images, stories, or personal information, make sure the honoree and other identifiable participants understand how the material will be used and are comfortable participating.

Think about the guest list

Who would the honoree value having present? Consider close colleagues, family members, friends, mentors, community partners, public officials, or leaders in the field, depending on the occasion. Ask rather than assume which people the honoree would want included.

Consider whether media involvement is appropriate

Media coverage may be appropriate when the recognition is connected to a significant community accomplishment or when the honoree wants broader public recognition. If the occasion is personal or private, media attention may be inappropriate. Discuss publicity with the honoree before issuing a press release, inviting reporters, sharing photographs, or otherwise publicizing the recognition.

Specific ideas

There are as many ways to recognize colleagues as there are people and contributions worth recognizing. The most appropriate choice depends on the honoree, the accomplishment, available resources, and organizational culture.

Make a personal gesture to show your colleague you appreciate them

Recognition at a staff meeting, a note or card, a thoughtful message, or a small gift can all communicate appreciation. Small gestures can be especially meaningful when they are sincere, specific, and connected to what the person actually contributed.

Present an award. There are two common approaches:

• An award presented regularly for a particular type of contribution, such as Teacher of the Year, Innovation in Youth Work, Community Partnership, or another category.
• A special award created to recognize a person's distinctive contributions to an organization, community, or field.

Regular awards may provide consistency and visibility, but they can also become overly competitive if only one type of contribution is recognized. Consider multiple forms or categories of recognition so that collaboration, mentoring, community knowledge, behind-the-scenes work, innovation, and sustained service can also be acknowledged.

Some groups combine regular awards with special recognition for people whose contributions do not fit established categories. This can help acknowledge colleagues whose work has made an important difference but might otherwise be overlooked.

Give a gift or another meaningful form of recognition

Gifts are one possibility, but recognition can also involve time, opportunities, experiences, learning, or other forms of appreciation.

Possibilities include:

• Name something in their honor. A room, program, scholarship, grant, award, or other appropriate resource may be named for a colleague whose contributions have had lasting significance.
• Seek an official proclamation or community recognition. A city council, county government, legislature, board, or other public body may sometimes formally recognize someone's contribution.
• Give them time. Additional paid time off, schedule flexibility, compensatory time, or relief from evening or weekend responsibilities may be particularly meaningful when organizational policy and resources allow.
• Help make a meaningful experience possible. If you know the person has a particular professional, recreational, artistic, or community interest, consider whether there is an appropriate way to support that interest.

Recognition that reflects genuine respect is often more meaningful than something expensive. The best choice is one that has been made thoughtfully with the person, their preferences, and the nature of their contribution in mind.

Throw them a party or gathering

Depending on resources and preferences, recognition might take the form of refreshments during work hours, a staff meal, a picnic, a reception, or a larger gathering. Make participation voluntary, and consider accessibility, transportation, caregiving responsibilities, scheduling, dietary needs, religious and cultural considerations, and sensory preferences.

A gathering may be especially appropriate when recognizing a group rather than one individual. Teams, volunteers, staff members, participants, or partners who contributed collectively may appreciate having their shared work recognized.

Elements to consider:

• Food. Ask what kinds of food participants and the honoree would enjoy. Consider favorite or culturally meaningful foods without reducing cultures to stereotypes, and provide options for allergies, dietary restrictions, religious practices, vegetarian or vegan diets, and other needs.

If alcohol is being considered, think about whether it fits the organization's purpose and whether it could make some participants feel excluded or unsafe. Organizations that provide substance use treatment or work with people in recovery from alcohol use disorder may decide that alcohol-free events are more appropriate. Minors, transportation and safety, organizational policies, religious or cultural practices, and personal preferences are also relevant considerations. An alcohol-free event can often provide the most inclusive environment.

• Music. Choose music based on the honoree's and participants' preferences. Consider volume, sensory needs, accessibility, and whether people want opportunities to dance, talk, or simply listen.
• The interests of the honoree. A gathering might involve a sporting event, film, outdoor activity, arts experience, restaurant, community event, or another activity the person genuinely enjoys. Make sure the activity is feasible and accessible to the people you hope to include.

Hold a formal ceremony

A formal ceremony may include remarks from organizational leaders, colleagues, community partners, public officials, or the honoree. It may accompany an award or simply serve as formal recognition of the person's contribution. Media involvement may be appropriate when the honoree wants public recognition and the event has broader community significance.

Formal ceremonies can communicate significance and allow a broader range of people to participate, but they may provide less time for personal interaction. Consider the honoree's preferences when deciding whether a formal, informal, or combined approach is best.

One option is to combine formal recognition with an informal reception or gathering so that people have both a structured opportunity to acknowledge the contribution and time to connect personally.

Honor colleagues every day

You don't need a special event or award to let colleagues know that you value their contributions. Regular, specific, and sincere appreciation can help strengthen relationships and make difficult community work more sustainable. Recognition is most effective when it exists alongside supportive working conditions, respect, inclusion, appropriate resources, and meaningful opportunities to contribute.

In Summary

Honoring colleagues - people who work with you toward shared goals in an organization, community, coalition, initiative, or field - can express appreciation, strengthen relationships, acknowledge meaningful contributions, and increase awareness of important community work.

Recognition may come from an organization, team, coalition, professional association, board, community group, or colleagues working closely with the person. It might mark a professional milestone, major accomplishment, sustained contribution, transition, or simply the realization that someone's work or support deserves acknowledgment.

Regardless of the form of recognition - a personal gesture, award, gift, gathering, formal ceremony, or another approach - several principles are useful:

• Personalize the recognition in ways that reflect the person's contributions and preferences
• Choose a meaningful form of appreciation, whether tangible or not
• Document the occasion only with appropriate permission
• Consider the guest list carefully, with the honoree's relationships, comfort, accessibility needs, and preferences in mind
• Discuss public or media recognition with the honoree before making the occasion public

Finally, honor colleagues in everyday ways as well as through formal recognition. Community and health work can be demanding, and people benefit from knowing that their knowledge, time, care, and contributions are genuinely appreciated.

Who are your colleagues?

___Colleagues are those who work toward the same goals as you, whether you have in common the organization you work for, the initiative or coalition you are members of, the community you work in, or your field

Why honor colleagues?

___Because they deserve it

___Because it motivates them and others

___Because it creates role models

___Because it publicizes the work of your organization, initiative, or field

Who should honor colleagues?

___An organization, or a staff member of an organization

___A coalition or initiative

___A board of directors, or as a member of a board

___A professional association

___A practitioner or organization in a particular field

___A community group or institution

When should you honor colleagues?

___On their special personal or professional occasions

___When they've achieved a goal or accomplished something significant

___At regularly-scheduled award ceremonies

___To say thank you for a job well done or for support and mentoring

How do you honor colleagues?

___Personalize the occasion

___Give them something tangible

___Record the occasion

___Think about the guest list carefully

___Consider inviting the media

___You honor colleagues more specifically by doing one or more of the following

• Making a personal gesture of recognition and gratitude
• Giving them an award
• Giving them a gift
• Throwing them a party
• Holding a formal public ceremony for them

___You honor colleagues every day

Tool: Certificate of Achievement

You can honor your colleagues in many ways, formally or informally. You can send an e-card, make an announcement in the newsletter, give an award, throw a party, or hold a formal public ceremony to honor both individuals and groups. The certificate below is just one option for making an honor visible.

The annual meeting of the Human Resource Center (HRC) always accompanied a catered luncheon, presided over by the organization's director and the chair of its board. HRC was actually the community multi-service center, offering mental health and substance use counseling, parenting classes, programs for children at risk and teen offenders, and community and family mediation. Its director and staff had their fing

At the annual meeting of a community coalition, the board chair announced that the final item of business would be the presentation of the Community Champion Award. The award, now in its third year, recognized "a person whose contributions during the past year have meaningfully strengthened the quality of life in our community." Previous recipients had included leaders of human service organizations whose work had strengthened programs, partnerships, and community well-being.

This year, the board chair explained, the award would recognize a community member whose leadership had helped bring people together around a shared vision of a more caring and connected community. The honoree had worked with others to expand access to food, strengthen support for people experiencing homelessness, and build relationships among neighbors who might not otherwise have connected.

People began looking around the room as they tried to guess who would be recognized. When the minister of a local Congregational Church was named, he was surprised. Working with members of the congregation and community partners, he had helped establish a food bank, make church space available for community needs, strengthen support for people experiencing homelessness, and connect families facing economic barriers with resources. The award recognized both his leadership and the collective work he had helped support.

When people - through their jobs, volunteer work, lived experience, advocacy, organizing, leadership, or everyday participation - contribute meaningfully to the well-being of their communities, it can be important to recognize those contributions. This section will help you think about who community champions can be and how to recognize their work in ways that are inclusive, equitable, and meaningful.

What is a community champion?

A community champion is someone who contributes meaningfully to improving community conditions, strengthening relationships, supporting an initiative, advancing an idea, helping create needed programs or resources, advocating for change, or otherwise supporting community well-being. Community champions may be public officials, community leaders, residents, health or human service workers, volunteers, participants, organizers, advocates, or people whose leadership emerges through lived experience and involvement in their communities.

Some community champions work through formal organizations or initiatives. Others organize neighbors, advocate independently, bring people together around shared concerns, or contribute in less visible ways. They may lead publicly or work behind the scenes. What matters is not a particular title, personality, or amount of personal sacrifice, but the value of their contribution and the ways their work supports community priorities, relationships, equity, and well-being.

Some examples include:

• A group of college students partnered with outreach organizations and people with lived experience of homelessness to distribute food, blankets, and information about available shelter and services. Their work emphasized relationship-building, safety, respect, and connection to resources rather than assuming they alone knew what people needed.
• After a young person was assaulted on the way home from school, his mother began bringing parents, young people, schools, community organizations, and other residents together to discuss violence and safety. What began as a local discussion group grew into a broader community effort and eventually received funding that allowed the work to continue. Her leadership helped create new ways for residents to understand and address violence collectively.
• When a large area of open land was threatened with development, a forester helped bring residents and conservation partners together to create a land trust. The group eventually protected the property and went on to conserve additional land throughout the region. The achievement reflected sustained leadership, community collaboration, and long-term environmental stewardship.
• A community resource and referral specialist became a strong advocate for people navigating complex systems and barriers to services. She built relationships across agencies, helped people connect with housing, food, health care, safety, and other resources, and identified recurring system barriers that community organizations could work together to address.

Why honor community champions?

There are many reasons to recognize people whose contributions strengthen their communities.

• Honoring a community champion can highlight examples of meaningful community participation and leadership. Recognition can make visible the many ways people contribute - through organizing, advocacy, service, relationship-building, lived experience, collaboration, mentoring, or sustained participation - and may encourage others to become involved in ways that fit their own abilities and interests.
• Honoring a community champion provides an occasion to highlight and explain community issues.
• Honoring a community champion can demonstrate that individuals and groups can contribute to meaningful change. It can also show how change often grows through relationships, collective action, persistence, and participation rather than through the actions of one person alone.
• Honoring a community champion can help people feel that their work is seen and valued. Recognition can support morale and connection. It should, however, complement rather than substitute for appropriate resources, reasonable workloads, supportive working conditions, shared responsibility, and other conditions that help sustain community work.
• Honoring community champions can broaden public understanding of what community leadership looks like. Leadership may come from people in formal positions, but it can also come from residents, young people, volunteers, participants, caregivers, advocates, people with lived experience, and others whose contributions may receive less public attention.
• Honoring community champions can support future community involvement. Recognition can call attention to work that remains to be done and invite others to contribute their knowledge, relationships, time, or resources.

Regular recognition - whether annually, periodically, or through ongoing informal appreciation - can help communities notice and value the work people are already doing. It can also encourage discussion about what meaningful service, leadership, collaboration, and participation look like in that community.

The Orange Revitalization Association in Orange, Massachusetts, established a Citizen of the Month award. Recipients received a certificate and recognition in the local newspaper, and the award helped draw attention to their community contributions.

Because Orange was a relatively small community, many recipients were known to other residents. Each month, the award provided an example of how a neighbor was contributing to community life. A similar program created today might use a name such as "Community Member of the Month" to make clear that recognition is not limited by citizenship status.

Who should honor community champions?

Many different community groups, institutions, networks, and organizations can recognize community champions. Who establishes an award or recognition process may affect whose contributions are noticed, so it is important to consider how nominations and decisions are made.

Different organizations may naturally notice different forms of contribution. A business association, neighborhood organization, youth group, disability advocacy organization, human service coalition, cultural organization, or environmental group may each bring different perspectives. A strong recognition process therefore benefits from clear criteria, broad opportunities for nominations, and meaningful participation from people representing different parts of the community.

In some situations, an organization may ask another trusted or broadly respected community institution to participate in recognition. This can be useful when multiple organizations want the recognition to represent a wider community effort. Whatever arrangement is used, be transparent about who selected the honoree and what criteria were used.

An organization may also choose to present recognition itself when it wants to clearly acknowledge work that aligns with its mission and values.

Groups that may recognize community champions include:

• Health and human service organizations
• Local coalitions or initiatives
• Local organizations, including local chapters of state or national advocacy organizations, that work on equity, environmental issues, health, community development, social issues, or other community concerns
• Charitable and philanthropic organizations
• Schools, colleges, and universities
• Community oversight or advocacy groups
• Neighborhood associations and resident-led organizations
• Youth groups, disability organizations, cultural organizations, faith and spiritual communities, mutual-aid groups, and other community networks

When should you honor community champions?

A community champion can be recognized at any time. Recognition may feel especially meaningful when it is connected to an accomplishment, milestone, community event, or regularly scheduled opportunity.

• The achievement of a goal in which the community champion has been deeply involved. The goal may represent the completion of an effort or one milestone in longer-term work toward community change.
  • Reaching an important benchmark
  • Adoption of a new policy or announcement of new funding
  • A meaningful change in public understanding, institutional practice, or community conditions
  • Successful completion of a project or initiative
• Community champions are recognized on a regular basis. This might take the form of an annual, quarterly, or other periodic award or recognition activity. Some coalitions use annual meetings or community gatherings to recognize several people who made important contributions during the year.
• Special occasions. Community events, commemorations, and milestones can provide appropriate opportunities to recognize contributions.
  • Issue-related or commemorative days. Earth Day, International Literacy Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and other relevant observances may offer opportunities to recognize people contributing to related work.
  • The beginning or conclusion of a fundraising or community campaign. These events can recognize people whose leadership, participation, advocacy, or fundraising supported the effort.
  • A public ceremony marking a new program, service, facility, policy, or community accomplishment. Recognize not only formal leaders but also residents, participants, volunteers, advocates, and partners whose contributions helped make the accomplishment possible.

How do you honor community champions?

Recognition can range from a private thank-you or community announcement to an award, gathering, gift, public ceremony, or other form of appreciation. The most appropriate approach depends on the honoree, the nature of the contribution, the community, and the resources available.

General guidelines

Consider your resources

Consider available space, money, time, staffing and volunteer capacity, food, materials, accessibility supports, transportation, technology, and other resources. Recognition does not need to be expensive to be meaningful.

Determine an equitable process for selecting and notifying honorees

Some groups invite nominations and use clear written criteria. Others use a committee, community advisory group, or other selection process. Whatever method you choose, consider whether it gives people from different neighborhoods, identities, roles, ages, and levels of visibility a fair opportunity to be recognized. Avoid criteria that unintentionally favor people with formal titles, public profiles, extensive free time, or access to influential networks.

Give potential honorees an opportunity to accept or decline recognition whenever appropriate. Some people may appreciate a surprise, while others may be uncomfortable with public recognition, media coverage, or having personal information shared.

Consider media involvement rather than assuming it is necessary

Media coverage may help raise awareness of the honoree's work and important community issues, but it should not automatically be part of every recognition. Discuss publicity with the honoree before issuing press releases, sharing photographs, arranging interviews, or inviting reporters.

If media are involved, focus coverage not only on the individual but also on the community issue, the people and partnerships involved, and the collective work that made progress possible.

Personalize the recognition respectfully

Recognition should reflect the person and their actual contribution. Stories, photographs, family participation, personal details, and anecdotes can make recognition meaningful, but they should be included only when the honoree is comfortable with them. Ask rather than assume whom they would like involved or what they would like shared.

Offer a meaningful form of recognition

Recognition might include a certificate, award, gift, professional-development opportunity, contribution to a cause the honoree values, public acknowledgment, private appreciation, or another form chosen with the honoree's preferences in mind. A tangible object can be meaningful, but it is not necessary for every recognition.

Document the occasion with appropriate permission

Photographs, video, audio recordings, written reflections, or a guest book can preserve the occasion, but obtain permission before recording, sharing, or publishing identifiable images, voices, or personal information.

Specific ideas

Here are some actions you can take or sponsor to honor a community champion:

• Issue a press release describing the contribution, with the honoree's knowledge and appropriate consent
• Hold a press conference when the accomplishment has broader community significance and the honoree wants to participate
• Offer a public thank-you at an organizational event, community meeting, presentation, interview, or other appropriate setting
• Highlight community champions on your website, newsletter, social media, or other digital channels, with appropriate permission
• Write or help place an article, commentary, or letter that highlights the person's contribution and the community issue involved
• Present a small gift or award at a community event. This might include a certificate, artwork, book, item connected to the work, or another form of recognition that is meaningful to the honoree.
• Present a distinctive award or form of recognition when a person's contributions have had exceptional or lasting significance. The award can be designed specifically around the person's work, values, and preferences.

Other forms of recognition may include:

A city, county, state, or other public body may issue a proclamation recognizing the person's contributions.

A room, program, scholarship, award, building, or other appropriate community resource may be named in the person's honor when the recognition reflects sustained contributions and follows appropriate organizational or community processes.

• Have a celebration or gathering.
• Use humor only when the honoree welcomes it. A lighthearted tribute or "roast" may work for some people and communities, but it should never depend on embarrassment, stereotypes, private information, or jokes the honoree has not agreed to.
• Schedule community champion recognition regularly. An annual or periodic community recognition program can help keep attention on community contribution and make visible forms of leadership and service that might otherwise go unnoticed.

A recurring recognition program does not have to select only one person. Multiple awards or recognition categories may better reflect the different ways people contribute - through leadership, collaboration, advocacy, mentorship, lived experience, youth involvement, volunteer service, neighborhood organizing, or other forms of community participation.

• Continue recognizing past community champions when appropriate. Past honorees may remain involved as mentors, advisors, partners, or contributors if they want to do so. Maintain a record of past recipients or contributors when useful, but avoid turning recognition into a status hierarchy that suggests only officially recognized people make valuable contributions.

Ideally, recognition of community champions should make visible the many ways people contribute to community well-being. The goal is not for everyone to compete for an award, but for participation, shared leadership, collaboration, and community care to be widely supported and valued.

In Summary

Community champions are people who make meaningful contributions to community well-being through leadership, participation, advocacy, service, organizing, collaboration, lived experience, or other forms of involvement. Recognizing them can highlight important community issues, express appreciation, strengthen relationships, and make visible forms of contribution that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Community champions may be recognized by community organizations, coalitions, public agencies, advocacy groups, schools, professional associations, faith and spiritual communities, neighborhood groups, cultural organizations, businesses, or other institutions. Recognition processes should use clear and equitable criteria and should consider whose contributions have historically received less attention.

Recognition may be especially appropriate when an important goal is reached, during an annual or periodic community event, or in connection with another meaningful milestone. The form of recognition should reflect the honoree's work, preferences, and relationship with the community.

Whether recognition takes the form of an award, gift, gathering, public or private acknowledgment, media story, or another approach, several principles are useful:

• Consider and stay within your resources
• Use a clear, equitable process for selecting and notifying honorees
• Involve media only when appropriate and with the honoree's knowledge
• Personalize recognition while respecting privacy and preferences
• Offer recognition that is meaningful to the honoree
• Document and share the occasion only with appropriate permission

Making recognition a regular community practice can help people notice and appreciate the many forms of work that sustain community well-being. The broader goal is not simply to create more individual heroes, but to build communities where participation, shared leadership, mutual support, and meaningful contribution are encouraged and valued.

What is a community champion?

___A community champion is a person who works hard and well to start and/or support an initiative or intervention, to bring a program or idea to reality, or to otherwise improve the quality of life of a particular group or of the community as a whole

Why honor community champions?

___It creates an example for the rest of the community to follow

___It provides an occasion to highlight and explain community issues

___It demonstrates that even one person can be an effective agent for change, and encourages democratic action

___It makes not only that person, but others engaged in community service feel that they and their work are valued and appreciated

___It shows the community who the real heroes are

___It can help to prepare the community for future initiatives

Who should honor community champions?

___Health and human service agencies

___Local coalitions or initiatives

___Local, or local branches of state and national advocacy organizations that focus on the disadvantaged, the environment, health and social issues, or other community concerns

___United Way and other charitable organizations

___Schools

___Self-constituted citizen oversight or advocacy groups

___Neighborhood associations

When should you honor community champions?

___When a goal is achieved in which the honoree has been deeply involved

___On a regular basis

___On appropriate special occasions related to their work

How do you honor community champions?

___Consider your resources

___Determine your procedures for selecting and notifying honorees

___Involve the media

___Personalize the occasion

___Give the honoree something

___Record the occasion

___Choose an appropriate method:

• Issue a press release
• Hold a press conference
• Announce community champions on your website
• Voice a public thank-you
• Write or get published a newspaper article or editorial focusing on the person 's contribution to the community
• Present a small gift or award at a public event
• Present a major, unique award or gift, where the presentation is either the reason for the event, or an important element of it
• Have a party
• Hold a roast
• Regularly schedule community champion awards

___Continue to honor community champions forever

Example 1: United Nations Honors Champions with Online Volunteer Awards

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide.

The award recognizes the important contributions UN Online Volunteers are making to the work of the UN, NGOs and governments, and demonstrates how active citizens engage in addressing global challenges.

“Being on this year’s jury for the award has been an eye-opener for me. I read so many inspiring stories of how UN Online Volunteers are engaging in the Sustainable Development Goals through the Internet – volunteering their skills, time and commitment from wherever they are to seek to end poverty, reduce inequality, and help keeping people safe. On this International Day of Happiness, the winners of the 2017 Online Volunteering Award demonstrate how volunteering is a vehicle for innovative change and contributes to a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to sustainable development, happiness and the well-being of all peoples.”  

Executive Coordinator: Olivier Adam

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) is a website-based volunteer program. It connects local needs to worldwide volunteers who have the resources and talents to meet those needs. The website empowers those who have a voice and dreams to put them to great use. Many new programs have been implemented thanks to the knowledge and power of local people.

A main task any volunteer-based organization has is to keep volunteers engaged. This is a great example of recognizing the hard work and achievements of the volunteers. Awards and recognition help the volunteers to feel seen and appreciated. The UNV names the team and the members within the team and gives them credit for what they created. Honoring the volunteers online not only provides public acknowledgment of the volunteers’ work, but also allows others to see their innovations.