Tool #1 Supporting the Work of Community Organization and Change
Understanding (and affecting) community context
Practitioners must be able to both understand and create the conditions under which community organization efforts have the best chance for success.
See these related sections of the Community Tool Box:
Community planning
Community planners need to help people agree on common goals and means for addressing them.
See these related sections of the Community Tool Box:
- Coalition Building
- Developing a Strategic Plan
- Developing an Organizational Structure, Staff, and Volunteers
- Facilitating the Problem-solving Process
- Participatory Approaches to Planning Community Interventions
- Identifying Strategies and Tactics for Reducing Risks
Community action and mobilization
Community leaders and members must commit to act with and learn from each other in this hard work.
See these related sections of the Community Tool Box:
- Understanding Broad Strategies for Improving Health and Community Development Issues
- Training for Conflict Resolution
- Promoting Coordination, Cooperative Agreements, and Collaborative Agreements Among Agencies
- Recognizing Allies
- Communicating Information to Funders for Support and Accountability
Understanding (and addressing) opposition and resistance
To be effective, community activists must be able to defeat and counteract the efforts of those with different interests.
See these related sections of the Community Tool Box:
- Identifying Opponents
- Encouraging Involvement of Potential Opponents as Well as Allies
- Overview of Opposition Attacks
- How to Respond to Opposition Attacks
Intervention and maintenance of efforts
Community practitioners must be able to implement multiple strategies and sustain local efforts.
See these related sections of the Community Tool Box:
- Developing Multisector Collaborations
- Some Methods for Evaluating Comprehensive Community Initiatives
- Maintaining Quality Performance
Promoting community change
Community leaders and members must be able to change programs, policies, and practices related to shared goals.
See these related sections of the Community Tool Box:
Our Model of Change conceptual pieces
- Communications to Promote Interest
- Encouraging Involvement in Community Work
- Understanding Social Marketing: Learning to Change People's Behavior
- Conducting a Social Marketing Campaign
Influencing systems (or broader) change
To enhance chances of success, community practitioners try to change the conditions under which local communities seek improvement.
See these related sections of the Community Tool Box:
- Conducting a Direct Action Campaign
- Media Advocacy
- Providing Feedback to Improve a Community Initiative
Achieving community-level improvements
To make broader indicators of success, community members must build leadership and affect change that is large enough and long enough to make a difference.
See these related sections of the Community Tool Box: