How do we begin taking action in the community?
Here’s a simple model for taking action you can use, to give you some general guidance. You’ll find more details in the toolkits and other resources in the bulleted points below. Best wishes for success as you work to bring about positive change in your community!
Assess
Begin by learning what issues matter to the community, and what resources may be available.
These resources from the Community Tool Box will help you do your assessment:
- Toolkit: Assessing Community Needs and Resources
- Developing a Plan for Identifying Local Needs and Resources
- Identifying Community Assets and Resources
Plan
Planning provides overall direction on the road that leads from where things are now to where we hope they will be. It can be helpful for a group to develop a clear vision, a mission statement, objectives, strategies, and an action plan.
Resources for planning include:
- Toolkit: Developing a Framework or Model of Change
- Toolkit: Creating Strategic and Action Plans
- An Overview of Strategic Planning or “VMOSA:” (Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans)
Act
You have identified something that you and your community care about, and it is time to take action. This involves mobilizing people around the effort and implementing some sort of intervention.
Supports for implementation include:
- Toolkit: Developing an Intervention
- Toolkit: Increasing Participation and Membership
- Conducting a Direct Action Campaign
Evaluate
How do you know that your initiative is working? It’s important to monitor what is happening and make adjustments as necessary.
Here are some resources for evaluating your efforts:
- Toolkit: Evaluating the Initiative
- Introduction to Evaluation
- Choosing Evaluation Questions and Planning the Evaluation
- Methods for Evaluating Comprehensive Community Initiatives
Sustain
Some important work has been started. How do you keep your efforts going?
Here are some resources to help you sustain what you started: