I am a part of a grassroot project called Thriving Places project, which is in collaboration with Virginia Tech located in Blacksburg Va. We are a website that has the same goal as your project and was wondering if we could get some input into improving our own. We are trying to gain readership/awareness locally as well as contributors to the project. You can check out our website at thrivingplacesproject.com and any help would be appreciated.
Thank You,
Young
Hello,
I checked out your website and it's very nice. I plan to bookmark it as a resource myself! The Community Toolbox (CTB) has been around since 1994, and it has taken years for this tool to become as widely known as it is, and to develop its format. Your website is relatively new and very well developed for the short time it has been in existence.
If you haven't already, you might want to review Chapters 45 (Social Marketing) and 46 (Planning for Long-Term Institutionalization) along with Toolkit #13 (Implementing a Social Marketing Effort) and #16 (Sustaining the Work or Initiative).
Much of the CTB was developed by the faculty at the university along with community practitioners who volunteered their time. For additional input, you might work to identify people with the expertise you need, or who are doing work that you would like to feature and asking if they would be willing to contribute. Let them know that they will be publicly credited for providing the information. You might consider a small, inexpensive but special incentive that notes that they are a contributor.
You might also contact the CTB group directly to ask if they have information they can share.
~Work Group for Community Health and Development
4082 Dole Human Development Center
1000 Sunnyside Avenue
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045-7555 (U.S.A.)
Telephone: (785) 864-0533
Email: toolbox@ku.edu
Good luck with your efforts. It looks like you are well on your way to providing a very useful web site.
The Community Toolbox Advisor