Thank you for writing to us with your question. And it is a very big one!
In starting most any organization, or group, or even many individual activities, we believe the best place to start is with your goals – that is, what do you want to accomplish, first in general terms, and then specifically? That comes first. It may take some reflection before you decide, but that is natural, and it is positive.
Then you might ask yourself what you need to do to get to your goal. In other words, you’d most likely want some kind of organizational plan, meaning the actual action steps that you’ll need to take to reach your goal. It often helps to write these down specifically, in sequential order. Even better, can you attach rough timelines to each step, and assign responsibilities for who will do what?
All this preliminary work may take some time, but it will be time well spent. There’s much more to add of course, and the details will vary with each organization (e.g., what kind of resources are available to you?). But these are the basics.
In addition, many sections in the Community Tool Box should help you learn more, and provide more ideas you can use. In particular, we’d recommend the different sections in Chapter 9, on organizational structure, especially Chapter 9, Section 1. Many of the sections in Chapter 8, on planning, should also be especially useful in your case.
We hope this much may be helpful to you. Thank you again for writing, and all best wishes for success as your important work continues.
