Community Organizing Overview

Nan Van Den Bergh, PhD, LCSW

What is community organizing?

• Assisting individuals and groups to deal with problems through planned collective action

• Fostering self-determination through collective action is a fundamental component of community organization

Why will people agree to organize?

• An issue is personally important• There is an identified target who/that can be

the focus• People sense the potential for POWER through

collective action• A concrete and immediate change seems likely

Becoming a community organization

• A “hope to be” community organization must engage in strategic planning thinking:– What is our primary purpose ( mission)– What are our short term and longer term goals?– What are our SWOT?– What are the critical issues facing us (money, credibility,

visibility)?– Who are our supporters and what value do we offer them?– Who are our opponents, what form may their opposition take?– Who do we need to influence?– How can we influence them?

Community Organizing Tactics

• Collaboration: mutual problem solving…win/win• Campaign:– Petitions– Public hearings– Lobbying policy and decision makers– Media coverage

• Confrontation: overpower the target– Boycotts– Rent strikes– Sit-ins

Guiding Principles for Community Organizers

• Anticipate problems and challenges– Look ahead 3,6,12 months

• Start where the group is:– Encourage group to take on tasks that can be

accomplished– If you have concerns, share your perspective,

convey possible consequences, but leave ultimate decision to the community

Be aware of organizational and interpersonal dynamics

• Who domineers?• Are there cliques?• Listen for ways to reflect: – Concerns – Consensus: a “satisficed” agreement– Agree to disagree

Stages of Community Organizing: Engagement

• Who is the community?• Identify key informants; meet with them• What are the various constituencies?• Who are the leaders, motivators, interested parties?

Community Organizing: Assessment

• What are the community’s issues, needs, assets, and strengths?

• What is the major problem, contributing factors, consequences?

• Assessment methods:– Secondary data, i.e. census and Florida Charts– Surveys– Focus groups– Public meetings

Community Organizing: Planning

• Creating mission, vision, goals and objectives– Calendar year plans and multi-year plans– Teach community members how to: a) run

meetings, b) create plans, c) pursue funding

Community Organizing: Policy Interventions

• Modify an existing policy: i.e. children born in U.S. of undocumented parents cannot have in-state educational benefits

• Create a new policy: Dream Act– Advocacy tactics:

• Demonstrations (contest )

– Campaign tactics• Lobby legislators and decision makers (collaborate with others

for coalition)• Hold public hearings • Secure media coverage

Community Organizing: Create New Organization

• Create a charter/constitution/bylaws– File with state division of corporations

• File for nonprofit status, after receiving state incorporation, with Internal Revenue Service to become a 501 (c) (3)

Community Organizing: Evaluation

• Policy change: what worked in seeking change; and, what did not work?

• Policy creation: is the need being addressed?• Program evaluation: yearly assessment of

process variables and outcome variables• Evaluation methods:– Quantitative: descriptive, change, scaling– Qualitative: words, images, audio-visual

Core Skills of Community Organizer

• Engagement:– Listening, reflecting, reframing, focusing, confronting

• Assessment:– Issue and those it affects in: present, past and hoped-for future

• Planning:– Goals, objectives, action steps, time lines

• Intervention roles:– Advocate Researcher– Educator Activist– Broker Lobbyist– Mediator Planner– Enabler