Cara Taylor Swift, MPA Rural Statewide Initiatives Coordinator Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Transcription

1 Cara Taylor Swift, MPA Rural Statewide Initiatives Coordinator Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence Resource: Community Tool Box

2 Obtain information for creating partnerships among different organizations to address a common goal.

3 Why is it important for you to create and maintain partnerships in your community? Why might a partnership be needed in your community to accomplish a goal? What have you found frustrating about creating and maintaining partnerships in your community?

4 Name the issue or goal that has brought together multiple organizations in common purpose. Define and analyze the community issue(s)

5 Describe who you are or what groups you represent. Who is represented in your group, including those most affected by the issue Involve people most affected by the issue Identify priority populations and agents of change: Who can benefit and who can help

6 Describe why creating a partnership is needed to accomplish your goal. Your organization s efforts cannot effectively accomplish your goal The issue/goal is complex and is influenced by multiple factors Related agencies are duplicating efforts and resources are not being used to their full potential Your goal is significant improvement in community-level outcomes and many sectors of the community will need to be engaged for success.

7 Identify those who need to be involved in order to accomplish your anticipated goals. Promote participation from a diverse assortment of community groups Involve key influential's in the initiative People most affected by the issue Community defined agenda

8 Compile a list of individuals or organizations to be invited to participate. Review for completeness

9 Recruit emerging community leaders Rich source of perspectives, knowledge and influence Include informal community leaders, volunteer leaders, youth leaders, leaders later in life, people with disabilities, etc who often bring overlooked capabilities and strengths to the work

10 Determine how you will connect with potential partners. Make a plan to determine how you will approach them regarding membership.

11 Plan get-togethers or meetings Post notices about meetings on public bulletin boards, community centers, religious institutions, Laundromats Utilize community media outlets

12 Vision-summarize your coalition s dream for the future. Easy to communicate Inspiring! Reflective of the communities perspective

13 Mission-state your collaborative partnership s mission. What you will do and why Think about language Is it inclusive?

14 Summarize the anticipated results of the group s activities. What would be different in your community when you have reached your goals? What do you want to accomplish? Who will have done what by when? Create objectives

15 Review evidence that the issues/goals are important to the community. Understand and describe the community Collect information about the issue Obtain feedback from community What changes are important? Determine how often/who is affected/what severity Describe past and current attempts to bring about change Explain the possible impact and/or consequences of achieving your goal

16 Identify available resources and relationships that will be needed to bring about change. Determine community resources and assets Determine what types of resources will be needed Learn about existing community networks and how you might be able to utilize them Involve key influentials in the initiative Identify community leaders and develop partnerships

17 Determine who the priority populations are you most want to affect. Who can benefit? Who can help?

18 Who else needs to be at the table? How can they contribute to the collaborative partnership s success and help it reach its goals?

19 Competition or Turf Issues Who can you include that would ease turf issues among potential partners and within the community? How might you ensure mutual benefit?

20 Bad history between local agencies or with the community What has happened in the community previously (or in collaborative efforts) that makes it harder for partners to work together successfully in a new effort? How can bad feelings and mistrust be resolved?

21 Dominance by professionals within the coalition and in relationships with the community How do you encourage non-professionals partners, including those most affected by the issue, to see their unique contribution and agree to participate in planning and decision making? How do you encourage professionals to understand the value non-professionals bring to the work?

22 Poor links to the community How could the group s members increase their connectedness to the community most affected by the issue? What types of activities can they engage in to improve local ties and relationships?

23 Minimal organizational capacity How can the collaborative partnership s organizational capacity be increased? What skills and time do members need to create a more efficient and effective partnership? Organizational structure Management plan Development of facilitation skills

24 Accessibility Are materials available in the language spoken? Are meetings conducted with translators or in the language spoken? Are meetings/gatherings held in places the community feels are safe?

25 Funding What strategies are being used to financially sustain the effort and are their more effective ones? How can we avoid having the opportunity for funding, such as a new grant, tear apart working relationships?

26 Failure to provide/create group leadership How can new members be encouraged to step up as leaders within the collaborative partnership? How can leadership skills and opportunities be cultivated among unconventional or overlooked candidates? Develop a plan for building leadership

27 Create a budget to determine what immediate and future resources will be needed. Identify potential sources of funding and support Includes in-kind support Form a committee to acquire appropriate resources

28 Formation of collaborative partnership may result in partner organizations interacting with each other in new ways and with different levels of shared resources and responsibilities. Networking Coordination Cooperation Collaboration Multisector Collaboration

29 Clearly defining the purpose and scope of project How can you do this better? Clarifying how working together will benefit each partner/organization What will each gain?

30 Describe roles and responsibilities Plan a mechanism for communication and accountability Foster respect and trust What steps can you take to promote healthy working relationships within your organization?

31 Governing structure for decision making Rules by which coalition will operate Planned distribution of work

32 Consider the characteristics of the collaborative partnership and it s membership in determining the formality of its structure. What is the current stage of the organization s development? Are there prior relationships among members? Is there prior membership experience in working together on other projects? What is the motivational level of members? How many tasks/issues are to be addressed? What is the groups size? Leadership experience? How urgent is the need for action?

33 How will the group Recognize? People like to be recognized for their contributions? Respect? People want their values, culture, ideas, and time to be respected and considered. Role? People want a clearly defined role that makes them feel valuable and in which they can contribute.

34 Relationship? People want the opportunity to establish and build networks both professionally and personally. Reward? People expect the rewards of participation to outweigh the costs and to benefit from the relationship established. Results? People respond to visible results that are clearly linked to outcomes that are important to them and that they can clearly link their participation.

35 Talk to people! There is nothing as good as direct contact. Face to face Phone Tell them how much you appreciate their participation Make sure they know what comes next Encourage them to ask questions or raise concerns

36 Promote the importance of regular evaluations of the coalition s vision and progress in addition to emerging issues. Increase opportunities for communication among partners or members.

37 Go back and review the barriers you identified. Do any of these barriers exist? How could they be resolved?

38 Determine if your current membership is hampering your success, either because the right people are not involved, or your numbers are not large enough. If necessary, revisit your plan to identify and recruit new or additional members.

39 Describe how your current membership is hampering your success, such as not enough current members to do the work of the coalition. Develop a plan to increase participation Determine if crucial community representation is missing. Re-examining who has not been asked to participate Are their other ways individuals/organizations can become involved? Are their obstacles to participation? Meeting times, location, structure Consider the possibility that, since beginning the work, your efforts have created opposition.

40 When maintaining the coalition at its current level is no longer appropriate or feasible, consider other alternatives. Growing Spin off Change focus Merge Cut back Dissolve

41 Community Tool Box- Take Action; Create Change: A Community Organizing Toolkit - New Organizing Institutehttp://neworganizing.com/toolbox/ VERA Institute of Justicehttp:// The DART Center- thedartcenter.org