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SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITY GROUPS Getting involved in community issues is easy. We are spurred on by how we can make our community better, or perhaps we act in response to a crisis such as declining school enrollments, the loss of a business on main street or other community issues. But what happens when a group fails to accomplish what they set out to do? Why do some groups survive and thrive while others just fade away along with all the good intentions and momentum that brought them together in the first place? Ohio State University Cooperative Extension offers some hints about how to make sure that community groups stay active and accomplish their goals. The first necessary ingredient in maintaining volunteer groups is to identify the needs of the group members. Although we may share the big picture goals, each individual group member is involved for their own reasons. "Group members are motivated by personal as well as community goals, and many people combine these motivations. The satisfaction level in meeting an individual's needs will vary according to group membership, time, place, urgency of problems, and other socio-psychological factors affecting the members of a particular group." Group survival also depends on operational goals and success of reaching those goals. Nothing will kill the momentum of a group faster than the inability to reach specific, attainable goals. If your group gets together with thoughts of tackling the biggest, most complicated issue in your community you are probably doomed for failure if that is your measure of success. But if groups can break up big projects into small, attainable goals they will make progress toward that big goal, while feeling the resurgence of energy when the small projects are completed with success. The old adage of success breeds success is true in community work. Small victories will help your community work toward the largest, most complicated goals. "Short-term successes may be less dramatic but are equally valuable in holding a group together for the long haul toward the final goal." Inclusiveness in communities is another important consideration for successful community groups. It's that feeling of having things done to you rather than with you. People in your community who feel that they are on the outside of the decision making process can't and won't help your project succeed. So the more people that you can include, the better your chance of success. There is room for everyone at the community development table. The more people who are involved, the greater the collection of skills and abilities that are available to solve problems and to get things done in a community. Another necessary ingredient in successful groups is good leaders. A good leader is a person who brings out the best in the rest of the group. Good leaders help the democratic process work to accomplish the goals of the group. Overall, community groups that succeed know what is important to their group members and why they are involved. Successful groups have a defined set of goals that are easily attainable, and help them work toward the big picture. Groups that have good leaders and are inclusive have the best chance of survival as well as the best prospects for getting things accomplished for their community. Author: Cheryl Jacobs, Extension Educator - Community Leadership Development, SDSU Cooperative Extension Service, 1-12-2007. lllll EMERGING COMMUNITY LEADERS Every community includes individuals who possess the skills and abilities to make a difference, but too often the average citizen just doesn't see themselves as being a leader. These untapped resources in your community can mean the difference between the success or failure in tackling community projects. Communities can learn to look for particular skills and abilities in these emerging leaders and help to nurture and grow them for the future. Taking inventory of individual skills can be a great asset to a community. The Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC) suggests using a Capacity Inventory to identify all the individual assets in your community groups. The inventory can serve two purposes; individuals can recognize that they do have skills and abilities that are worthwhile to community work and groups can use the information from the inventory as a sort of leadership database. The next time a project comes along; groups can look to the inventory list to fit the right person with the right job. When you match individual skills and abilities with the right task, the work in communities is easily accomplished. You can learn a lot from a Capacity Inventory. Start by looking for individual skills, asking people what they like to do. Each of us has unique talents and abilities that can be put to use in communities. Some of us are handy with a hammer and a nail, and others are comfortable speaking in front of a crowd. Taking stock of these preferences will help to match people and situations. Second, identify how individuals have been involved in community up to this point. Some people might be really successful at rallying people into action with phone calls and personal contacts, while the next person shuns the spotlight but can always be counted on to do the less than glamorous work of clean up and tear down at events. There's room for everyone in community work. Finally, take a look at what interests people and what they are passionate about, including their religious or political affiliations, what they do for a living, or what is important to their family life such as education or civic groups. We all have our own preferences for what we like to do and communities need to tap into the strengths of individuals for the collective good. The best way to identify emerging leaders in your community is to help them recognize the skills and abilities they possess and how that can benefit community work. Author: Cheryl Jacobs, Extension Associate - Community Leadership Development, SDSU Cooperative Extension Service, 3-9-2007. lllll THE VALUE OF A VOLUNTEER The Corporation for National and Community Service's newly released report on Volunteering in America shows that South Dakotans are giving back a lot to their communities. According to the report 210,000 South Dakota volunteers donated approximately 24.5 million hours of service in 2006. South Dakota ranked relatively well compared to other states, tying for 9th highest in volunteerism in the nation. Not surprisingly, states in the Midwest all showed high rates of volunteerism. South Dakota also scored very well on the report's Civic Life Index, ranking 4th in the nation. The Civic Life Index is based on several factors including volunteering, attendance at public meetings and voting. Volunteers are an important commodity in communities. A non-profit coalition called Independent Sector has put a dollar figure on volunteerism. According to the group, one hour of volunteer service is worth $18.77 based on US Bureau of Labor Statistics averages. Volunteerism in South Dakota last year was worth nearly $459 million dollars. Good volunteers are worth every penny of that $18.77 per hour figure. "This report is a wake up call for any group that uses volunteers: If you want to keep them, you need to give them serious and meaningful work that affects change in your community; and you have to remember to train, manage, and thank them they way you would any valued colleague," said Corporation for National and Community Service's CEO David Eisner. "The bottom line is volunteering isn't just nice, it's necessary to solving some of our toughest social challenges. The only way to tackle the hard challenge of illiteracy, youth violence, poverty and other problems is if Americans rally together." There is a wealth of information for organizations and groups that use volunteers in the Volunteering in America report. To read the full report, go to http://www.nationalservice.gov. Author: Cheryl Jacobs, Extension Associate - Community Leadership Development, SDSU Cooperative Extension Service, 5-4-2007. lllll THE X FACTOR IN COMMUNITIES Rural communities are looking for the "X factor", trying to understand why one community thrives while another struggles. From the outside they may appear to have the same resources; similar populations and demographics that mirror their own community. But there seems to be an unknown; the X factor in a community that determines whether a community is growing or dying. The X in this equation has to be the people who live there, who make an effort everyday to make their community better. Civic engagement, or the individual involvement for the common good, is a way that communities can thrive and survive. Often we think that the well being of a community depends on things like buildings, jobs, money and resources. Of course those are necessary ingredients in a thriving community, but people are the common driver behind each of those things. Communities have councils, boards, and economic development corporations all designed to manage and build some of their more important assets in a community. Perhaps communities should also concentrate on managing and building one of their greatest assets, their volunteers. The X factor in communities is the people who live there, who feel that they have a desire to give their time, energy and resources to making their community a great place to live. Community members need to know that they have a say in what goes on in their community and that they also have a responsibility to get involved. Communities that have good civic engagement are inclusive of all people, including race, gender, age and ability. Civically engaged community members have the ability to cause change, to solve problems and to ensure that their communities are resilient and strong. In the civic engagement equation, 1+1=3 as the power of individual efforts is increased for society as a whole. Perhaps you think that your contribution doesn't matter, or that somebody else will do it. Communities prosper when everyone is involved. Each of us has special talents and abilities that we add to the community equation. Mother Teresa once said that "We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop." Looking at the big picture and understanding that everyone needs to add their drop to the ocean is what community involvement is all about. Author: Cheryl Jacobs, Extension Educator - Community Leadership Development, SDSU Cooperative Extension Service, 6-29-2007. lllll GROWING YOUTH LEADERSHIP IN COMMUNITIES Small towns all across our state are recognizing that there is a decline in the number of youth returning to their hometowns to live, work and raise families. According to Migration of the Young, Single and College Educated, a special report from the US Census Bureau, South Dakota was ahead of just Iowa and North Dakota nationwide, in the ratio of the out migration of young people in the state. Young people are choosing larger cities for job opportunities, entertainment and other resources available in more metropolitan areas. Attracting young people to return to rural communities can have an impact on the economy, schools, healthcare and overall community sustainability. Communities need to take a proactive approach to attracting young people to their community, but much of the work should be done before local youth leave their hometowns. One way to do that is to create an environment where youth are valued in the decision making processes in community. Cultivating a good crop of youth leaders by including them as youth representatives on city councils, county boards and other community organizations will let them know that there are many opportunities available to them right there in their own community. If youth are included in the inner workings of community life they will soon see that there are a variety of jobs available to them and that it is feasible to return to their small towns once they have completed their higher education. Including youth leaders on boards and committees will prove to be beneficial to those organizations as youth may see new opportunities for growth that the traditional leaders cannot see. Including youth in community decision making can be a win-win situation. For more information about including youth in decision making in community read Youth in the Community: They Have A Lot to Contribute, a publication from the SDSU Cooperative Extension Service, available online at http://agbiopubs.sdstate.edu/articles/YD4H501-04.pdf Or if your community wants a hands-on workshop on integrating youth in community activities, contact your local Extension Office for more Community Innovation and Leadership resources. Author: Cheryl Jacobs, Extension Educator - Community Leadership Development, SDSU Cooperative Extension Service, 8-24-2007. lllll BLOGGING AS A TOOL IN COMMUNITIES Technology is allowing communities to communicate in a whole new way. A blog, or web log is like a digital bulletin board, where community members can share information and gather ideas. A community blog can foster discussions about community issues and can be one more tool your community can use to get people interested and working on important community issues.
Blogs can provide instant feedback on discussions on a variety of topics. Blogs can be about general community issues, or bloggers can define certain categories of discussion such as politics, education, economic development, civic groups and organizations or arts and culture to name a few. Many organizations exist within a community who all work toward community betterment and change. Blogging can help to show the collective picture of what is being done in community by each group and organization. It can also be a way for these groups to start working together toward similar goals they may have.
Blogging is meant to be a companion to other forms of media. Local news papers, television and radio news and web sites offer information in a static form, where the information is delivered to the reader or listener in a one way form. Community blogging allows the average citizen to react and share their ideas, creating a dynamic conversation.
Community blogging may also be an alternative for small rural communities who no longer have their own local newspapers. It is a way to share community information and services and it is also a place where editorials and opinions can be expressed. It is a place to tell the stories of your community and to foster discussion about relevant issues.
Twenty-one South Dakota communities involved in the Horizons project, through SDSU Extension and the Northwest Area Foundation are using community blogging as a new way to communicate. While they are in the beginning stages of using this new communication tool, the communities are learning quickly that this can be a fun and interactive way to cultivate leadership in a community. Visit the Horizons blogs by accessing the main South Dakota blog at http://southdakota.communityblogs.us. Horizons communities in 7 states are using blogging as a new civic engagement tool and can be found at http://communityblogs.us. lllll |
