the Current

community organizing - resources and tools

Below are resources for community organizers.

A current moves through the river and impacts how fast, slow, smooth, or rough the water moves. Similarly, the Community Democracy Current are the activities, resources, and tools that impact how easy or hard it will be for you as you pull levers for change up- mid- or downriver.

The more of these activities you are able to work on, the quicker and smoother you “River” may be.

Click here for the "Choose Your Own Adventure" River Website.

 
strengths quiz

What are your strengths?

  • You build and nurture strong relationships, and build bonds between others.

    You may... be adaptable, believe things happen for a reason, believe in and love to help others, can feel the emotions of others, always helping others to find agreement, include others and make them feel welcomed, see each person’s uniqueness, see the glass as ‘half full’, have a few really close friends.

  • You take charge, speak up, and make sure others are heard?

    You may... speak up, take charge, be able to explain things and use your words well, be competitive, strive for excellence, believe in yourself, like to be appreciated and stand out from others, love meeting new people and getting them to like you.

  • You see and stretch thinking for the future.

    You may... ask lots of questions, like having ‘hard data’, learn from what’s happened in the past, dream about the future, get excited about new ideas, love to learn new things, love to think things through, find the best way forward even when things are confusing.

  • You make things turn into reality.

    You may... love to get things done, keep track of lots of moving pieces, have strong core values that give you direction, expect rules to be applied to everyone, plan ahead, love routines, set goals for yourself, feel responsible to follow-through, love to solve problems.

We all have our unique strengths. These are the activities that come naturally and that make us feel happy when we do them.

Knowing your strengths can help you focus your organizing work on what you do best, and make sure you bring other people with you who can fill in your gaps.

The goal = have a team that has all four strengths.

strategizing and planning

 

Having goals and structure in place, and brainstorming how to work toward your goals, can help you plan out your time, energy, and team.

 

visioning

 

Create a Shared Vision

Creating a shared vision can spark ideas, drive change, keep ideas moving forward, and be a place to re-group when conflict or barriers come up.

Once you have the vision, you can then:

  • Spot strengths and problems that your town is facing in your vision right now;

  • Find the root cause of the problems;

  • Figure out the different paths that can get at the root cause of the problems;

  • Talk about the pros and cons of the different paths.

  • Find 1-3 paths to focus on now - these become your primary goals.

  • Figure out the legal or technical lever that can meet your goals.

Decision-Making Power = Community

  • Visions are the big, big, big dreams of where the community wants to be in the future. Often visions can get stuck at the goal-level, but visions can be big! And bold! In general, visions are imagined and felt, while goals are thought and done.

    Examples:

    Vision: our community is happy and healthy, people have safe and affordable places to live, young adults choose to stay here, and the river is a part of our community.

    Strengths + Problems: Some neighborhoods have a lot of trees and green space. Lower-income neighborhoods have fewer trees and green space, leading to hot conditions and more air pollution.

    Root cause: Budgeting prioritizes trees in higher-income neighborhoods.

    Goal: advocate and pass ordinance for local tree committee to advance trees in lower-income neighborhoods, and give committee some budget for trees planting and maintenance.

    Lever: New Ordinance (local law) to create tree committee

  • This activity may be easier for someone or a team who has these strengths:

    • Relationship Building + Feeling

    • Strategy + Thinking

  • Practical Steps to Growing a Community Vision: https://inspiringcommunities.org.nz/ic_resource/practical-steps-for-growing-a-community-vision/

    Re:imagine Appalachia Re:Imagine Your Community Toolkit: https://reimagineappalachia.org/faith-in-action/

    ReImagine Beaver County - Community Visioning Session Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDEvOHcfPu0

    Facilitation Strategies: https://www.sessionlab.com/library

    Root Cause Analysis (5 Why’s): https://kanbanize.com/lean-management/improvement/5-whys-analysis-tool

find the root causes

Once you have a vision, then you can think about how your community is meeting - or not meeting - that vision. This involves knowing what is working well in your community - your strengths and assets - and what are issues or problems.

Without finding the root cause, you could work hard to solve of symptom of the problem, which could lead the problem to keep popping up again in the future.  Imagine you had a broken wrist and it hurts! The doctor said the solution was painkillers. Just solving for the pain doesn’t heal your wrist or help you not break it again in the future - for that you would need different solutions.

  • Finding the root cause of your strengths will help you see what you can build from.

  • Finding the root cause of your issues will help you find solutions that will actually address the problem head-on.

Decision-Making Power: Community

find root causes worksheet

Find funding and Ways to pay for your vision

Finding a way to pay for economic development, new ways of doing things, programs and services to meet community’s needs, and other local needs, is an important piece of the puzzle.

Without a way to pay for the vision, many municipalities will not be able to move a vision forward.

Funding can come from local, regional, and national foundations; state or federal government programs; or municipal budgets; and private investment.

How you can get involved:

  • Research and find funding streams that match your vision.

  • Share funding streams with your decision-maker.

  • Help to build a collaboration of nonprofits, local government, and community members that are interested in the same vision.

  • This activity may be easier for someone or a team who has these strengths:

    • Strategy + Thinking

    • Executing + Doing

  • Just Transition Fund: The Center will support community organizations seeking federal grants to advance projects related to economic and workforce development, economic diversification, and broadband access and affordability that are essential for creating an equitable, inclusive, and low-carbon future, including grant-making and technical assistance. https://justtransitionfund.org/federal-grant-support/

    Interagency Working Group: This government-wide list offers easy access to Energy Communities applying to fund infrastructure, environmental remediation, job creation, and community revitalization efforts. https://energycommunities.gov/funding-opportunities/

    United States Conference of Mayors: Help local leaders zero in on the opportunities that align with community priorities. https://localinfrastructure.org/funding-opportunities/

    American Cities Climate Challenge: This tool helps local governments prioritize and leverage existing federal funding to advance system-wide energy transition goals—from block grants and technical assistance to competitive grants and loans. https://cityrenewables.org/ffold/?_sfm_sector=Industry

    Power A Clean Future Ohio: technical support is limited to grants focused on energy efficiency, transportation electrification, and renewable energy. https://www.poweracleanfuture.org/igap

    Green Bank for Appalachia: This Green Bank and related programming are envisioned to be funded at $1 billion to provide financing for development transactions and growing businesses, and will partner with financial institutions – banks, CDFIs, credit unions, New Markets Tax Credit Funds, Opportunity Zone investors, Historic Tax Credit investors, public sector Revolving Loan Funds, Angel Investment funds, and other impact investors — to leverage substantial new investment in rural communities: https://appalachiancommunitycapitalcdfi.org/oa-program/green-bank-for-appalachia-energy-communities-and-underserved-rural-america/

 

Engaging Your Community

 

grow strong relationships

Growing strong and trusting relationships is the spark to community change. It is ongoing action that takes time and attention to connect with partners and in real and authentic ways.

Authentic Relationship Building (ARB) is a way to think about your relationships before, during and after connecting to assess how you want to build relationships with neighbors, partners, decision-makers, and community.

Decision-Making Power = Community

Authentic Relationship Building Worksheet
Beautiful Trouble: Power Mapping

engage Your Relationships + Community

Community engagement is the next step of authentic relationship building. Once you have a big, bold, and diverse table, it's time to engage those relationships to move the issue and energy forward!

Engaging is about the actual relationship, conversations, and the follow-through and trust building on the other end.

It can often feel like you are ‘swimming’ in outreach and engagement. Thinking strategically about what strategies and activities you can use can be helpful:

  • Saturate the environment – activities that reach everybody but don’t lead to a lot of people showing up when it’s time.

  • Mobilize champions – providing the support, information, and tools to help trusted members of the community put the ‘stamp of approval’ on your issue and help talk to others. Can be a really helpful way to engage others.

  • 1:1 conversations – looking for opportunities to have face-to-face conversations with people to share your story and respond to them individually. Can be the most impactful way to engage others.

Decision-Making Power: Community

Engaging Community Worksheet

clarify Roles + Responsibilities

Strong collaborations and coalitions are important to move any change work forward. It can also be a challenge to bring different voices, ideas, skills, and needs into the room.

Step 1:  Figure out individual strengths:  There are many ways to help everyone name their strengths or skills.  Here are two ideas:

Step 2: Complete the Group Strengths + Challenges activity (below).

Step 3:  Assign Roles and Responsibilities using MOCHA.

Step 4: Continue to come back to these roles over time and as work shifts and changes.

Community strengths quiz
Clarify roles + responsibilities worksheet
 

Communications and Messaging

 

Tell Your Story

Storytelling is an important part of social change. Stories have the power to:

  • Change how we think, feel, and remember.

  • Elicit more empathy from the listener.

  • Bring people together and build community.

  • Gives the chance for each person to share a situation from their perspective.

  • Help uncover themes and patterns which can lead to solutions.

Decision-Making Power: Community

Sharing Your Story Worksheet
SLAPP Prevention Tips

  • After you’ve developed your story and strategic messaging, share it widely! This can help bring in more people to create a loud and shared voice. The more people sharing their story, the more pressure that decision-makers feel.

    There are many ways to share your story + make your message heard, especially after you’ve engaged other relationships to make your story and message be even louder. Think about who you want to hear your story to help figure out where to share it:

    • TV stations

    • Radio stations

    • Talk with a Newspapers & city papers reporter

    • Create a social media campaign

    • Write a letter to the editor

    • Publicly display art, photos, and other visuals around town. (Think about libraries, coffee shops, restaurants.)

    • Share in email & bulletin blasts. (Think about churches, PTA’s, nonprofit groups, and other groups who share your vision to collaborate with.)

  • Stories can be shared through visuals and images; spoken word; and written word.

    • Use written communications when you want to: to share facts; make sure it’s on a permanent record that you can use for accountability; when you have time (you don’t need an immediate response or immediate feedback); and to explain complicated ideas.

    • Use verbal & visual communications when you want to: share emotions; when you do not need a permanent record; when the matter of urgent and you need immediate engagement; and for simple, easy-to-explain ideas.

  • This activity may be easier for someone or a team who has these strengths:

    • Influencing + Motivating

  • The Opportunity Agenda interactive VPSA message building tool: https://opportunityagenda.org/our-tools/vpsa/

    Creative Advocacy Playbook (Riverwise + New Sun Rising): https://www.newsunrising.org/creative-advocacy/

    Voice of Witness Lesson Plans: https://voiceofwitness.org/education/lesson-plans/

    Storytelling for Social Change + Building a Story: https://www.evidenceforaction.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/Messaging-Brief-Jan22.pdf

Develop Strategic Messaging

Strategic messages shift how you tell your story to meet the other person where they are at, hopefully bringing them along with you.

Decision-Making Power: Community

developing strategic messaging worksheet
 

Being Part Of Decision-Making

 

Learn how your local government functions

Learning how your municipality is set-up will help you know who holds decision-making power, how decisions are made, and current processes, rules, and laws.

Where to start?

Decision-Making Power: Each layer of government has to follow rules and laws created by the outer layers. Each layer has power to make decisions about the things listed in the green boxes.

  • Municipal website & facebook pages. Look for: who has which positions? What boards, committees, or commissions are there? When do different decision-making bodies meet? What has been covered during recent agendas and notes?

  • Search or look on municipal website for: local zoning maps and comprehensive plans; municipal code book (which has all of the ordinances.)

  • Schedule a time to talk with your representative to ask them questions.

  • Other people who may know: reporters, librarians.

Decision-Making Power: Community

What To Expect in a Municipal Meeting

Navigating Bureaucracy Webinar

beaver county community profile
Parkersburg community profile
warren community profile
Youngstown community profile
Sharpsburg Municipal chart
lobbying + advocacy for nonprofit: river access ordinance story
Questions for Community Before Joining a Board or Committee

  • Municipalities are allowed to create Boards, Commissions, and Committees to help oversee and provide advice on different topics. This could include things like planning, housing, ethics, equity, transportation, economic development, and public safety. Many Boards, Commissions, or Committees are volunteer positions.

    Board: usually is a formal committee created by an ordinance with structure, responsibilities, and powers. Decision-making power: sometimes a quasi-judicial body that can make decisions over their issues, such as licensing or regulation. Sometimes a Board can only provide advice and recommendations. Example: Board of Appeals is a group of people who hears and decides appeals to the zoning ordinance.

    Commission: usually formal committee created by an ordinance with structure, responsibilities, and powers. Decision-making power: usually administrative to complete reviews, studies, and make recommendations about their issues. Example: Housing Commission can study community’s supply of affordable housing and make recommendations to governing body.

    Committee: can be formal committee created by an ordinance, or an informal committee created by the mayor or governing body. Decision-making power: usually provides advice and recommendations. Example: Downtown Development Task Force would advise the mayor and council on economic development in the downtown area.

  • This activity may be easier for someone or a team who has these strengths:

    • Strategy + Thinking

    • Executing + Doing

  • Power Mapping Activity - https://docs.google.com/document/d/11E060vzpTEPhTDQLcvT21_ttxoZ8EvU3VHb2JFsT0Vo/edit

    Infographics - Common Structures of Local Governments: https://cityhallfellows.org/category/how-cities-work/various-structures-of-local-government/

    25 Reasons You Should Get Involved with your Local Government: https://www.rocksolid.com/blog/25-reasons-why-you-should-get-involved-with-your-local-government

    Roberts Rules of Order Cheat-Sheet: https://diphi.web.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2645/2012/02/MSG-ROBERTS_RULES_CHEAT_SHEET.pdf

    Law, Rule, Regulation and Policy Definitions: https://www.yakimacleanair.org/services/definitions.html

Pay attention to your decision-makers

…or become part of an already-existing watchdog that shares your vision.

It’s important to observe, see, and read about what is happening in your municipality to catch future decisions early; hold the municipality accountable to listening and honoring community needs and ideas; and to understand the ‘why’ behind decisions.

It can be almost impossible for one person to track all municipal meetings, agendas, and notes – it takes a team to do this! A ‘watchdog’ group could be joining or creating a nonprofit community group; creating the structure behind this; or joining with a larger group who already does in this work.

Ways you could get involved:

  • Go to local board or commission meetings

  • Read agendas

  • Read notes from after the meeting

  • Follow social media pages

  • Watch recordings of meetings or ask your decision-makers to post meetings on youtube

Decision-Making Power: Community

Paying attention to your decision-makers worksheet - coming soon!

become part of your local municipality

Local municipalities are made of neighbors who care about their neighbors, and everyone has strengths that they can add to their municipality.

By being part of your municipality, you could have the power to listen to community; create and nominate board and committee members; approve permitting and zoning decisions; create local laws and rules; and create the budget; and oversee utilities, libraries, fire and police departments, and parks.

There are many ways to be at the table to make decisions, including running for elected positions such as mayor or city council. If you don’t want to run, many municipalities have boards, committees, or commissions that have vacant positions that require an application process. All positions can help shape where your community goes in the future.

It requires a time & transportation commitment – most positions are volunteer positions that require time to join bi-weekly or monthly meetings, research, and preparation time, as well as transportation to and from meeting venues.

Decision-Making Power: Community

  • This activity may be easier for someone or a team who has these strengths:

    • Relationship Building + Feeling

    • Influencing + Motivating

    • Strategy + Thinking

    • Executing + Doing

  • Action Tank City Council Bootcamp: https://www.actiontankusa.org/ccb

    Run for Something: https://runforsomething.net/

Vote in Local Elections

…and help others vote, too!

Many local decision-makers are elected offices and have a lot of power to listen to community; create and nominate board and committee members; approve permitting and zoning decisions; create local laws and rules; and create the budget. They also run utilities, libraries, fire and police departments, and parks!

These local positions may vary slightly depending on where you live, but may include:

  • Mayor

  • City councilmember(s) or commissioners

  • County commissioners

 

learning about your community’s health and wellbeing

 

research your community’s health + environmental justice

What Makes Up Our Environment?

Learning more about the health and wellbeing of your town can help to think about what is going well in your town, and what needs to be different so that everybody can be happy and healthy.

The word "environment" comes from a French word 'environner' meaning to encircle or to surround.

The environment includes all things that surround us - the natural, human-made, and human - how those things work together, and the impact it has on our health, wellbeing, and happiness.

Decision-Making Power: Community

Charlie’s Wild and Wonderful Adventure Zine

Learn about environmental justice issues, and how to protect advocate for your health with your medical provider!

Charlie's Wild and Wonderful Adventure - Full Size Zine
Charlie's Wild and Wonderful Adventure - Zine Folding Instructions
environmental justice mapping guide
Access to Waterways + public health
IT’S TIME TO FACE THE MUSIC: HARMS OF NOISE POLLUTION AND THE EPA’S INEFFECTIVE REGULATION - blog post

monitor your air, water, and neighborhood’s environment

Use instruments, websites, and tools to learn and track how healthy your air, water, and the places you spend your time are now.

Having a good understanding of your environment’s health now can help if it’s harmed in the future to show what it was like before.

Decision-Making Power: Community

purple air monitors - tips
 

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