Does Your Community Development Plan Have A Vision?

Every community development plan needs a vision and a visionary.

It’s critical to find someone who can get outside the boxes that can too often confine our thinking about what a community can be.

Until you define that vision, the chances are that you’ll focus on the things that are missing in your community rather than focusing on the way things could be.

Ask yourself this question: If we were to meet three years from today, what would need to have happened for us to be pleased with the progress the community has made?

That’s a good place to start.

Here’s a link to an article about a visionary in one of the smallest communities in Arkansas. It’s a rural community along the Mississippi River that at one time thrived and today finds that time has passed it by.

This visionary has done a great job looking at his community in four key areas:

• Family
• Economy
• Politics
• Vision for the future

He has dedicated his life to making a contribution in each of these areas. He’s making a difference despite a challenging environment.

— Dan Cowling

Joining Forces Regionally For Community Development

It’s called regionalism, and it might just be the answer to many of the problems rural communities across the country face.

I’m sure you’ve heard this comment: “This is a great place to live, but it’s hard to make a living here.”

Unfortunately, such comments often are true. Without joining forces, more and more small communities will find it hard to survive, much less thrive.

Larger communities typically have the advantage in such key categories as:

• Infrastructure
• Transportation
• Accessibility
• Workforce
• Technology

How do you overcome these obstacles if you live in a small community?

One way is to build regional economic development ventures.

Check out this white paper by David Kozlow. It does an excellent job of explaining how a regional approach can work to the benefit of your community.

— Dan Cowling

Using Telecommunications In Community Development

One of the fundamentals of building a successful community development program is correctly assessing your infrastructure.

In almost all communities, regardless of their size, telecommunications is a major player.

Here’s a link to an excellent overview of the role telecommunications can play in building a sustainable community.

— Dan Cowling

Needs-based Vs. Asset-based Community Development Approaches

There’s a real difference in a community development approach that’s based on needs rather than assets.

Historically, much of community development has been based on needs due in part to government involvement. Grant programs often are managed by government agencies and directed toward meeting the needs that those government agencies have identified in various communities.

Let’s take a look at needs-based development.

Two things stand out that I believe should be considered:

1.  The differences between what government agencies see as the needs in a community vs. what those who live in the community believe to be their needs.

I’m among those who think that the residents of the community are the people most capable of accurately assessing their needs.

2.  Majoring in negatives rather than building on positives.

This one strikes at the heart of what’s too often already present in community development — discouragement. It’s a daunting task to put together and implement a successful community development program.

Here’s a global view of the two approaches that will make as much sense in rural Arkansas as rural Africa. I hope you will take the time to read it.

Increasingly, community development is tied to global considerations.

— Dan Cowling

Basic Communication Is Changing In Community Development

Basic communication is changing rapidly.

Unless you recognize and address these changes, the effectiveness of your communications efforts within and outside your community will be greatly diminished.

Here are the increasingly less effective ways of communicating:

• Face-to-face meetings
• Telephone conversations
• E-mails
• Voice mails

When you look at this list, the obvious question becomes “what’s left?”

Hold onto your seats because what’s left is developing exponentially. The leaders of your community need to grab hold of and utilize these changes.

I recently was in a meeting in which we discussed a strategy for increasing broadband coverage in Arkansas. One of the participants said the new methods of communicating with each other are having the biggest impacts on the world since the discovery of electricity.

That’s quite a claim. I happen to think it’s right.

If you want a snapshot of how communication is changing, of how various age groups view those changes and of how some businesses are responding, I’ve found an excellent article that will open your eyes: Why No One Under 30 Answers Your Voicemail.

— Dan Cowling

The Role Of Outreach And Education In Community Development

There are three key outreach and education principles that should apply to your community development efforts. Focusing on these principles will make any community development program more successful.

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you know that one of the things we preach is making your community development plan inclusive.

You should involve many segments of the community in your planning and implementation efforts. Too often, community development organizations only skim the surface, enlisting established leaders almost exclusively. This is understandable, but it’s also shortsighted.

In community development, the 80/20 rule (80 percent of the work is done by 20 percent of the people) often applies. But if you involve more people, your results can improve significantly. In the process, you’ll take some of the load off that 20 percent.

In small communities, this approach might involve looking at the population as a whole. In larger communities, it means including representatives of the groups that you’ve defined as stakeholders.

Here’s where the three key principles come into play.

They are:

• Reach them
• Teach them
• Engage them

Let’s briefly examine each of these principles.

Reach them: Hopefully, your community development plan clearly identifies the targets of your efforts.

There obviously are certain types of businesses you hope to recruit, and you’re building programs to reach those businesses. But what about the people who already live in your community?

Are there sustained efforts to reach them?
Are your community development efforts inclusive?
Are you keeping people informed about your development plans and activities?

If not, your efforts will never be as successful as they could be. The next time you go to the people for a tax to support development efforts, you may find them less than receptive. I’ve worked extensively on community tax initiatives.

Too often, this is what I see:

A great deal of effort is invested in reaching people during the weeks leading up to a vote with very little effort to communicate with them between elections.

Teach them: You’ve probably spent a great deal of time trying to ensure that the members of your development team are on the same page.

You teach them everything from the fundamentals of how a strategic plan is developed to how it’s executed. You may have even brought in consultants to help teach your team the tricks of the trade.

Again, though, what about the vast majority of people who live in your community?

It’s important that you reach out to them and continually teach them. Tell them what the plan is, how it’s going and how they can get involved.

Engage them: The more representation you have in planning and executing your program, the more successful it will be.

Unless you really believe that you can single-handedly pull the community up by its bootstraps, you know that it’s a must to have as broad a base of support and participation as possible.

If people aren’t engaged, you probably aren’t going to be successful.

Find ways for them to volunteer their time. Ask for their input in community meetings.

Don’t get me wrong. Leadership is critical. But inclusiveness and engagement can make every community development effort more successful.

— Dan Cowling

Alice In Wonderland And Community Development

Do your community development activities sometimes make you feel like you’re Alice in Wonderland?

There’s a simple, effective way to break out of what can feel like a downward spiral.

Before I give you the questions your must ask yourself, though, let’s consider that Alice in Wonderland analogy.

Alice comes to a fork in the road. In a tree in the center of the fork sits the Cheshire cat.

As Alice stands there trying to figure out which fork in the road to take, she asks the cat; “Which road do I take?”

The cat answers, “Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know,” says Alice.

“Then,” says the cat, “it doesn’t matter.”

As you examine your community development plan, you should view it as a road map and then ask yourself these basic questions before committing additional resources:

Where are we now?

♦ You must have a clear picture of where your community stands today before you can develop a strategy for the future.

♦ This approach includes looking at both the beauty marks and the warts. You must define your strengths, weaknesses and opportunities.

What’s our ultimate destination? Where do we want to wind up?

♦ If you can’t clearly define what you want to look like as a community three, five or even 10 years from now, how can you develop a plan that will lead you to your destination?

♦ This step involves setting goals and objectives for your program. This is also a perfect place to develop a mission statement for your community.

♦ The statement should be simple and realistic. I recommend that it be no more than three or four sentences in length. I also recommend writing two mission statements — one that states who you are today and another that identifies who you will become as a community.

Examples:

“Our community is … ”

“Our community will be … ”

What route will we take? How will we get there?

♦ Answering these questions will result in a strategic plan. You’ll identify the specific steps, timelines, resources and people involved in each stage of the journey.

♦ You should always ask whether each activity heads you down the most direct route to your preferred destination.

Ask yourself these questions. And then take action.

— Dan Cowling

 

What Constitutes A Good Community Development Plan?

I want to pass on some items you can build into your community development plan that should result in a stronger foundation for your community.

The Ohio State University Extension website provides a wealth of tips.

According to the experts at Ohio State, some of the things to consider when putting together your community development plan are:

• Safety
• Goods and services
• Relationships that bind citizens together
• Commonality of values and goals
• What’s known as the whole-person principle
• Predictability
• A recognized place in the social structure
• Opportunities
• Homogeneity

This is good stuff.

It balances academic studies and common sense.

You can check it out here.

— Dan Cowling

The Role Of Women In Community Development

 

Take a good look at your community development leadership team.

How many women are a part of that team?

Here’s some food for thought that may cause you to reconsider the role of women in your community.

Women influence a large percentage of the decisions made in families and communities.

They make decisions regarding health care providers, personal banking relationships, dining habits, school choices, personal family time and more.

Women, though, are among the most underutilized resources in community development.

We just don’t have enough women in community leadership roles.

In a presentation to the Community Development Society, Dr. Paulette Meikle made a compelling case for how women can contribute to successful community development efforts.

She noted that:

♦ Men and women interpret and enact plans differently

♦ Not being aware of or focusing on women’s roles in community development can limit positive outcomes

♦ Women should be viewed as agents of change and advocates of success

♦ Women will focus on quality-of-life issues

♦ Women will provide unique responses in the face of social injustice

♦ Communities do better when they tap into women’s unique abilities for building capacity and resiliency

If a community development plan is to be successful, it must be inclusive. Women bring valuable assets to the table that should be utilized.

— Dan Cowling

Remembering The Stakeholders In Your Community Development Effort

Have you built a team of stakeholders who can effectively direct, coordinate and implement your community development plan?

How deep into the community does your stakeholder team reach?

Roland V. Anglin, a member of the National Housing Institute board, has some thoughts about why many community development efforts aren’t successful.

By broadening stakeholder participation, great strides can be made.

After all, community development isn’t a one-horse race. 

Every person in the community has a stake in what occurs.

From Anglin’s perspective, the stakeholder team for a community development organization should include:

• An executive director
• Members of the board of directors
• Residents of the community
• Resource providers

For more information on Anglin’s community development ideas, read his article Stakeholder Community Development.

— Dan Cowling