The people closest to the issues are also closest to the solutions. Yet many nonprofits and foundations, even those deeply committed to the communities they seek to serve, don’t always know how best to engage those communities in shaping their work.
Based on our work helping a range of organizations center the perspectives of the communities they serve in their strategies and programs, we at Community Wealth Partners have questions organizations can consider to guide their approach as well as two possible paths for engagement.
Questions to Consider when Choosing an Engagement Strategy
- WHO is most impacted by your work? What engagement methods work best for them? How much time and interest do they have to participate?
- HOW MANY people will you involve? How many different perspectives are you seeking?
- WHAT POWER will they have? What decisions will community members have the power to make? Are certain things off the table?
- HOW LONG will engagement last? Are you seeking input on a discrete topic or ongoing advising?
- WHAT IS YOUR CAPACITY AND EXPERIENCE to manage the work? What time and skills does your team have for the work? What prior experience do you have partnering with community? What is your budget for compensation and support?
Possible Paths Forward: Time-Bound Engagements and Ongoing Partnership with the Community
Based on your responses to the questions above, consider whether a time-bound engagement or an ongoing partnership with the community is the right approach for where you are now.
Time-bound engagements are when community members have influence in the design of the work that affects them. Possible models include hosting sessions in the community to invite community input to co-design programs or strategies, participatory budgeting processes where community members vote on budget priorities, forming a planning team that includes community members, or community-led research initiatives like participatory action research.
Ongoing partnerships are when community members have influence over the ongoing decisions of the organization, ideally across different functions such as strategy, programs, communications, evaluation, governance, and budgeting. Community members can have ongoing partnerships with organizations through board membership, by serving on standing advisory committees, or by joining the organization as staff.
Learn how the Greater Rochester Health Foundation started with a time-bound engagement and evolved to ongoing partnership in this case study.
Learn more from our field guide, Sharing Power with Communities.