From the Community
Principles
It is important that community organisations are born out of and take their mandate from the community they seek to represent, serve or develop.
Community organisations generally either serve and represent a distinct geographical community - a village or a neighbourhood or what is often called a community of interest - perhaps older people, people with disabilities or young people. The principles and ideas here can apply to both types of organisation.
Good participatory planning at the outset, and which is revisited during the lifecycle of the organisation, will help to ensure that the community organisation heads in the right direction, and is really working for and representing the interests of the community and not just assuming that it knows what is wanted.
It is also likely that a sound participatory process will create an opportunity for people in the community to become involved in the organisation and the work it does.
The community organisation should benefit from this in terms of those willing to take part as members, users, clients and volunteer helpers. It should help to sustain the organisation.
Local community plans; community action plans; out of school care needs surveys, community needs surveys, youth needs surveys, village hall surveys are all examples of participatory planning which serve to inform the development of community organisations and the services they offer.
This type of participatory planning should not just be a one off exercise carried out at the start of an organisation's life. It needs to become an integral part of any community organisation's life cycle. Local community plans or Community Action Plans for example should be reviewed and reset with the community approximately every 3 years.
Community organisations need to decide how they re-engage with their community to review their priorities and understand whether they are still representing the real interests of the community, and whether these interests have changed over the years. One of the benefits of doing this is that it promotes further opportunities to seek support from the community and enlist more involvement.
Failure to take a participatory approach can often lead to community projects, services and organisations that do not meet the needs of the community. They might be built in the wrong place, not operate at the right time, or provide the wrong type of service or activity.