Community Organizing

Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other come together into
an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. Unlike those who promote moreconsensual community building, community organizers generally assume that social change necessarily
involves conflict and social struggle in order to generate collective power for the powerless. A core goal of
community organizing is to generate durable power for an organization representing the community,
allowing it to influence key decision-makers on a range of issues over time. In the ideal, for example, this
can get community organizing groups a place at the table before important decisions are
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made. Community organizers work with and develop new local leaders, facilitating coalitions and
assisting in the development of campaigns

Community organizing is a process by which people are brought togather to act in common self-interest.
While organizing describes any activity involving people interacting with one another in a formal
manner, much community organizing is in the pursuit of a common agenda.
Community organizing generally takes place under the umbrella of a non-profit organization that reache
out and engages people to action. Often-times, paid or volunteer community organizers help to
advance the process of community organizing by facilitating a process that:
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Identifies a problem or a set of problems

Identifies a solution
Clarifies a set of objectives
Develops a strategy and approach
Develops leadership from and relationships among the people involved
Mobilized public support
Launches a campaign

Community organizing is usually focused on more than just revolving specific issues. Organizing is
empowering all community members, often wuth the end goal of distributing power equally throughout
the community.

10 MAIN CONCEPTS OF COMMUNTIY ORGANIZING

1. Power the ability to make something happen. The way to build power is by getting people to
understand the source of their social or political problems, then devise solutions, strategize,
take on leadership and move to action through campaigns that win concrete changes.
2. Relationship building. Organizing relies on two different kinds. One-on ones to find out a
persons passion and to create a strong connection that is sustainable over time. The second is
public relationships. Community power-building organizations exist to build members collective
power not their personal social status. The result is a network of public relationship.
3. Leadership Development. Must build a base of member. More people mean more power. Guide
members to see the roots of the problems. Get members to understand what organizing is. Get
people involved. Develop that base of members to be leaders. Leaders learn by doing, for
example recruiting new members, giving testimony, running meetings, developing strategies,

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making decisions, building the organization. Move members to action. Action fosters
commitment. Builds strong organizations.
Political education. Political education is a form of training about issues as well as about social
movements and history that you engage in both formally in workshop sessions and informally in
daily or regular contact with members and leaders. Through political education, you
communicate the analysis or worldview of the organization.
Strategy. Strategy is an overall approach to achieving objectives. It is the way or ways that a
community power building organization uses its power to win what it wants. A campaign is a
planned series of strategies and actions designed to achieve clear goals and objectives. Effective
organizations are strategic in everything they do. They are always refining their power analysis
and strategies. Research is an essential component before launching any campaign.
Mobilization. The essential process of moving people to action.
Action. A public showing of an organizations power, such as March, lobbying meeting in the
state capital, accountability session with elected officials, a press briefing. Actions take place
during campaigns. In addition a person can take as an individual to support a campaign or
organization, such as signing a membership card or writing a letter to an elected represented.
The groups goal is to move power holders with the number of people they represent.
Winning. Organizing focuses on winning It results in positive, concrete change in peoples lives.
Community Organizations should run winnable, strategic campaigns, Campaigns deliver wins.
Movement Building. In movement building, groups use their resources to engage in broader
social justice activities that are not solely connected to winnable campaigns or the self interest
of community members.
Evaluation. Evaluation is the process assessing your actions and determining what worked, what
didnt, and what you would do differently next time. Evaluation takes place after every
substantive event, including a day of recruitment or a phone conversation with an ally.
Frequently evaluation hones and builds the skills, standards and excellence of everyone in the
organization. Sometimes organizers refer to an evaluation that follows a specific activity as
debriefing.

ADDRESSING COMMUNITY PROBLEMS: FOUR STRATEGIES

Social Service
Mission: To meet immediate direct needs.
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What they do: Provide goods such as good, clothing or services such as job training, health care
or counseling or both.
Sample strategy: Developing self-help skills among service recipients, or community members,
provide case management in order to meet needs holistically, guiding people through
applications for benefits and other complex systems with one to-one advocacy.
Impact: Primarily on individuals. Usually short term, although long terms effects are possible.
Effect on power structures: No real change in power structures.
How they refer to constituents: Clients or consumers.

Advocacy
Mission: To protect or obtain rights, goods or services usually for specific interest groups.
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What they do: Craft or react to legislation. Address elected officials and policy makers.
Sample strategies: Participating in issue based coalitions, educating the public, giving public
testimony, lobbying elected officials, collaborating with researchers and lawyers.
Impact: On interest goups. Usually medium to long term effects.
Effect on power structures: Power structures change moderately due to changes in laws and
policies,
How they refer to constituents: constituents.

Community Development
Mission: To build physical infrastructure
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What they do: Finance or construct housing, business, parks, or other community resources.
Sample strategies: Engaging in community planning, analyzing economic impact and training
constituents to acquire skills for planning business development and property manangement.
Impact: On individuals and communities, immediate to long0term effects. Sustaining impact is
tied to financial resources.
Effect on power structures: Power structures change moderately, usually by building community
participation.
How they refer to constituents: the community

Community Organizing
Mission: to build power to create change.
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What they do: Recruit, train, and mobilize a large base of members directly affected by the
organizations issues.
Sample strategies: Creating membership structures in which constituents are organizational
decision makers, developing strategic campaigns, engaging in direct actions, such as
demonstrations, directly holding public and corporate officials accountable for their actions, and
forming alliances to build power.
Impact: On individuals, their communities, and often others with similar concerns. Medium to
long term effects.
Effect on power structures: power structures change as power shifts to community members.
How they refer to constituents: leaders or member

What follows is a list of take-away lessons and principles, a sort of manifesto for todays community
organizers.

Freedom, freedom is a hard won thing, and every generation has to win it again.

1. Most people are motivated primarily by self-interest. As a creative community organizer, you are
always trying to figure out peoples common self-interest, the glue that binds political organizations and
movements.
2. Institutions and people that hold power over others are rarely as united as they first appear. If you cant
get a person or institution to support you, you want to do everything in your power to convince them that
its in their best self-interest to stay out of the fight.

3. Start the process of strategy development by imagining that instant just before victory. Then, working
backwards, do your best to figure out the steps that will lead to that moment.

4. It is generally useful, as a part of any creative community organizing campaign, to advocate for a
positive as well as to oppose a negative.

5. The more complicated a strategy or tactic, the harder it is to carry out, and the less likely that it will be
successful. You can ask a few people to do a lot of things, particularly if theyre committed activists. If you
want hundreds or thousands of people to participate in a campaign, you need to ask the great majority of
them to do one thing, and only one.

6. You need to believe that human beings, no matter how much they may hate each other, can somehow
find some common connection. To do that, leave your stereotypes at the door.
7. In real life and in actual campaigns for justice, the people are always partly united, partly divided. Its up
to you to reinforce unity and to compensate for the divisions among the people with whom you work.
8. Dont ever let anyone tell you that demonstrations were only effective in the 1960s--that in the twentyfirst century, we need to find other, less confrontational ways to make our voices heard.
9. Be absolutely certain that the people you work with truly understand the risks theyre taking, the things
that could go wrong, the losses they might suffer, before they make the decision to act, individually or
together.

10. One of the greatest skills an organizer can have is the ability to frame and ask questions in ways that
make people not only want to answer them, but also to think deeply, and in unexpected ways, about what
the answers might be.

11. Laughter really is therapeutic, and hope does heal. Be cheerful in the face of adversity, and help
others feel that way.

12. The more sure you are of yourself, of your experiences in other communities and campaigns, the
more you have to struggle to avoid the arrogance of thinking you know whats right for other people.