You’re looking for ways to make a difference in your community. How can you get started?

1 Find your passion

What are the problems or opportunities that you care about in your community? Maybe you want to improve the environment, education, health, or safety. Maybe you want to promote diversity, equity, or justice. Whatever your passion is, you need to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and why. This will help you stay motivated and focused, and also attract others who share your vision.

3 Research your issue

You need to understand the root causes, effects, and solutions of your issue. You also need to know who are the stakeholders, decision-makers, and influencers that can affect your issue. You can use online sources, public records, surveys, interviews, or focus groups to gather information and evidence. You can also use tools like SWOT analysis, power mapping, or logic models to analyze your issue and plan your strategy.

4 Set your goals and tactics

You need to have specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals that reflect your vision and mission. You also need to have a variety of tactics that can help you achieve your goals. Tactics are the actions or activities that you and your community members can do to influence your issue. They can include petitions, protests, campaigns, lobbying, advocacy, or education.

5 Implement and evaluate

You need to put your plan into action and monitor your progress and outcomes. You need to have a timeline, a budget, and a team that can execute your tactics. You also need to have indicators, tools, and methods that can measure your impact and effectiveness. You need to collect feedback, data, and stories that can show your achievements and challenges. You need to celebrate your successes and learn from your failures.

6 Grow and sustain

You need to keep your community engaged and motivated for the long term. You need to build trust, respect, and solidarity among your community members. You need to provide opportunities for leadership development, skill sharing, and mutual support. You need to diversify your resources, partners, and audiences. You need to adapt to changing circumstances and needs. You need to keep your passion alive and inspire others to join you.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?