Activating Community: 10 Tips for Organizations
Community is key in all areas of an organization — from People & Culture to Marketing to Fundraising to Organizational Development.
How do you activate community for your cause to reach your organization’s goals?
As part of our live series, this free session on 10 Things Nonprofits Need to Know About Activating Community covered topics like getting input, engaging boards and keeping stakeholders involved throughout the process.
It was led by experienced community builder Juanita Lee-Garcia. She is a refugee-migrant settler in Canada and an artist, educator, and non-profit executive interested in the intersection of innovation, philanthropy, and large-scale system change. Most recently, she has been the Executive Director of The Upside Foundation of Canada and was previously at Venture for Canada.
Activating a community requires intentionality, clarity, and a focus on mutual value. By implementing these tips, your nonprofit can build stronger, more engaged communities that drive your mission forward.
Key Takeaways
Here are some of the key takeaways from Juanita's session and her insights on community activation.
1. Define Your "Why" Understanding why you want to activate your community is crucial. Juanita emphasized that many nonprofits aim to engage their community without a clear reason. At her previous workplace, they defined their community activation goals with three specific points that all activities had to align with. This clarity ensures that all community engagement efforts are purposeful and impactful.
2. Know Who Is in Your Community It’s essential to identify who belongs to your community and ensure they self-identify as part of it. Juanita shared examples from her own experience, highlighting the importance of knowing if your staff, volunteers, board members, and even donors consider themselves part of your community. A clear community statement can help define and communicate this.
3. Understand What Your Community Activates Around Communities can form around practices, interests, or places. For example, Engineers Without Borders is a community of practice, while a local arts organization might form around a physical location. Knowing what unites your community helps in designing effective activation strategies.
4. Add Value to Individual Community Members Any community activation strategy must offer value to the individuals involved. This could be tangible, like a stipend, or intangible, like networking opportunities. Juanita stressed the importance of giving back to the community as much as you receive from them.
5. Measure Your Impact Setting internal metrics and KPIs for community activation is vital. Juanita recommended using both quantitative measures, like net promoter scores, and qualitative data, like testimonials, to assess the success of your efforts.
6. Choose the Right Platforms Where you engage your community is just as important as how you engage them. Digital communities on platforms like Slack, LinkedIn groups, or even Facebook can be effective if that’s where your community already congregates. Avoid spreading your efforts too thin across platforms that don't align with your community’s habits.
7. Personal Outreach Matters While digital infrastructure is important, personal outreach can significantly enhance community engagement. Personalized emails and direct interactions often have a greater impact than mass communications.
8. Co-create with Your Community Involving your community in the planning and execution of activation strategies ensures greater buy-in. Establish community councils or committees to gather input and distribute responsibilities among community members.
9. Allocate a Budget for Community Activation Community activation requires its own budget. This demonstrates the value you place on your community and ensures you have the resources needed for effective engagement.
10. Implement an Impact vs. Effort Strategy When planning community activations, weigh the potential impact against the effort required. Prioritize initiatives that offer high impact with manageable effort, and integrate successful activations into your regular programming.
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Answering your questions
How can we improve our storytelling to engage decision-makers at community organizations?
Juanita suggested building a community around your services. Hosting events or creating opportunities for decision-makers to meet and share challenges can enhance engagement and position your organization as a valuable resource.
What is the most effective way to convert a one-time volunteer into an ongoing one?
Establish clear volunteer pathways with structured opportunities for growth and mentorship. Involve existing volunteers in welcoming and integrating new ones to create a sense of belonging and progression.
How do we maintain momentum with dispersed or remote communities?
Set up virtual communities on platforms like Slack or LinkedIn, and establish regular touchpoints like quarterly calls or online Q&A sessions. Ensure these digital spaces are used for engagement, not just information dissemination.
How should we engage with Indigenous communities?
Building trust and understanding Indigenous ways of working is crucial. Continuity in relationships and allowing Indigenous communities to lead the engagement process are key. Approach interactions with a mindset of learning and co-creation.
Looking for training or support with activating community?
You’re in the right place. Connect with The Good Growth Company team for training, consulting or an intro to our experts.
If you’re looking for ongoing mentorship and support for your organization, you can also join our membership — the recording from this session is available in there now!
