* What is VMOSA? * Why should your organization use VMOSA? * When should you use VMOSA?
Like everyone else, community organizers often dream about goals they would like to accomplish, such as an end to drug abuse; every child being wanted, cared for, and nurtured; a home for everyone; peace in our lifetime. These are just a few of many people's visions for our community. Unfortunately, like many individual dreams, we think these objectives are too lofty and unattainable to ever be realized.
But, in fact, realizing these dreams is possible. Look, for example, at our global success in eradicating small pox, or how far we have come since the 1950s in the United States towards reaching racial and gender equality. As Henry David Thoreau said over a century ago, "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; there is where they should be. Now, put foundations under them."
Building foundations for your community dreams is what VMOSA, the strategic planning process that is the focus of this chapter, is all about. It's about groups of people deciding together what they want to accomplish, and how they are going to get there.
What is VMOSA?
One way to make that journey is through strategic planning, the process by which a group defines its own "VMOSA;" that is, its Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans. VMOSA is a practical planning process that can be used by any community organization or initiative. This comprehensive planning tool can help your organization by providing a blueprint for moving from dreams to actions to positive outcomes for your community.
In this section, we will give a general overview of the process, and touch briefly on each of the individual parts. In Examples, we'll show you how an initiative to prevent adolescent pregnancy used the VMOSA process effectively. Then, in Tools, we offer you a possible agenda for a planning retreat, should your organization decide to use this process. Finally, the remaining sections in this chapter will walk you through the steps needed to fully develop each portion of the process.
Why should your organization use VMOSA?
Why should your organization use this planning process? There are many good reasons, including all of the following: * The VMOSA process grounds your dreams. It makes good ideas possible by laying out what needs to happen in order to achieve your vision. * By creating this process in a group effort (taking care to involve both people affected by the problem and those with the abilities to change it), it allows your organization to build consensus around your focus and the necessary steps your organization should take. * The process gives you an opportunity to develop your vision and mission together with those in the community who will be affected by what you do. That means that your work is much more likely to address the community’s real needs and desires, rather than what you think they might be. It also means community ownership of the vision and mission, putting everyone on the same page and greatly increasing the chances that any effort will be successful. * VMOSA allows your organization to focus on your short-term goals while keeping sight of your long-term vision and mission.
When should you use VMOSA?
So, when should you use this strategic planning process? Of course, it always makes sense for your organization to have the direction and order it gives you, but there are some times it makes particularly good sense to use this process. These times include: * When you are starting a new organization. * When your organization is starting a new initiative or large project, or is going to begin work in a new direction. * When your group is moving into a new phase of an ongoing effort. * When you are trying to invigorate an older initiative that has lost its focus or momentum. * When you’re applying for new funding or to a new funder. It’s important under these circumstances to clarify your vision and mission so that any funding you seek supports what your organization actually stands for. Otherwise, you can wind up with strings attached to the money that require you to take a direction not in keeping with your organization’s real purpose or philosophy.
Let's look briefly at each of the individual ingredients important in this process. Then, in the next few sections we'll look at each of these in a more in-depth manner, and explain how to go about developing each step of the planning process.
Vision (the dream)
Your vision communicates what your organization believes are the ideal conditions for your community – how things would look if the issue important to you were perfectly addressed. This utopian dream is generally described by one or more phrases or vision statements, which are brief proclamations that convey the community's dreams for the future. By developing a vision statement, your organization makes the beliefs and governing principles of your organization clear to the greater community (as well as to your own staff, participants, and volunteers).
There are certain characteristics that most vision statements have in common. In general, vision statements should be: * Understood and shared by members of the community * Broad enough to encompass a variety of local perspectives * Inspiring and uplifting to everyone involved in your effort * Easy to communicate - for example, they should be short enough to fit on a T-shirt
Here are a few vision statements which meet the above criteria: * Healthy children * Safe streets, safe neighborhoods * Every house a home * Education for all * Peace on earth
Mission (the what and why)
Developing mission statements are the next step in the action planning process. An organization's mission statement describes what the group is going to do, and why it's going to do that. Mission statements are similar to vision statements, but they're more concrete, and they are definitely more "action-oriented" than vision statements. The mission might refer to a problem, such as an inadequate housing, or a goal, such as providing access to health care for everyone. And, while they don't go into a lot of detail, they start to hint - very broadly - at how your organization might go about fixing the problems it has noted. Some general guiding principles about mission statements are that they are: * Concise. Although not as short a phrase as a vision statement, a mission statement should still get its point across in one sentence. * Outcome-oriented. Mission statements explain the overarching outcomes your organization is working to achieve. * Inclusive. While mission statements do make statements about your group's overarching goals, it's very important that they do so very broadly. Good mission statements are not limiting in the strategies or sectors of the community that may become involved in the project.
The following mission statements are examples that meet the above criteria. * "To promote child health and development through a comprehensive family and community initiative." * "To create a thriving African American community through development of jobs, education, housing, and cultural pride. * "To develop a safe and healthy neighborhood through collaborative planning, community action, and policy advocacy."
While vision and mission statements themselves should be short, it often makes sense for an organization to include its deeply held beliefs or philosophy, which may in fact define both its work and the organization itself. One way to do this without sacrificing the directness of the vision and mission statements is to include guiding principles as an addition to the statements. These can lay out the beliefs of the organization while keeping its vision and mission statements short and to the point.
Objectives (how much of what will be accomplished by when)
Once an organization has developed its mission statement, its next step is to develop the specific objectives that are focused on achieving that mission. Objectives refer to specific measurable results for the initiative's broad goals. An organization's objectives generally lay out how much of what will be accomplished by when. For example, one of several objectives for a community initiative to promote care and caring for older adults might be: "By 2015 (by when), to increase by 20% (how much) those elders reporting that they are in daily contact with someone who cares about them (of what)."
There are three basic types of objectives. They are: * Behavioral objectives. These objectives look at changing the behaviors of people (what they are doing and saying) and the products (or results) of their behaviors. For example, a neighborhood improvement group might develop an objective around having an increased amount of home repair taking place (the behavior) or of improved housing (the result). * Community-level outcome objectives. These are related to behavioral outcome objectives, but are more focused more on a community level instead of an individual level. For example, the same group might suggest increasing the percentage of decent affordable housing in the community as a community-level outcome objective. * Process objectives. These are the objectives that refer to the implementation of activities necessary to achieve other objectives. For example, the group might adopt a comprehensive plan for improving neighborhood housing.
It's important to understand that these different types of objectives aren't mutually exclusive. Most groups will develop objectives in all three categories. Examples of objectives include: * By December 2010, to increase by 30% parent engagement (i.e., talking, playing, reading) with children under 2 years of age. (Behavioral objective) * By 2012, to have made a 40% increase in youth graduating from high school. (Community -level outcome objective) * By the year 2006, increase by 30% the percentage of families that own their home. (Community-level outcome objective) * By December of this year, implement the volunteer training program for all volunteers. (Process objective)
Strategies (the how)
The next step in the process of VMOSA is developing your strategies. Strategies explain how the initiative will reach its objectives. Generally, organizations will have a wide variety of strategies that include people from all of the different parts, or sectors, of the community. These strategies range from the very broad, which encompass people and resources from many different parts of the community, to the very specific, which aim at carefully defined areas.
Examples of broad strategies include: * A child health program might use social marketing to promote adult involvement with children * An adolescent pregnancy initiative might decide to increase access to contraceptives in the community * An urban revitalization project might enhance the artistic life of the community by encouraging artists to perform in the area
Five types of specific strategies can help guide most interventions. They are: * Providing information and enhancing skills (e.g., offer skills training in conflict management) * Enhancing services and support (e.g., start a mentoring programs for high-risk youth) * Modify access, barriers, and opportunities (such as offering scholarships to students who would be otherwise unable to attend college) * Change the consequences of efforts (e.g., provide incentives for community members to volunteer) * Modify policies (e.g., change business policies to allow parents and guardians and volunteers to spend more time with young children)
Action plan (what change will happen; who will do what by when to make it happen)
Finally, an organization's action plan describes in great detail exactly how strategies will be implemented to accomplish the objectives developed earlier in this process. The plan refers to: a) specific (community and systems) changes to be sought, and b) the specific action steps necessary to bring about changes in all of the relevant sectors, or parts, of the community.
The key aspects of the intervention or (community and systems) changes to be sought are outlined in the action plan. For example, in a program whose mission is to increase youth interest in politics, one of the strategies might be to teach students about the electoral system. Some of the action steps, then, might be to develop age-appropriate materials for students, to hold mock elections for candidates in local schools, and to include some teaching time in the curriculum.
Action steps are developed for each component of the intervention or (community and systems) changes to be sought. These include: * Action step(s): What will happen * Person(s) responsible: Who will do what * Date to be completed: Timing of each action step * Resources required: Resources and support (both what is needed and what's available ) * Barriers or resistance, and a plan to overcome them! * Collaborators: Who else should know about this action
Here are two examples of action steps, graphed out so you can easily follow the flow: Action Step | Person(s) Responsible | Date to be Completed | Resources Required | Potential Barriers or Resistance | Collaborators | * Draft a social marketing plan | Terry McNeil (from marketing firm) | April 2006 | $15,000 (remaining donated) | None anticipated | Members of the business action group | * Ask local corporations to introduce flex-time for parents and mentors | Maria Suarez (from business action group) | September 2008 | 5 hours; 2 hour proposal prep; 3 hours for meeting and transportation | Corporation: may see this as expensive; must convince them of benefit of the plan for the corporation | Members of the business action group and the school action group | Of course, once you have finished designing the strategic plan or "VMOSA" for your organization, you are just beginning in this work. Your action plan will need to be tried and tested and revised, then tried and tested and revised again. You'll need to obtain feedback from community members, and add and subtract elements of your plan based on that feedback.
In Summary
Everyone has a dream. But the most successful individuals - and community organizations - take that dream and find a way to make it happen. VMOSA helps groups do just that. This strategic planning process helps community groups define their dream, set their goals, define ways to meet those goals, and finally, develop practical ways bring about needed changes.
In this section, you've gained a general understanding of the strategic planning process. If you believe your organization might benefit from using this process, we invite you to move on to the next sections of this chapter, which explain in some depth how to design and develop your own strategic plan. * What is a vision statement? * What is a mission statement? * Why should you create vision and mission statements? * How do you create vision and mission statements?
We have all seen organizations whose purpose we never quite understood; we know they are out there, in our town, doing something - but we're not quite sure what. They may have a purpose we could learn about, but we've never taken the time to do so; it's always been more effort than it was worth.
If we got closer to these organizations, we might be surprised to learn that even some of their own members aren't entirely sure of the organization's goals; they only know about a specific project they are working on at that moment. Very often, these organizations end up slipping quietly away; they lose their momentum, they lose their funding, and finally, the organization is gone, with no one other than staff really noticing much.
Chances are, these organizations never had well-defined vision and mission statements to help clarify and communicate their purpose. Developing these key elements is crucial to the success of any community initiative, and understanding how to do so is the purpose of this section.
Creating your vision and mission statements are the first two steps in the VMOSA action planning process we discussed in the previous section of this chapter. In the next few pages, we will look more closely at what these statements are, why they are important, and how an organization can develop them. Does that make sense to you? Then let's go!
What is a vision statement?
Your vision is your dream. It's what your organization believes are the ideal conditions for your community; that is, how things would look if the issue important to you were completely, perfectly addressed. It might be a world without war, or a community in which all people are treated as equals, regardless of gender or racial background.
Whatever your organization's dream is, it may be well articulated by one or more vision statements. Vision statements are short phrases or sentences that convey your community's hopes for the future. By developing a vision statement or statements, your organization clarifies the beliefs and governing principles of your organization, first for yourselves, and then for the greater community.
There are certain characteristics that most vision statements have in common. In general, vision statements should be: * Understood and shared by members of the community * Broad enough to include a diverse variety of local perspectives * Inspiring and uplifting to everyone involved in your effort * Easy to communicate - for example, they are generally short enough to fit on a T-shirt
Here are some examples of vision statements that meet the above criteria: * Caring communities * Healthy children * Safe streets, safe neighborhoods * Every house a home * Education for all * Peace on earth
What is a mission statement?
The next piece of the puzzle is to ground your vision in practical terms. This is where developing a mission statement, the next step in the action planning process comes in. An organization's mission statement describes what the group is going to do and why it's going to do that. For example, "Promoting care and caring at the end of life through coalitions and advocacy."
Mission statements are similar to vision statements, in that they, too, look at the big picture. However, they're more concrete, and they are definitely more "action-oriented" than vision statements. Your vision statement should inspire people to dream; your mission statement should inspire them to action.
The mission statement might refer to a problem, such as an inadequate housing, or a goal, such as providing access to health care for everyone. And, while they don 't go into a lot of detail, they start to hint - very broadly - at how your organization might fix these problems or reach these goals. Some general guiding principles about mission statements are that they are: * Concise. While not as short as vision statements, mission statements generally still get their point across in one sentence. * Outcome-oriented. Mission statements explain the fundamental outcomes your organization is working to achieve. * Inclusive. While mission statements do make statements about your group's key goals, it's very important that they do so very broadly. Good mission statements are not limiting in the strategies or sectors of the community that may become involved in the project.
The following examples should help you understand what we mean by effective mission statements. * "Promoting child health and development through a comprehensive family and community initiative." * "To create a thriving African American community through development of jobs, education, housing, and cultural pride." * "To develop a safe and healthy neighborhood through collaborative planning, community action, and policy advocacy." * "Promoting community health and development by connecting people, ideas and resources." (This is the mission of the Community Tool Box)
Why should you create vision and mission statements?
Why is it important that your organization develops vision and mission statements like those above? First of all, because these statements can help your organization focus on what is really important. Although your organization knows what you are trying to do to improve your community, it's easy to lose sight of this when dealing with the day-to-day hassles that plague all organizations. Your vision and mission statements help members remember what is important as you go about doing your daily work.
Second, your vision and mission statements let other individuals and organizations have a snapshot view of whom your group is and what it wants to do. When your vision and mission statements are easily visible (for example, if they are on the letterhead of your stationary), people can learn about your organization without having to work hard for the information. Then, those with common interests can take the time necessary to learn more. Clearly, this can be very helpful when you are recruiting other people and organizations to join in your effort.
Finally, vision and mission statements are also very helpful in having members who are focused and bound together in common purpose. Not only do the statements themselves serve as a constant reminder of what is important to your organization, the process of developing them allows people to see the organization as "theirs." It's common sense: people will believe in something more completely if they had a hand in developing it.
There are many other reasons to develop vision and mission statements as well. For example, having clear and compelling vision statements can: * Draw people to common work * Give hope for a better future * Inspire community members to realize their dreams through positive, effective action * Provide a basis for developing the other aspects of your action planning process: your mission, objectives, strategies, and action plans
Having a clear mission statement can: * Convert the broad dreams of your vision into more specific, action-oriented terms * Explain your goals to interested parties in a clear and concise manner * Enhance your organization's image as being competent and professional, thus reassuring funding sources that their investment was (or would be!) a smart choice
How do you create vision and mission statements?
Armed with a better understanding of vision and mission statements, it's time for your organization to develop them for itself. If your group has already developed vision and mission statements, you might wish to look at them in light of the criteria we discussed above. If members of your organization feel your current statements could be improved upon, this process can be used to modify them. Ready? Let's go!
Learn what is important to people in your community
As developing your vision and mission statements is the first step in developing the action plan that will guide your effort, it is especially important that these first steps are well grounded in community beliefs and values. Knowing the important issues in your community is vital for the development of a strong, effective, and enduring action group.
Therefore, one of the first steps you should take when developing the vision and mission of your organization will be is to define the issue(s) that matter most to people in your community. How do you go about doing so?
There are many different ways you can gather this information, including:
Conduct "public forums" or "listening sessions" with members of the community to gather ideas, thoughts, and opinions about how they would like to see the community transformed.
In public forums or listening sessions, people come together from throughout the community to talk about what is important to them. These meetings are usually led by facilitators, who guide a discussion of what people perceive to be the community 's strengths and problems, and what people wish the community was like. Someone usually records these meetings, and a transcript of what is said provides a basis for subsequent planning.
Hold focus groups with the people interested in addressing the issue(s), including community leaders, people most affected by the issues, businesses, church leaders, teachers, etc.
Focus groups are similar to public forums and listening sessions, but they are smaller and more intimate. Generally speaking, they are comprised of small groups of people with similar backgrounds, so they will feel comfortable talking openly about what concerns them. For example, the members of a group are generally about the same age, are of the same ethnic group, or have another common experience. They are used in much the same way as public forums, and also use facilitators and recorders to focus and take notes on the work done.
Your organization may choose to hold focus groups with several different groups of people, to get the most holistic view of the issue at hand. For example, if your organization is involved in child health, you might have one focus group with health care providers, another with parents or children, and still another with teachers. Once you have a rough mission statement, you might again use a focus group to test it out.
Obtain interviews with people in leadership and service positions, including such individuals as local politicians, school administrators, hospital and social service agency staff, about what problems or needs they believe exist in your community.
Often, these individuals will have both facts and experiences to back up their views. If so, you can also use these data later if and when you apply for funding, or when you request community support to address the issues. More information on this topic can be found in Chapter 3, Section 12: Conducting Interviews.
Of course, these different ways to gather information from you community aren't mutually exclusive. In fact, if you have the resources, it makes sense to do all of the above: to have some time for the community at large to respond, then spend more time in focus groups with the people you believe might contribute greatly to (or be most affected by) some of the issues brought up in your community listening session. And finally, some one on one time with community leaders can only serve to strengthen your knowledge and purpose; remember, there are undoubtedly many people in your community who have been wrestling with the same issues you are now looking at for a long time. Take advantage of that experience; you don't want to reinvent the wheel!
Decide what to ask
No matter if you are talking to one person or 300, your purpose is the same: to learn what matters in your community. Here's a list of questions you might use to focus your discussions with community members. These questions may be used for individual interviews, focus groups, public forums, or in any other way you choose to gather information. * What is your dream for our community? * What would you like to see change? * What kind of community (or program, policy, school, neighborhood, etc.) do we want to create? * What do you see as the community's (or school's, neighborhood's, etc.) major issues or problems? * What do you see as the community's major strengths and assets? * What do you think should be the purpose of this organization (or effort)? * Why should these issues be addressed? * What would success look like?
When your organization is questioning people, the facilitator should encourage everyone to allow their most idealistic, hopeful, and positive ideas to shine through. Don't worry right now about what's practical and what's not - this can be narrowed down later. Encourage everyone to be bold and participate, and to remember that you are trying to articulate a vision of a better community, and a better world.
Decide on the general focus of your organization
Once members of your organization have heard what the community has to say, it 's time to decide the general focus of your organization or initiative. First of all, what topic is most important to your organization and your community? For example, will you tackle urban development or public health issues? Racism or economic opportunity?
A second question you will need to answer is at what level will your organization work. Will your organization begin only in one school, or in one neighborhood, or in your city? Or will your initiative's focus be broader, working on a state, national, or even international level.
These are questions for which there are no easy answers. Your organization will need to consider what it has learned from the community, and decide through thoughtful discussion the best direction for your organization. We suggest you open this discussion up to everyone in your organization to obtain the best results.
Of course, if your organization is receiving grant money or major funding from a particular agency, the grant maker may specify what the general goal of your group should be. For example, if your group accepts a grant to reduce child hunger, at least part of its mission will be devoted to this purpose. Even in these circumstances, however, the community should determine the ultimate vision and mission that will best advance what matters to local people.
Develop your vision and mission statements
Now that your organization has a clearer understanding of what the organization will do and why, you are in a prime position to develop the statements that will capture your ideas.
As you are looking at potential statements, remember to keep them broad and enduring. Vision and mission statements that are wide in scope allow for a sense of continuity with a community's history, traditions, and broad purposes. And vision and mission statements that are built to last will guide efforts both today and tomorrow.
Vision Statements
First of all, remind members of your organization that it often takes several vision statements to fully capture the dreams of those involved in a community improvement effort. You don't need - or even want - to have just one "perfect" phrase. Encourage people to suggest all of their ideas, and write them down - possibly on poster paper at the front of the room, so people can be further inspired by the ideas of others. As you do this, help everyone keep in mind: * What you have learned from your discussions with community members * What your organization has decided will be your focus * What you learned about vision statements at the beginning of this section
If you have a hard time getting started, you might wish to check out some of the vision statements in this section's Examples. You might ask yourself how well they meet the above suggestions.
After you have brainstormed a lot of ideas, your group can discuss critically the different ideas. Oftentimes, several of the vision statements will just jump out at you - someone will suggest it, and people will just instantly think, "That's it!"
You can also ask yourselves the following questions about vision statements: * Will it draw people to common work? * Does it give hope for a better future? * Will it inspire community members to realize their dreams through positive, effective action? * Does it provide a basis for developing the other aspects of your action planning process?
A final caution: try not to get caught up in having a certain number of vision statements for your organization. Whether you ultimately end up with two vision statements or ten, what is most important is that the statements together give a holistic view of the vision of your organization.
Mission Statements
The process of writing your mission statement is much like that for developing your vision statements. The same brainstorming process can help you develop possibilities for your mission statement. Remember, though, that unlike with vision statements, you will want to develop a single mission statement for your work. After having brainstormed for possible statements, you will want to ask of each one: * Does it describe what your organization will do and why it will do it? * Is it concise (one sentence)? * Is it outcome oriented? * Is it inclusive of the goals and people who may become involved in the organization?
Together, your organization can decide on a statement that best meets these criteria.
Obtain consensus on your vision and mission statements
Once members of your organization have developed your vision and mission statements, your next step might be to learn what other members of your community think of them before you start to use them regularly.
To do this, you could talk to the same community leaders or focus group members you spoke to originally. First of all, this can help you ensure that they don't find the statements offensive in any way. For example, an initiative that wants to include young men more fully in its teen pregnancy prevention project might have "Young men in Asheville are the best informed" as one of their vision statements. But taken out of context, some people community members might believe this statement means young men are given better information or education than young women, thus offending another group of people.
Second, you will want to ensure that community members agree that the statements together capture the spirit of what they believe and desire. Your organization might find it has omitted something very important by mistake.
Decide how you will use your vision and mission statements
Finally, it's important to remember that while developing the statements is a huge step for your organization (and one you should celebrate!), there is more work to be done. Next, you have to decide how to use these statements. Otherwise, all of your hard work will have happening for nothing. The point is to get the message across.
There are many, many ways in which your organization may choose to spread its vision and mission statements. To name just a few examples, you might: * Add them to your letterhead or stationary * Use them on your website * Give away T-shirts, or bookmarks, or other small gifts with them * Add them to your press kit * Use them when you give interviews * Display them on the cover of your annual report
...and so on. Again, this is a step that will use all of your creativity.
In Summary
Developing effective vision and mission statements are two of the most important tasks your organization will ever do, because almost everything else you do will be affected by these statements. We hope that this section has allowed you to feel more confident now in your group's ability to create successful and inspiring vision and mission statements. Remember, think broadly and boldly! Good luck! * What are objectives? * Why should you create objectives? * When should you create objectives? * How do you create objectives?
"What are we trying to accomplish? Towards what ends are our efforts directed?"
How many times have we seen something in our community that we don't like, but aren't sure how to change it? We know people are dying of AIDS, or that inequality exists in our school system, or that the environment is endangered, but what should we do about it? What should our community efforts be pointed towards?
To obtain long-term results, we need to know, specifically, what more immediate goals will take us there. We need to have mid-term goals that will lead to the outcomes we desire. If a child wants to finish high school (his long-term goal), in the meantime, he will need to successfully complete the second, third, fourth (and so on) grades.
Learning to develop these statements of goals is what this section is all about. In the last section of this chapter, you learned how to develop your organization's vision (for example, "A world without AIDS"), as well as its mission (for example, "To ensure the highest quality care of people in our community with HIV/AIDS and halt the further spread of the disease through a comprehensive community initiative."). Now we'll look at developing the specific objectives that will help to make your vision and mission a reality.
What are objectives?
Once an organization has developed its mission statement, its next step is to develop the specific objectives that are focused on achieving that mission. Objectives are the specific measurable results of the initiative. An organization's objectives offer specifics of how much of what will be accomplished by when. For example, one of several objectives for a community initiative to promote care and caring for older adults might be: "By 2015 (by when), to increase by 20% (how much) those elders reporting that they are in daily contact with someone who cares about them (of what)."
There are three basic types of objectives. They are: * Behavioral objectives. These objectives look at changing the behaviors of people (what they are doing and saying) and the products (or results) of their behaviors. For example, a neighborhood improvement group might develop an objective for having an increased amount of home repair taking place (the behavior) and of improved housing (the result). * Community-level outcome objectives. These are often the product or result of behavior change in many people. They are more focused on a community level instead of an individual level. For example, the same neighborhood group might have an objective of increasing the percentage of people living in the community with adequate housing as a community-level outcome objective. (Notice this result would be a community-level outcome of behavior change in lots of people.) * Process objectives. These are the objectives that provide the groundwork or implementation necessary to achieve your other objectives. For example, the group might adopt a comprehensive plan for improving neighborhood housing. In this case, adoption of the plan itself is the objective.
It's important to understand that these different types of objectives aren't mutually exclusive. Most groups will develop objectives in all three categories. And all of the different types of objectives should be used as intermediate markers of the organization's progress.
The best objectives have several characteristics in common. They are all S.M.A.R.T. +C.: * They are specific. That is, they tell how much (e.g., 40%) of what is to be achieved (e.g., what behavior of whom or what outcome) by when (e.g., by 2010)? * They are measurable. Information concerning the objective can be collected, detected, or obtained from records (at least potentially). * They are achievable. Not only are the objectives themselves possible, it is likely that your organization will be able to pull them off. * They are relevant to the mission. Your organization has a clear understanding of how these objectives fit in with the overall vision and mission of the group. * They are timed. Your organization has developed a timeline (a portion of which is made clear in the objectives) by which they will be achieved. * They are challenging. They stretch the group to set its aims on significant improvements that are important to members of the community.
Why should you create objectives?
There are many good reasons to develop specific objectives for your organization. They include: * Developing objectives helps your organization create specific and feasible ways in which to carry out your mission. * Completed objectives can serve as a marker to show members of your organization, funders, and the greater community what your initiative has accomplished. * Creating objectives helps your organization set priorities for its goals. * It helps individuals and work groups set guidelines and develop the task list of things that need to be done. * It reemphasizes your mission throughout the process of change, which helps keep members of the organization working toward the same long-term goals. * Developing the list of objectives can serve as a completeness check, to make sure your organization is attacking the issue on all appropriate fronts.
When should you create objectives?
Your community organization should create objectives when: * Your organization has developed (or revamped) its vision and mission statements, and is ready to take the next step in the planning process. * Your organization's focus has changed or expanded. For example, perhaps your organization's mission relates to care and caring at the end of life. You have recently been made aware of new resources, however, to positively affect the lives of those deeply affected by the death of a loved one. If your organization were to apply for this new grant, it would clearly expand upon your current work, and would require objectives as you developed your action plan. * The organization wants to address a community issue or problem, create a service, or make a community change that requires: * Several years to complete. For example, your child health organization might hope to increase the percentage of students who finish high school - a task that may take several years to complete. * A change in behavior of large numbers of people. For example, your organization may be trying to reduce risks for cardiovascular diseases, and one of your objectives may be to increase the number of adults who engage in physical activity in your community. * A multi-faceted approach. For example, with a problem as complex as substance abuse, your organization may have to worry about tackling related issues, such as access to drugs, available drug rehabilitation services, legal consequences for drug use, etc., as well as reducing the prevalence (how often or how much) of drug use.
How do you create objectives?
So once your organization has decided that it does wish to develop objectives, how do you go about doing so? Let's look at the process that will help you to define and refine objectives for your organization.
Define or reaffirm your vision and mission statements
The first thing you will need to do is review the vision and mission statements your organization has developed. Before you determine your objectives, you should have a "big picture" that they fit into.
Determine the changes to be made
The crux of writing realistic objectives is learning what changes need to happen in order to fulfill your mission.
There are many ways to do this, including: * Research what experts in your field believe to be the best ways to solve the problem. For many community issues, researchers have developed useful ideas of what needs to occur to see real progress. This information may be available through local libraries, the Internet, state and national agencies, national nonprofit groups, and university research groups. * Discuss with local experts what needs to occur. Some of the people with whom you may wish to talk include: * Other members of your organization * Local experts, such as members of other, similar organizations who have a great deal of experience with the issue you are trying to change * Your agents of change, or the people in a position to contribute to the solution. Agents of change might include teachers, business leaders, church leaders, local politicians, community members, and members of the media. * Your targets of change, the people who experience the problem or issue on a day-to-day basis and those people whose actions contribute to the problem. Changing their behavior will become the heart of your objectives. * Discuss the logistical requirements of your own organization to successfully address community needs. At the same time your organization is looking at what needs to happen in the community to solve the issue important to you, you should also consider what your organization requires to get that done. Do you need an action plan? Additional funding? More staff, or more training for additional staff? This information is necessary to develop the process objectives we talked about earlier in this section.
At this point in the planning process, you don't need hard and fast answers to the above questions. What you should develop as part of this step is a general list of what needs to occur to make the changes you want to see.
For example, perhaps your group has decided upon the following mission: "To reduce risks for cardiovascular diseases through a community-wide initiative." At this point in your research (without getting into specifics), your organization might have decided that your objectives will be based on the following general goals: * Begin smoking cessation programs * Begin smoking prevention programs * Bring about an increase in aerobic exercise * Decrease the amount of obesity * Encourage healthier diets * Increase preventative medicine (for example, more checkups for earlier detection of disease; better understanding of warning signs and symptoms) * Increase the scientific understanding of your own organization regarding the causes and pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease * Strengthen your organization's ties with national organizations committed to the same goals as your organization
Collect baseline data on the issues to be addressed
As soon as your organization has a general idea of what it wants to accomplish, the next step is to develop baseline data on the issue to be addressed. Baseline data are the facts and figures that tell you how big the problem is; it gives specific figures about the extent to which it exists in your community.
Baseline data can indicate the incidence (new cases) of a problem in the community. For example, "Malott County has an adolescent pregnancy rate of 12.3 pregnancies for every thousand teenage girls." Such data can also reveal the prevalence (existing cases) of the problem. For example, "In Jefferson County, 35% of teens reported that they did not use contraceptives during the last time they had sex."
Baseline data may also measure community attitudes towards a problem. For example, "65% of the residents of Malott County do not consider teen pregnancy to be an important problem for the community."
Why collect baseline data?
This information is important because baseline data provides your organization with the numbers; the starting points against which you can measure how much progress you have made. Not only is this information helpful when originally asking for financial (or other) assistance, it can help you show what your organization has done later in its lifetime.
So, early in your organization's life, you can prove to funders that there really is a very significant problem in your community that needs to be addressed ("Malott County's adolescent pregnancy rate is the highest in the state of Georgia.") Then, when asked later in the life of your community initiative, "What have you done?" you will be able to answer, "Since our coalition was formed, Malott County has seen pregnancy among teens drop by 35%." If you don't collect (or obtain) the baseline information, you can't prove how much you have done.
How do you collect this information?
There are two basic ways to collect baseline data: * You can collect your own baseline data for the information related to your specific issues. Ways to gather this information include the use of surveys, questionnaires, and personal interviews. * You can use information that has already been collected. Public libraries, city government, social service agencies, local schools, or city health departments may already have the statistics that you want, especially if another organization has already done work on a similar issue in your community.
Decide what is realistic for your organization to accomplish
Once you know what you want to do, as well as exactly how big the problem is, it's time to figure out how much you believe your organization can accomplish. Do you have the resources to affect all of the goals you looked at in Step Two? And to what extent will you be able to achieve them?
These questions are difficult ones to answer. It's hard for a new organization to know what it can reasonably expect to get done. For example, if you are trying to increase rates of childhood immunization, will your organization be able to increase it by 5% in three years, or by 20% in one year? How do you make these decisions?
Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. Your organization will need to take a good look at its resources, as well as talk to experts who have a sense of what is not only possible, but likely. For example, you might ask members of organizations who have done similar things, or researchers in your topic area what they believe makes sense.
Remember, you are attempting to set objectives that are both achievable and challenging. It's hard to hit just the right note of balance between these two qualities, and you may not always get it just right. Research and experience, however, should help you come closer and closer to this goal.
Set the objectives for your organization or initiative
With all of this information in mind, your organization is ready to set some short-term goals or objectives that are feasible but demanding. Remember, objectives refer to specific measurable results. These changes in behavior, outcome, and process must be able to be tracked and measured in such a way to show that a change has occurred.
A caution: Oftentimes, the objectives of a community initiative or organization are set or influenced by the primary funding agency. Regardless of outside influences, each community initiative must decide what problems it is going to take on and what objectives would define success for their organization.
Your organization's list of objectives should do all of the following: * Include all three types of objectives: objectives that measure behavior change, community outcomes, and those that measure important parts of the planning process. * Include specific objectives that tell how much of what will occur by when. For example, "By 2010, rates of teen pregnancy among 12-17 year old girls will decrease by 30%." * They should include all of the "SMART +C criteria." As we discussed earlier in this section, this means that they should be, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant , Time d, and Challenging.
Let's look at one more example of some objectives; these goals come from an organization focusing on preventing adolescent substance abuse.
Objectives developed by an adolescent substance abuse prevention initiative
By the year 2012, the use of tobacco among 12-17 year olds will be reduced by 40%.
By the year 2012, the use of alcohol among 12-17 year olds will be reduced by 50%.
By the year 2012, the use of marijuana among 12-17 year olds will be reduced by 70%.
By the year 2012, the use of cocaine among 12-17 year olds will be reduced by 80%.
Review the objectives your organization has created
Before you finalize your objectives, it makes sense for members of your organization to review them one more time, and possibly, ask people outside of your organization to review them as well. You might ask members of your organization who were not involved in the development process to review your work. You may also wish to get the thoughts of local experts, targets and agents of change, and/or of people doing similar work in other communities to review what you have developed. You can ask reviewers to comment on: * Do your objectives each meet the criteria of "SMART+C"? * Is your list of objectives complete? That is, are there important objectives that are missing? * Are your objectives appropriate? Are any of your objectives controversial? If so, your organization needs to decide if it is ready to handle the storm that may arise. For example, a program that is trying to reduce the spread of AIDS in its community may decide clean needles for drug addicts is an objective they wish to strive for; but it may very well cause difficulties for that organization. That's not to say the organization shouldn't make that an objective, but they should do so with a clear understanding of the consequences.
Use your objectives to define your organization's strategies
Finally, once you have your general objectives, you are ready for the next step: developing the strategies that will make them possible. Once your objectives are finished, and satisfactory to members of the organization and important people outside of your group, you are ready to move on to developing successful strategies.
In Summary
Developing objectives is a critical step in your planning process. It can also be very exciting piece, because this is the time when your organization really start to say what, exactly, you are going to get done in order to realize your dream. In the next section on strategies, we get even more detail oriented, as we discuss the broad ways to achieve (or even, to exceed) the objectives you have set. * What is a strategy? * What are the criteria for developing a good strategy? * Why develop strategies? * When should you develop strategies for your initiative? * How do you develop strategies?
What is a strategy?
The word "strategy" comes from the Greek word for "generalship". Like a good general, strategies give overall direction for an initiative.
A strategy is a way of describing how you are going to get things done. It is less specific than an action plan (which tells the who-what-when); instead, it tries to broadly answer the question, "How do we get there from here?" (Do we want to take the train? Fly? Walk?)
A good strategy will take into account existing barriers and resources (people, money, power, materials, etc.). It will also stay with the overall vision, mission, and objectives of the initiative. Often, an initiative will use many different strategies--providing information, enhancing support, removing barriers, providing resources, etc.--to achieve its goals.
Objectives outline the aims of an initiative--what success would look like in achieving the vision and mission. By contrast, strategies suggest paths to take (and how to move along) on the road to success. That is, strategies help you determine how you will realize your vision and objectives through the nitty-gritty world of action.
What are the criteria for developing a good strategy?
Strategies for your community initiative should meet several criteria.
Does the strategy: * Give overall direction? A strategy, such as enhancing experience and skill or increasing resources and opportunities, should point out the overall path without dictating a particular narrow approach (e.g., using a specific skills training program). * Fit resources and opportunities? A good strategy takes advantage of current resources and assets, such as people's willingness to act or a tradition of self-help and community pride. It also embraces new opportunities such as an emerging public concern for neighborhood safety or parallel economic development efforts in the business community. * Minimize resistance and barriers? When initiatives set out to accomplish important things, resistance (even opposition) is inevitable. However, strategies need not provide a reason for opponents to attack the initiative. Good strategies attract allies and deter opponents. * Reach those affected? To address the issue or problem, strategies must connect the intervention with those who it should benefit. For example, if the mission of the initiative is to get people into decent jobs, do the strategies (providing education and skills training, creating job opportunities, etc.) reach those currently unemployed? * Advance the mission? Taken together, are strategies likely to make a difference on the mission and objectives? If the aim is to reduce a problem such as unemployment, are the strategies enough to make a difference on rates of employment? If the aim is to prevent a problem, such as substance abuse, have factors contributing to risk (and protection) been changed sufficiently to reduce use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs?
Why develop strategies?
Developing strategies is really a way to focus your efforts and figure out how you're going to get things done. By doing so, you can achieve the following advantages: * Taking advantage of resources and emerging opportunities * Responding effectively to resistance and barriers * A more efficient use of time, energy, and resources
When should you develop strategies for your initiative?
Developing strategies is the fourth step in the VMOSA (Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans) process outlined at the beginning of this chapter. Developing strategies is the essential step between figuring out your objectives and making the changes to reach them. Strategies should always be formed in advance of taking action, not deciding how to do something after you have done it. Without a clear idea of the how, your group's actions may waste time and effort and fail to take advantage of emerging opportunities. Strategies should also be updated periodically to meet the needs of a changing environment, including new opportunities and emerging opposition to the group's efforts.
How do you develop strategies?
Once again, let's refer back to our friends at the fictional Reducing the Risk (RTR) Coalition that hopes to reduce the risk of teenage pregnancy in its community. We'll walk through the process of developing strategies with this group so as to better explain the who, what, and why of strategies.
As with the process you went through to write your vision and mission statements and to set your objectives, developing strategies involves brainstorming and talking to community members.
Organize a brainstorming meeting with members of your organization and members of the community
Remember, people will work best in a relaxed and welcoming environment. You can help achieve this by: * Making meetings a place where all members feel that their ideas are listened to and valued, and where constructive criticism may be openly voiced. To help meet these goals, you might post some "ground rules" so people feel free to express themselves. Ground rules might include: * One person speaks at a time * No interrupting each other * Everyone's ideas are respected * Bringing fans or heaters (if needed) so people will be comfortable. * Asking members to escort each other home or to their cars, the subway, or the bus stop if the meeting runs late. * Providing refreshments. Never underestimate the power of homemade food, drinks, and other treats.
The RTR Coalition held brainstorming sessions among organization members. They invited local teens, parents, teachers, counselors, church members, and other community leaders to participate in listening sessions. These were used to help develop strategies to reduce the risk of teen pregnancy. Homemade cookies, fruit, and coffee helped make participants feel welcome.
Review (identify) the targets and agents of change for your initiative * Your targets of change include all of the people who experience (or are at risk for) this issue or problem addressed by your initiative. Remember to be inclusive; that is, include everyone who is affected by the problem or issue or whose action or inaction contributes to it. For example, a coalition such the RTR Coalition would want to include all teenagers as potential targets of change, not just adolescents who seem particularly at risk, and parents, peers, and teachers whose actions or inactions might make a difference. * Your agents of change include everyone who is in a position to help contribute to the solution. With the RTR Coalition, examples of agents of change might include teens, teachers, guidance counselors, parents of teens, lawmakers, and others.
Review your vision, mission, and objectives to keep you on the right track
It is helpful to review your mission, vision, and objectives to ensure that your strategies are all aligned with the goals expressed in your previous work.
Work together to brainstorm the best strategies for your initiative
The following list of questions can be a guide for deciding on the most beneficial strategies for your group: * What resources and assets exist that can be used to help achieve the vision and mission? How can they be used best? * What obstacles or resistance exist that could make it difficult to achieve your vision and mission? How can you minimize or get around them? * What are potential agents of change willing to do to serve the mission? * Do you want to reduce the existing problem, or does it make more sense to try to prevent (or reduce risk for) problems before they start? For example, if you are trying to reduce teen sexual activity, you might consider gearing some of your strategies to younger children, for whom sex is not yet a personal issue; or, to promote academic success, to work with younger children who still have full potential for learning and school success. * How will your potential strategies decrease the risk for experiencing the problem (e.g., young girls getting pressure for sex from older men)? How will the strategies increase protective factors (e.g., support from peers; access to contraceptives)? * What potential strategies will affect the whole population and problem? For example, connecting youth with caring adults might be good for virtually all youth, regardless of income or past experience with the problem. Also, just one strategy, affecting just one part of the community such as schools or youth organizations, often isn't enough to improve the situation. Make sure that your strategies affect the problem or issue as a whole. * What potential strategies reach those at particular risk for the problem? For example, early screenings might help focus on those at higher risk for heart disease or cancer; past academic failure or history of drug use, for identifying with whom support and other intervention efforts might be focused.
Let's look at the strategies proposed by the members of the RTR Coalition to prevent teen pregnancy.
Example: The strategies of the RTR Coalition
We will pursue the following strategies to reach each of our objectives: * Assist local churches in implementing parent-child awareness sessions (for example, a series of talks might be given discussing how to talk to your preteen about sex); * Include comprehensive sex education in the curriculum of students from kindergarten through grade twelve, including information on abstinence, sexual decision-making skills, and family planning / contraception at age-appropriate times; * Incorporate options for teacher-led and peer support programs in the schools; * Survey and report on student knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to sexual issues; * Increase access to contraception; * Organize a school/community action group to create supervised after-school activities, mentor programs, etc.
Things to note about the RTR strategies: * They give overall direction (without dictating specifics, such as the particular sexuality education curricula to be used). * They fit local resources, including a variety of the available agents of change (in this case, peers, parents and guardians, clergy, and teachers). * Some of the strategies try to change existing situations (such as increased access to contraception); others are geared to stop the problem of teen pregnancy before it starts (for example, assisting local churches to improve early parent-child communication). * The strategies involve many different parts of the community, including churches and other groups from whom opposition to some strategies (such as access to contraceptives) might be expected. * The strategies try to decrease some of the probable risk factors for teen pregnancy (lack of information, lack of access to contraceptives, peer pressure), and at the same time, they try to increase some of the possible protective factors (increased parent-child communication, church involvement, education, opportunities for a better future).
Check your proposed strategies for completeness, accuracy, and whether they contribute to the vision, mission, and objectives * What is an action plan? * What are the criteria for a good action plan? * Why should you develop an action plan? * When should you develop an action plan? * How to write an action plan
What is an action plan?
In some ways, an action plan is a "heroic" act: it helps us turn our dreams into a reality. An action plan is a way to make sure your organization's vision is made concrete. It describes the way your group will use its strategies to meet its objectives. An action plan consists of a number of action steps or changes to be brought about in your community.
Each action step or change to be sought should include the following information: * What actions or changes will occur * Who will carry out these changes * By when they will take place, and for how long * What resources (i.e., money, staff) are needed to carry out these changes * Communication (who should know what?)
What are the criteria for a good action plan?
The action plan for your initiative should meet several criteria.
Is the action plan: * Complete? Does it list all the action steps or changes to be sought in all relevant parts of the community (e.g., schools, business, government, faith community)? * Clear? Is it apparent who will do what by when? * Current? Does the action plan reflect the current work? Does it anticipate newly emerging opportunities and barriers?
Why should you develop an action plan?
There is an inspirational adage that says, "People don't plan to fail. Instead they fail to plan." Because you certainly don't want to fail, it makes sense to take all of the steps necessary to ensure success, including developing an action plan.
There are lots of good reasons to work out the details of your organization's work in an action plan, including: * To lend credibility to your organization. An action plan shows members of the community (including grantmakers) that your organization is well ordered and dedicated to getting things done. * To be sure you don't overlook any of the details * To understand what is and isn't possible for your organization to do * For efficiency: to save time, energy, and resources in the long run * For accountability: To increase the chances that people will do what needs to be done
When should you create an action plan?
Ideally, an action plan should be developed within the first six months to one year of the start of an organization. It is developed after you have determined the vision, mission, objectives, and strategies of your group. If you develop an action plan when you are ready to start getting things done, it will give you a blueprint for running your organization or initiative.
Remember, though, that an action plan is always a work in progress. It is not something you can write, lock in your file drawers, and forget about. Keep it visible. Display it prominently. As your organization changes and grows, you will want to continually (usually monthly) revise your action plan to fit the changing needs of your group and community.
How to write an action plan
Determine what people and sectors of the community should be changed and involved in finding solutions
If you have been using the VMOSA (Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, Action Plans) model, you might have already done this, when you were deciding upon your group's objectives. Again, try to be inclusive. Most of the health and development issues that community partnerships deal with are community-wide, and thus need a community-wide solution. Possible sectors include the media, the business community, religious organizations, schools, youth organizations, social service organizations, health organizations, and others.
Some members of the community you might consider asking to join the action planning group include: * Influential people from all the parts of the community affected by your initiative (e.g., from churches and synagogues, the school system, law enforcement, etc.) * People who are directly involved in the problem (e.g., local high school students and their parents might be involved in planning a coalition trying to reduce teen substance abuse) * Members of grassroots organizations * Members of the various ethnic and cultural groups in your community * People you know who are interested in the problem or issue * Newcomers or young people in the community who are not yet involved
Let's consider some of the people who were involved with the planning group for the fictional Reducing the Risks (RTR) Coalition that hopes to reduce the rate of teen pregnancy. Some of the members of this planning group included teachers at the local high school, local teenagers and their parents, members of the clergy, counselors and school nurses, staff of the county health department, and members of youth organizations, service agencies, and other organizations that focus on youth issues.
Convene a planning group in your community to design your action plan. This might be the same group of people who worked with you to decide your group's strategies and objectives. If you are organizing a new group of people, try to make your planning committee as diverse and inclusive as possible. Your group should look like the people most affected by the problem or issue.
Once everyone is present, go over your organization's: * Vision * Mission * Objectives * Strategies * Targets and agents of change (e.g., youth, parents and guardians, clergy) * Proposed changes for each sector of the community (e.g., schools, faith community, service organizations, health organizations, government)
Develop an action plan composed of action steps that address all proposed changes. The plan should be complete, clear, and current. Additionally, the action plan should include information and ideas you have already gathered while brainstorming about your objectives and your strategies. What are the steps you must take to carry out your objectives while still fulfilling your vision and mission? Now it's time for all of the VMOSA components to come together. While the plan might address general goals you want to see accomplished, the action steps will help you determine the specific actions you will take to help make your vision a reality. Here are some guidelines to follow to write action steps.
Members of the community initiative will want to determine: * What action or change will occur * Who will carry it out * When it will take place, and for how long * What resources (i.e., money, staff) are needed to carry out the change * Communication (who should know what)
Example: RTR Coalition's Action Step (a sample)
One community change sought by this coalition to prevent teen pregnancy was to increase publicity about contraception and unwanted pregnancy at the local high school. * What action or change will occur: Hanging posters, displays, and other information about contraception and the facts about unwanted pregnancy in the hallways of the local high school. The posters and other information will become a permanent part of the high school. Posters and information will be regularly changed as new materials become available. * Who will carry it out: A sub-committee comprised of parents and guardians, teachers, students, and coalition members will be responsible for maintaining the displays. The coalition as a whole will work towards finding funding to purchase the materials. Maria and Alex of the schools action group will be responsible for researching and ordering the materials. * By when will it take place, and for how long: The coalition will try to have posters hanging and displays visible within six weeks of deciding on the action step (2/19/2013). * What resources are needed to carry out the step: The coalition will approach the school district to request funding for the project. Otherwise, the group will seek funding from other sources such as foundations and local businesses to finance the program. * Communication about the action step. The school principal and leadership of the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) should be given information about this planned change.
Things to note about this portion of the RTR action plan: * It appears complete. Although this step seems fully developed, we would need to review the entire action plan to see whether all community and system changes that should be sought are included. * It is clear. We know who will do what by when. * It seems current. We would need to know more about other current work (and new opportunities and barriers) to judge whether this portion of the action plan is up-to-date.
Review your completed action plan carefully to check for completeness. Make sure that each proposed change will help accomplish your group's mission. Also, be sure that the action plan taken as a whole will help you complete your mission; that is, make sure you aren't leaving anything out.
Follow through. One hard part (figuring out what to do) is finished. Now take your plan and run with it! Remember the 80-20 rule: successful efforts are 80% follow through on planned actions and 20% planning for success.
Keep everyone informed about what's going on. Communicate to everyone involved how his or her input was incorporated. No one likes to feel like her wit and wisdom has been ignored.
Keep track of what (and how well) you've done. Always keep track of what the group has actually done. If the community change (a new program or policy) took significant time or resources, it's also a good idea to evaluate what you have done, either formally or informally.
Keep several questions in mind for both yourself and others: * Are we doing what we said we'd do? * Are we doing it well? * Is what we are doing advancing the mission?
You can address these questions informally (ask yourself, chat with friends and other people), as well as formally, through surveys and other evaluation methods.
Celebrate a job well done! Celebrate your accomplishments; you and those you work with deserve it. Celebration helps keep everyone excited and interested in the work they are doing.
After you've written your action plan: Getting members to do what they said they would
Every community organization has undoubtedly had this happen: you plan and you assign tasks to get everything you've planned to do accomplished. Everyone agrees (maybe they even offer) to do certain tasks, and you all leave with a great feeling of accomplishment. The problem? At the next meeting, nothing has been done. Besides tearing out your hair, what can you do?
Fortunately, there are several things you can try. It's particularly tricky in the case of volunteers, because you don't want to lean too hard on someone who is donating their time and energy to begin with. Still, you can make it easier for members to get things done (and harder to avoid work) without acting like the mean neighbor down the street. Some of these gentle reminders include: * Regular phone calls from staff members or dedicated volunteers asking others how they are doing with their tasks. This should be a supportive call, not a "are you doing what you're supposed to" call. The person calling can offer emotional support "how are you doing?" as well as see if the group member needs any other assistance. A friendly call such as this can be seen as helpful, give the member the sense that he is a very important part of the group, and serve as a great reminder to do what he said he would do. * Distributing the action plan in writing to all members, with names attached to specific tasks. (Additionally, this can be a great time to ask for feedback before the plan becomes "official.") * Making sure timelines (with due dates) are complete, clear and current. * At regular group meetings, such as committee meetings or board meetings, ask members to report on accomplishing the tasks they have set out to do. Consider making this a regular part of the meeting. * Celebrate the accomplishment of tasks. It's important that getting something done actually means something, and is recognized by the group as a whole.
Follow up on the action plan regularly. You are asking members to be accountable, and to get things done on a regular basis. If they have agreed, you should help them fulfill their commitment as best you can. * What does it mean to obtain feedback from your constituents? * Why should you obtain feedback from constituents? * When should you obtain feedback from constituents? * How to ask yourself the right questions * Obtaining formal feedback: conducting a survey
What does it mean to obtain feedback from constituents?
By obtaining feedback, we simply mean asking questions to determine something you want to know. Most often, feedback is sought to determine how well people feel your organization is doing, and also how important they believe the goals of your agency are. Feedback may be obtained in a number of ways, some as simple as having a casual conversation or reading articles and editorials in the paper. Formal feedback--data that you can measure--is usually obtained through one of the following methods: * Personal interviews * Phone surveys * Written surveys or questionnaires
The term constituents, as we use it here, may refer to a variety of people, including those who are affected (directly or indirectly) by your agency's work, elected officials, members of your coalition, journalists, community leaders, and others.
Why should you obtain feedback from constituents? * To understand how your organization is perceived * To get a better understanding of what the community really needs * To help prioritize tasks * To generate renewed excitement and interest in your program * To have the information ready for future use (such as grant proposals and questions from the press) * To increase community awareness of who you are and what you do * And overall, to improve your program
When should you obtain feedback from constituents?
You should try to obtain informal feedback as an ongoing, continuous process. Formal feedback may be done at differing times, including: * As part of the planning process when you start your initiative * Any time you start (or are considering starting) a new program * At the end of a certain program sponsored by your group, such as a two-day workshop discussing the risk factors for alcoholism, or a summer bicycle helmet for youths program * Periodically throughout the life of your initiative (perhaps once a year or every two years)
However, you should always be sure you know how you will actually use the information you obtain. Nothing is more frustrating to your participants then to give feedback that is not used.
How to obtain feedback from constituents
Ask yourself the right questions
What do you want to know?
Some information that you could gather just won't be used, and so it's simply not worth the staff time to gather it. For example, perhaps you have received a grant to reduce teen pregnancy in your community. Whether or not the community perceives teen pregnancy as a problem may be less important to you than other issues, because the program is going to be implemented either way. In such a case, it might make sense for your group to use your resources in a different way, such as to determine what specific needs regarding teen pregnancy need to be addressed.
Who has already done this?
Check to see if someone, such as researchers or another agency, has already done a survey in your community asking the same questions that you would like answered. Your coalition is undoubtedly busy enough; don't try to reinvent the wheel.
Who do you want to ask?
Decide whom you would like to survey. There are a variety of people you might decide to question, depending on what you would like to find out.
Possible respondents might include: * The targets of change, or those whose actions you would like to change * The people most affected by the problem you are addressing * Professionals in your area * Local administrators (directors, coordinators, principals, etc.) * Possible or current funders for your program * Elected officials * Journalists * Researchers and field experts * Members of your coalition
Further, decide if you want to obtain your information in a closed manner (surveying a select group of people) or in an open manner (anyone who is willing to pick up a pencil or open their mouths for a few minutes). Be careful not to ask administrators to tell you the needs of those most affected; rather, ask those who are most affected themselves.
How many people would you like to ask?
If you are only surveying the active members of a small coalition (say, less than 50 members), you might try to survey everyone. If you would like to learn about the feelings of the teenagers in your coalition with regards to drug abuse, however, you might find it unfeasible to survey every teen, and instead randomly choose a smaller, more workable group to question.
How do you want to ask people?
This may be done in a variety of ways, including: * Listen to the opinions of people you know, researchers at planning agencies, people who work in the same or a similar field, and anyone else you can think of * Suggestion boxes * Noting chance meetings or comments in a log * Feedback forms on publications such as brochures or on an agency newsletter * Comment logs by the phone * Designated "critique times at meetings" * A formal survey: either by personal interviews, a phone survey, or a written survey
Good tips: * Keep it secret. Always try to provide instructions that minimize any possibility of bias. For example, don't discuss what you hope to learn, what you believe to be true, or what earlier surveys have told you when you are writing the instructions. When possible, allow surveys to be anonymous. * Keep your eyes and ears open. Be responsive to all possible means of obtaining data, such as learning what has been said at public protests, what complaints have been lodged or actions taken, etc. * Make the best of it. If the response you get from constituents isn't what you hoped for--for example, if they respond that what your coalition is doing isn't really important--reassess what you are doing, and brainstorm ideas of what else you might do to sway public opinion.
Obtaining formal feedback: Conducting a survey
You've decided to take the plunge and go all out with a formal survey. But where do you start? How do you format your work and frame your questions? There are volumes upon volumes of information suggesting how you might do this, but please consider the following information as a starting point when putting together your survey.
Decide how you would like to conduct your survey
First, should it be written or oral?
There are several advantages and disadvantages of each that you should take into account: * An oral survey (in person, on the phone) is often less formal, and may be easier to initiate and conduct. However, the body language or tone of the interviewer may affect the respondent's answers, and of course, anonymity is not an option for spoken interviews. Further, responses from an oral interview are more likely to be vague and rambling, taking up valuable time as well as being difficult to chart. * A written survey may be formal and exact, and thus in the long run more efficient. However, it may be more difficult to convince people to respond to a mailed written survey than to respond orally, despite the real amount of time involved. Just think: if someone called and asked you to answer a few questions, you'd probably say yes, unless you were really pressed for time. However, if you got the same list of questions in the mail, you might think about answering them, and then forget, or misplace the letter, or just throw it away.) To get around this barrier, consider giving a survey to a "captive audience," such as a group at a meeting or in a class.
Decide how to format your questions
They may be written using open or closed questions: * Closed questions allow the respondent to answer from a menu of different choices. This menu might be as simple as responding to a yes/no question. It also might take the form of several words (for example, "Which of the following seems to be the biggest health concern in our community?"), or a rating scale ("On a scale of one to five, with five being most important, how would you rate the importance of stopping merchants from selling alcohol to minors?"). A rating scale is often a simple yet very effective way to learn the feelings of the people taking the survey. Five point scales (between one and five) and seven point scales are often the norm when doing a survey in this manner. * Open questions allow the respondent to answer questions in their own words, without prompts from the survey. An example of an open question would be, "What do you think is the most important health concern facing our community, and why do you think so?" The advantage of using open questions is that you are able to get deeper, more thoughtful answers than from closed questions. However, open questions may also lead to vague answers that are hard to interpret and use. * To get the best of both worlds, you might consider using a survey with closed questions that leaves room for additional comments.
To the extent that it is possible, remove all possibility of bias from your survey
This includes: * When possible, don't require (or even ask for) the names of the respondents * Avoid discussing any expectations you might have for this survey * Don't discuss previous survey results
Don't forget your manners
If your mother was going to respond to this survey, what would she want to see? Be sure to thank respondents ahead of time, let them know how you will use any information that you gather, and thank them again afterwards.
Make it easy
The less respondents are directly involved in your project, the less likely they are to be willing to take a lot of time filling out a survey or discussing an issue. Keep your survey as short as possible while still getting the information that you want to know. A good rule of thumb is simply, don't ask questions you're not going to use.
Make it easier
If you are mailing your survey, make it easy to return. Always include a self-addressed stamped envelope.
Keep your cool
Don't be frustrated if only a small number of mailed surveys are returned to you; in fact, you should probably expect this. A "normal" return rate might only be about half of the surveys that you send out are actually completed. * What is an action step? * Why should you identify action steps? * When should you determine action steps? * How do you identify action steps?
What is an action step?
An action step refers to the specific efforts that are made to reach the goals your agency has set. Action steps are the exact details of your action plan. They should be concrete and comprehensive, and each action step should explain: * What will occur * How much, or to what extent, these actions will occur * Who will carry out these actions * When these actions will take place, and for how long * What resources (such as money and staff) are needed to carry out the proposed actions
Taken together, your defined action steps comprise your group's action plan.
Why should you identify action steps?
Anticipating the future makes us feel in control, right? That?s the major reason why identifying action steps is important. You can get prepared for what your next step should be. Other reasons are: * To concentrate on the details that must occur to succeed in your mission * To decide on workable ways to reach your goals * To allow a large number of people to think in a structured way about the future of your coalition * To save time, energy, and resources in the long run: a well structured, thought -out action plan will make things much easier for you
When should you determine action steps?
You should determine your action steps after you have decided what changes you want to occur. You probably do this anyway, at least on a casual level; you decide what changes you want to see occur, and then you decide how to go about making them. These "hows" are your action steps.
Ideally, they will be thoughtfully, officially decided upon early in the life of your organization, and then updated every year or two as your group grows and changes. Even if your organization has been around for a while, though, and doesn't have defined action steps yet, it's never too late to decide on them, since we hope you're going to be around for a long time!
How do you identify action steps?
Determine what your group, as a whole and individually, is really good at. Are you great at fund raising? Do you have a member who happens to write for the local paper? Brainstorm all the possible strengths of your group, no matter how off the wall they might seem. (You never know when an award-winning tuba player will be just what you need!)
Brainstorm different, specific ways that these strengths can be used to carry out the changes that you have decided upon.
For example, if your organization is trying to bring about increased access to contraceptives for area youth, you might send your best politician to area drug stores to ask to pharmacists to provide contraception in a confidential way. Then, ask the graphic artist in your group to design a card with the names of the pharmacies that will do so.
Consider the possible barriers to implementing your proposed changes, and possible ways to remove these barriers. Some questions you might ask yourselves include: * Do we have enough money to carry out your proposed action steps? (Are there any grants we can apply for?) * Do we have enough manpower? (Can we recruit more volunteers?) * Do we have enough time to carry out these changes? * Are these action steps things people can get excited about? * What kind of opposition can we expect if we put our plan into effect? Are there ways to get around it?
For instance, in the example given above dealing with contraceptives, pharmacists might be worried that their name next to the slogan, "Get your condoms here!" might hurt their business. A card that just had the names and phone numbers of your agency and of their establishments, however, might calm these fears and give the pharmacies some free, welcome publicity.
Brainstorm different ways (your action steps) to go about implementing the proposed changes in each sector that you have chosen. Be sure to have someone take good notes! Again, make sure each action step includes: * What will occur * How much, or to what extent, these actions will occur * Who will carry out these changes * When these changes will take place, and for how long * What resources (such as money and staff) are needed to carry out these changes
Example: The RTR Coalition
One action step might include increasing publicity about contraception and unwanted pregnancy at the local high school. * What action or change will occur: Hanging posters, displays, and other information about contraception and the facts about unwanted pregnancy in the hallways of the local high school. * How much, or to what extent, this action will occur: The posters and other information will become a permanent part of the high school. Posters and information will be regularly changed as new materials become available. * Who will carry it out: A sub-committee comprised of parents, teachers, students, and coalition members will be responsible for maintaining the displays. The coalition as a whole will work towards finding funding to purchase the materials. Several coalition members will be responsible for researching and ordering the materials. * When will it take place, and for how long: The coalition will try to have posters hanging and displays visible within six months of implementing the action step. * What resources are needed to carry out the step: The coalition will try to approach the school district to request funding for the project. Otherwise, the coalition will seek funding from other sources such as foundations to finance the program. To make the process as clear as possible, members of the coalition should account for each point of each action step. Then, with written goals in hand, you will have the concrete steps you need to take in order to implement your plan.
Determine a final list of action steps for each community sector from the ideas that came from your brainstorming. Try to determine lists that are feasible, effective, and comprehensive.
Example:
Some strategies for preventing child abuse and neglect (from the Work Group for Community Health and Development's Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect: An Action Planning Guide for Building a Caring Community), listed by community sector:
Changes in the schools: * Provide training on anger management and stress reduction techniques for parents. * Require classes in prevention of child abuse and neglect for renewal of teacher certification and for school nurses. * Provide space and supervision on school facilities for weekend, after-school, and vacation activities for children.
Changes in health organizations: * Provide health care credits for parents who participate in child abuse and neglect workshops. * Provide training for health professionals on screening for abuse and neglect. * Develop specific and comprehensive policies regarding mandatory reporting.
Changes in businesses and work sites: * Offer workshops on stress relief and anger management to employees. * Offer training on parenting skills, including prenatal and infant care. * Provide flexible work schedule to accommodate parents' schedules.
Changes in government and social services: * Provide tax incentives to parents who participate in child abuse prevention activities, such as classes on parenting skills * Develop comprehensive laws regarding perpetrators of child abuse and neglect * Increase protection for all victims of domestic violence through specific policies and access to shelters.
Changes in community organizations: * Provide a community board that lists job openings, daycare, and important community dates and events. * Provide help in obtaining public or legal assistance for families in need. * Increase the number of agencies and organizations that conduct parenting classes.
Changes in religious organizations: * Create a network among ministers to discuss strategies for preventing abuse and neglect. * Provide counseling and follow-up with people who feel at risk for abusing a loved one. * Distribute inserts for church bulletins on the prevention of child abuse and neglect.
Pat yourself on the back for getting all your planning done, take a deep breath, and go do what you've said you are going to!