One Process to Better Serve Your Community

I recently had a virtual meeting with a new client. He was interested in starting a non-profit. He had deep passion and concern. He wanted to serve his community.

He called me looking for a little direction, excited and eager to get started.

Like usual, I discussed the importance of starting with ‘why’ – identifying a need in the community that he could fill with the skills and abilities he currently has.

He knew of some areas of concern in his community, but he wasn’t 100% sure what was most important, nor confident about where his skill set would fit best.

I suggested that a needs assessment would be a great place to start. A needs assessment informs a person or organization about the social needs or issues in a community and which issues should be prioritized for action.

I told him that a needs assessment usually had three components: researching best practices in the field and interviewing both people and experts who live and work in the community.

I then told him how he could go about this.

I encouraged him first to do a little research. This could be as simple as a Google search to see if there were any reports written about his community. He could also Google to see what programs were working well in communities like his. He may wish to mirror these in the future.

I also discussed talking to experts or people that already work in this community to see where they felt there were gaps in services. Making a list of who he knows or could call for a short interview would be helpful.

Lastly, I suggested he could informally meet or interview a few people in his community to see what issues they were experiencing or gaps that they felt existed. Since he was part of the community this shouldn’t be hard to do.

With all this information, he could then determine which areas are of greatest concern, and how he could best meet them.

He thought this was a sensible plan of action but wondered how many interviews or reports he should read before he could confidently plan.

I said this was a common question. I told him it was easy to tell. When the same concerns keep coming up in conversation and/or the research repeats itself, he would then know the areas of concern or gaps in services in his community.

I also said that when he found some ideas or programs that worked well in communities like his he could stop searching.

From there, he could make an evidence-based decision about where he could best serve his community with his interests and skills.

He seemed to understand but did seem frustrated about the length of time the process might take.

I sympathized. I know what it is like to be excited about an idea but then frustrated by the time required to get it started. However, I stressed the importance of completing a needs assessment and spending time planning.

Without planning, services and programs are often reactive and fragmented. They are not strategic or have a prevention focus.

To make sure that he would serve his community best with relevant and effective programming, a needs assessment is where he really must begin.

He left our meeting with a plan of action. He was going to do some research and then promised to come back together to discuss what he had found.

I am curious to see how all of this will unfold. I am hopeful that he will proceed and move forward. I am eager to assist in the process.

It will take time and I hope he doesn’t get discouraged.

If he follows the steps, he won’t regret it. It will be short term pain for long term gain. A needs assessment will help him plan and better serve his community in the long run.  

If you are starting a new project or planning new work, a needs assessment is where I encourage you to begin too.

I have given you the basic tools here to get started. If you need help in the process, we can assist. Free 30-minute consultations are available.