The Definitive Guide to Community Organizing
If there’s one thing years of civic unrest have taught us, it’s that while standing on the sidelines is hardly an option, everyone wants to lead the change, but not everyone knows how to be the change. Enter: The Definitive Guide to Community Organizing!
In this guide, you will learn what community organizing is, why it’s important, how to solidify your interest, range of commitment, and how to get others involved.
What is Community Organizing?
According to the National Association of Social Workers, community organizing is a specialized field that focuses on uniting local citizens to fix broken social systems, bringing about meaningful changes to peoples’ lives, and empowering vulnerable or oppressed groups of people.
Successfully organized communities are based on relationship building, agency, narrative, and strategy. For neighborhoods, towns, and cities that struggle with acquiring these things through positive means (if at all), community organizing is very beneficial.
Why Do We Need Community Organizers?
Community organizing non-profit Ahel says organizers must ask themselves three important questions:
- Who are my people?
- What are their most urgent problems?
- How can we pool our resources to solve these problems?
Community organizers are important to the people they serve because they rely heavily on their relationships to make deals to solve problems. They’re also important because in some cases they quite literally teach residents how to be in community with one another through workshops and more.
I Want to be a Community Organizer!
Experts generally agree that the first step into community organizing should come from volunteering. By volunteering for causes that interest you, you will learn perseverance, how deals are made, and most importantly, the constituency that you want to serve. Community organizers can find work in government, non-profit organizations, churches, social services agencies, public health departments, among others.
Educational requirements vary from organization to organization, but a bachelor’s degree or higher in a related field is common in community organizing. In addition to relevant experience, organizers should be creative, connect well with others, and be ORGANIZED!
How Involved Does Community Organizing Get?
Community organizing is a full time job! Duties may include expanding their membership base, developing strategies, leadership recruitment, assisting with fundraising, running member meetings, and facilitating training sessions.
With all of the work that there is to do, finding a community to serve that fits your lifestyle is incredibly important.
How to Recruit New Community Organizers
Once you’ve been working in community organizing for a while, you may want or be asked to recruit others. Reaching out to local groups and students on social media is always a great way to spread the word about volunteer opportunities. More personalized outreach can take place through referrals, presentations, making announcements at public events, and leveraging current relationships.
There you have it, the definitive guide to community organizing! Hopefully you enjoyed this analysis and share it with anyone you know who’s looking to make a difference.
