Assessing community needs before planning a service project

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Abstract

In order for volunteer service to be successful in communities, the need must arise from the community, not the proclivities or desires of the volunteer. Using strategies outlined by Hands On Network in Take Root: Project Development Guidebook will help programs discover the true needs of their community and work with community members to plan subsequent action.

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Issue

Many national service programs seek to expand their efforts by leveraging additional volunteers within the communities they serve. The best way to effectively utilize volunteers and keep them coming back is to thoroughly plan the volunteer projects. Many programs do not spend time to assess what the community truly needs before planning a project.

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Action

When beginning to plan a service project, it is important to involve the community from the outset. By working with community members, you can identify projects that will make a true impact.

Assessing community needs can be as simple as taking a walk through your neighborhood or as complex as surveying the entire city. The important thing is to focus on the community when identifying what is needed. By working together with community members, you will build community awareness and help ensure community buy-in and support for your program's service efforts.

There are a variety of ways to assess community needs. Select one that fits your program's capacity and the scope of the volunteer effort. For a one-day project, choose an assessment technique that is less time-consuming. If you are committing to a long-term project, conduct an in-depth assessment to ensure that you are effectively utilizing your resources.

Some ideas for conducting a community needs assessment include:

Brainstorm
Gather program staff, volunteers, and/or other community members to brainstorm community issues/needs. As a group, examine the causes and effects of the issue and then brainstorm potential projects to address the needs identified.

Community Dreams
As you meet and mingle with people living in the community you're working with, ask them about the changes they would like to see happen. If they had unlimited resources, what would they like to change? How would they go about changing it?

Community Walk
Take a walk through the community. Write down and/or take pictures of what you see. Take note of potential project sites, such as parks or schools, as well as potential project partners, including businesses and community service organizations (CSOs). What are specific needs that you find?

Community Forum
Hold a forum to collect information from community members about issues/needs. Ask them to offer suggestions for potential projects.

Survey
Conduct a formal or informal survey of community members to identify issues/needs. Surveys might include questions such as:

  • What problems do you see in the community?
  • What are the most pressing issues in the community right now? What types of service projects would be most beneficial for the community?
  • List two things you want to change in the community.

 

In addition to the ideas outlined above, your national service program may have projects or partnerships with specific Community Service Organizations (CSOs) already in mind. You can discover and develop potential volunteer projects through these methods:

  • Request for Projects (RFP)
    Putting out an RFP can be a great way to solicit projects for large-scale service events. This will help streamline project development processes by outlining all details of the potential project upfront.
  • Targeted Requests
    Most projects have parameters such as timeframes, types of volunteers, issue areas impacted, or geography that will help narrow down project possibilities. As a result, not all CSOs will be able to host all projects. Therefore, it is best to make personal, targeted requests to partners who are known to meet your project's parameters.
  • Volunteer Interests
    Volunteers may express interests in particular types of volunteer tasks such as painting, reading with children, or affecting particular issue areas such as hunger, homelessness or HIV/AIDS.

 

At the end of the assessment process, you will probably have a long list of community issues, needs, and potential projects. Working with staff, community members, and others, determine which ones will be the focus of your service efforts.

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Context

Hands On Network is a Corporation for National and Community Service training and technical assistance provider. Through training and technical assistance, Hands On brings extensive expertise in leveraging volunteers to national service programs.

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Outcome

National service programs that adopt these practices will:

  • Work with the community to identify community issues and needs
  • Discover avenues for finding a volunteer project.

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Posted On

January 4, 2007

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Resources

This effective practice is number four in a series on volunteer leveraging from the Hands On Network. To read the next practice in this series, see Deciding on the "right" volunteer project for your program.

See the previous effective practices in the series:

Source Documents

Take Root: Project Development Guidebook

Related Practices

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Related sites

Community Tool Box

Iowa State University Extension: Needs Assessment Strategies

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