Collaboration and Community Organizing

Also see "Civic Engagement" under Trends and Issues

Books on this topic

Articles and book excerpts on this topic:

• Building Citizen Participation, by Centre for Community Enterprise (Canada)
• How to Profit with a Nonprofit Partner, from Making Money While Making a Difference
• Quickening of America, from The Quickening of America

Free electronic books on this topic:

• A Matter of Survival: Volunteering in, by, and with Low-income Communities, Points of Light Foundation (36-page PDF)
• Collective Leadership Framework, A workbook designed to familiarize community organizers with the process of developing collective leadership across the traditional boundaries of race, class, gender and culture. A publication of the Kellogg Leadership for Community Change project (60-page PDF)
• Neighboring Action Kit, Points of Light Foundation (16-page PDF)
• The Partnering Toolbook, by Ros Tennyson for the International Business Leaders Forum, 2003 (45-page PDF)
• Working with: Collaborative Approaches for Engaging and Leading Volunteers, by Mark Creyton, Volunteering Queensland, AU (14-page PDF)
  

Web sites with information on this topic:

Can Do Exchange

http://www.candoexchange.org

UK "social marketplace" model site where registrants can buy, sell, barter, hire, exchange or give away all kinds of resources, from services, transport and information sheets, to office equipment, meeting rooms and peoples' skills.

Centre for Community Enterprise

http://www.cedworks.com/ccesummary.html

Canadian site focused on revitalizing and mobilizing communities.  Includes the online journal, Making Waves.

The Citizen's Handbook

http://www.vcn.bc.ca/citizens-handbook
Written by Charles Dobson and the Vancouver (Canada) Citizen's Committee, this is one of the best quick guides to community organizing on the Web.

Community Builders NSW

http://www.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au/builder/volunteering/agenciesvol.html

Comprehensive information about volunteer programs and activities within New South Wales Government (Australia) agencies. Includes many practical support materials, such as “Working with People” tips.

Community Toolbox
http://ctb.ku.edu/

The Community Tool Box offers over 7,000 free pages of practical guidance on essential skills for building healthy communities for people working to make a difference. The resources are organized by: 1) Learn a Skill (training in specific skills of community work); 2) Plan the Work (Toolkits outline tasks, examples, and supports for 16 core competencies); 3) Solve a Problem ("Troubleshooting Guides" for common challenges, questions for analysis, and links); 4) Use Promising Approaches (Evidence, examples, and links); and 5) Connect with Others (Learn from others by asking an advisor and finding other online resources).

Hello, My Name is Scott

http://www.hellomynameisscott.com

Unusual, funny, and wise Web site devoted to the power and uses of nametags (yes, nametags) to foster interaction among strangers.  See the free article section.

Instigate!  Online Toolkit for Community Mobilization

http://www.transformcommunities.org/tctatsite/instigate/isup/i_tt_index.html

The organization Transforming Communities addresses gender-based violence through grass-roots social change efforts.  This Web site offers a range of resources to guide community organizing, regardless of the issue involved.

LGBT Consortium (UK)

http://www.lgbtconsortium.org.uk/c1/activities/involved/resources_lgbt.php

Have created an entire Web area with free downloadable resources called collectively: Volunteering on a Shoestring (not another toolkit!). Written in 2008 for the LGBT community but applicable to any setting, especially those at the grassroots level. Includes PDF guides, templates and case studies.

National Network for Collaboration Training Manual

http://crs.uvm.edu/nnco/cd/index.htm

Self-teaching tool to support community collaborative efforts.

Neighboring

http://www.pointsoflight.org/programs/neighboring/

A special project of Points of Light aimed at organizing low income communities to strengthen families and work together.  Many free resources to download. 

Publicus.net

http://www.publicus.net/articles.html

A site devoted to "public strategies for the online world," this link takes you an archive of articles about e-citizenship.  Also see archive of postings to DoWire.org --"Democracies Online": http://www.publicus.net/dowire.html

 

5/05/08

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