Tag: Community Engagement

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Projects We Love: Sofar Sounds

In our early years, we had a Monday Spotlight series where great new organizations and projects were highlighted because of the incredible work they were doing. One of those projects was Sofar Sounds in the A Little LA Monday Spotlight.  At that time, music in a room was only a unique idea of music being brought into intimate living spaces around Los Angeles. Now this music project is much larger.

Sofar brings people together and allows them to communicate in a common way; music. Communication does not have to be A to B. Communication can be A, B, C, and D, communing together to enjoy a common love. This type of communication for common cause is a way to Social Change.

It is pretty easy to get involved with Sofar.  Go to the website. Sign up. Get notified about upcoming shows. Their, ‘How It Works‘ page will be more helpful though.

Here is an informational video about them:

And here are a couple of our favorite videos:

 

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Orgs We Love: The Giving Net

Storytelling is still so important for cultural context and conveying messages to diverse groups.  The Giving Net‘s success is partially because they foster space for people to convene and tell their stories.  Through story telling, people learn, find common ground, are empowered, and social change can be created.

The Giving Net, a 501c3 nonprofit organization, was founded by Arkansas native, Andrea Price, in 2013. After growing up in the Delta, working throughout the South on community-based initiatives and on community development projects, she saw a great need for an organization that focuses on empowering citizens to have a voice in their neighborhoods, communities, state, nation and world. Thus, The Giving Net was born. The power to strengthen our communities lies within people who are connected to each other, informed about the issues that affect them and are willing to use their strengths for good. The Giving Net works to empower people and ultimately strengthen communities.

The Giving Net’s “doing” is designed to encourage citizens, of all ages, to give their time, talent and other resources to causes that strengthen communities. The Giving Net hosts a Radio Show where guests from around the world share their personal stories of service and civic action.

 The Giving Net designs and facilitates conversations and action based planning sessions for

  • Local governments
  • Faith-based institutions
  • Educational institutions
  • Political candidates
  • or others seeking to use collective, citizen power for change.

The Giving Net shares information, ideas and stories about civic engagement via our Blog. The Giving Net host and co-host public programs related to civic life, philanthropy, justice and social change.

 Listen to Gregg Potter, Project Kinect’s Founder, on The Giving Net’s radio show.

Check Out Lifestyle Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with The Giving Net Radio on BlogTalkRadio
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Community Engagement is a Non-Stop Task

by Jenna Rhodes

 

Some people think that Community Engagement is one step in multi-step process for a project.  Build a team.  Check.  Set a timeline.  Check.  Engage the community.  Check.  Create a plan.  Check.  But it’s not nearly so simple.  Community Engagement is a collection of actions that can be found from the beginning of a project until the….well until forever.  Community Engagement doesn’t stop when you finish a project because building relationships is a continuous process that will lead into your next project and your next.  Relationships aren’t usually time bound.  The contacts that you make on the first project will be contacts that you will use throughout your time in your current position and possibly for your entire career.  Community Engagement is building your contact list, understanding the mission and vision of the organization that they represent, knowing what resources they have to offer, utilizing their expertise to move a project forward, gathering their opinions and impressions, and offering them your expertise and resources in return.

When engaging a community there are several things that can help the process:

1) Get out into the community and meet people – you can’t expect people or businesses to invest in your project, event, or idea if they’ve never met you.

2) Have lots of business cards – it’s not so much that they need YOUR info, but you need THEIRS and this is a great way to get it.

3) Have an organized system for collecting all of this contact info – an excel document can be a great tool to organize, sort, and utilize the rich resources that you’ve spent so much time collecting.

4) Communicate with your connections – an underutilized contact list is a waste of time and energy, stay connected by informing your newly formed network what you are doing, how it pertains to them, and how they can get involved.

5) Ask for referrals – you can’t possibly make every connection yourself, so ask your contacts to put you in touch with others who might have a stake in your project.

6) Follow up – if you say you are going to do something, do it.

Engaging a community is hard work that takes investments of time and energy.  And there will always be more people to meet.  This part of the process is ongoing.  I have been working on one project for more than a year and I made seven new contacts just this week while working on a seemingly unrelated project.  Never miss an opportunity to connect, either the work you are doing, or the work of your contacts to each other.  Be a connector and you will create a reputation for yourself as someone to know.

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