Putting the Community back in Community OrganizationBy Virginia Edelstein
I wonder sometimes if the not-for-profit sector has lost sight of the community’s role in our work. Some of us talk about community a great deal, but in the end, is it just lip service? Do we really see community as an integral part of our work? And do we take that realization and put community to work in achieving our missions? We, as a sector, owe a lot to our communities:
So if essentially everything we do is about community, should we be more intentional on the ways in which we involve community in our work? Community based research is an innovative way to engage community in what is often academic, ivory tower based research. But the idea shouldn’t begin and end with academia. When I think of community involvement, I don’t just see families handing out food at the soup kitchen or board members at the table. I see consultants participating in the evaluation of our programs. I see graphic designers creating our tri-fold brochures. I see accountants advising on financial reporting formats. Community can and should be involved in almost every aspect of our work. Sadly, I think most of the sector misses the opportunity to involve community in these ways, and continues to keep community at a safe distance from their operations, planning and more. As a side note, you’ll find that I have yet to use the word volunteer. And that was with purpose. Let’s remember that if we blithely think that our volunteers are the conduit of community to our organization, we are hurting only ourselves if we neglect to give those volunteers a real voice in our strategy or minimize their participation by only trusting them to paint fences and lick envelopes. Let’s make sure community doesn’t just have a role in what we do, but has a meaningful role in what we do. If we look at this topic from a different perspective, a recent publication of the The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation posits the theory that not only are we keeping community at arm’s length, but we’re engaging them in ways that are about us – our organizations and our organizations’ issues. When we do this, we forget the original purpose of the sector was to engage community about its issues and work with community to solve their problems, not ours. That nuanced turn of the lens still has me reeling, particularly as someone who prides herself on involving community in my work. It’s still MY work. Oops. And so as you read the articles within this Vantage Point issue focused on community based research, try to turn the lens on your organization and you. If academia can break down their ivory tower and involve community, can you do it, too? Virginia Edelstein is a Program Director at Volunteer Vancouver. An expert on community engagement in delivering mission and organizational development, her background includes a focus on marketing and fundraising in both the corporate and not-for-profit sectors. She has a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the Crummer Graduate School of Business in Florida. You can find her at http://www.linkedin.com/in/virginiaedelstein. About Volunteer VancouverThe mission of Volunteer Vancouver is to inspire & build leadership in the voluntary sector. This publication is intended to be a medium of communication and information for the many organizations active in the volunteer and not-for-profit sector. The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect official policy of the Board of Directors of Volunteer Vancouver. Volunteer Vancouver |
