Building Powerful Community Organizations:
A Personal Guide to Creating Groups That Can Solve Problems and Change the WorldBy Michael Jacoby Brown
Long Haul Press, forthcoming 2006
Table
of Contents
BUILDING POWERFUL COMMUNITY
ORGANIZATIONS
For Minnie Jacoby
Acknowledgments
About the Exercises
Introduction (click to
read)
SECTION I: THE INSIDE STORY
Towards a Definition of a Community
Organization
Chapter One
What Is Community Organizing, Anyway?
Community Organizing: Power,
Self-Interest, and Relationships
The Theory Behind Community
Organizing
The Group Provides a Sense of
Community
Who Does It?
The Organizing Alchemy: A Look At
How It All Works
Chapter Two
Step by Step – Building a Community Organization
The Basic Steps of Building a
Community Organization
Getting Started
Chapter Three
Developing a Mission, Goals, and Objectives
Mission Statements
Goals and Objectives
Chapter Four
Structure: How to Build Your Organization to Last
Structure Matters
Key Elements of Structure
Members
Values and Group Norms
SECTION II: POWER MEANS
MOBILIZING YOUR RESOURCES
Chapter Five
Developing Power: Why Recruit?
The Reason We Organize is to
Develop Power
Why Recruit People to Your
Organization?
Who Should You Recruit?
Why People Join Organizations
The Point is to Build Relationships
Chapter Six
How to Recruit: The Nuts and Bolts
Listen. Don’t Sell
Method One: Short Visits, or
“Door-knocking”
Method Two: Longer Visits – The
One-on-One
Recruiting for a Task
Recruiting to Build a Democratic
Organization: It Takes More Than Learning a Rap
Success Breeds Success
Chapter Seven
The Way to Develop Power Is to Develop Leaders
What Do Leaders Do?
Leaders and Self-Interest
Opportunities for Middle-Class
Activists
How to Develop Leaders
The Iron Rule of Organizing
“Never Do for People What They Can
Do for Themselves”
More On the Iron Rule: Don’t Suck
Up All the Responsibility
Chapter Eight
Mobilizing Resources: Meetings
Guidelines for Meetings
Meeting Facilitation
Chapter Nine
Mobilizing Resources: Raising Money
Members and Money
Effective Organizations Organize
Money Effectively
Asking People for Money
What About Grants?
SECTION III: MAKING CHANGE
Chapter Ten
Organizing: Pathway to Change
Organizing as a Strategy
Organizing Strategy: The Nuts and
Bolts
Other Strategies for Improving the
World
Assumptions, Effectiveness, and
Values of the Strategies
Real-World Complexities of the
Different Strategies
For Service Organizations That Want
to Move Beyond Service
The Minnie Test
Chapter Eleven
Taking Action, Solving Problems, Getting Results
(click to read)
Actions: Setting Change In Motion
Actions Cause Tension; Tension
Leads to Change
Tips for Making Actions Work
Information Is a Cornerstone of
Action
Action and Learning
Putting It All Together –
From Organizing to Action to Evaluation
Chapter Twelve
Building Community
Organizations Are a Two-Way Street
Organizing and Mutual Assistance
Powerful Organizations Exercise
Heart and Muscle
SECTION IV: OUR FUTURE
Chapter Thirteen
Where Do We Go From Here?
Looking Outward and Forward
The Impact of Community
Organizations
New Technologies, New Approaches,
New Opportunities
Coming Full Circle: It Takes an
Organization to Raise a Village
After Word: Your Turn
Community Organizing: A
Very Annotated Bibliography
Recommended Reading:
Other Resources
Appendix: How to Get
Tax-Exempt Status
Index
About the Author
FEEDBACK FORMS
Adding Your Story
Quick Book Order Form
Table of Exercises
SECTION I: THE INSIDE STORY
Chapter One
What Is Community Organizing, Anyway?
Chapter Two
Step by Step – Building a Community Organization
Personal Reflection: Vision Exercise
Finding the Stories that Guide You
Looking Into Yourself Is the First
Step of a Good Leader
Finding Your Core Beliefs
Building Your Core Group
Chapter Three
Developing a Mission, Goals, and Objectives
Group Exercise: Crafting a Mission Statement
Chapter Four
Structure: How to Build Your Organization to Last
Finding Your Structure
Finding Your Structure,
Part 1
Finding Your Structure,
Part 2
Finding Your Structure,
Part 3
Finding Your Structure,
Part 4
Finding Your Structure,
Part 5
Finding Your Structure,
Part 6
SECTION II: POWER MEANS
MOBILIZING YOUR RESOURCES
Chapter Five
Developing Power: Why Recruit?
Why Recruit?
Personal Reasons for Recruiting
What Led You to Join?
What’s In It for You?
Chapter Six
How to Recruit: The Nuts and Bolts
How to Plan a Visit
Dividing Tasks
Chapter Seven
The Way to Develop Power Is to Develop Leaders
Creating a Leadership Development
Plan for Someone In Your Organization
Questions for the Iron Rule: Look
Inside Yourself
Mobilizing Resources: Meetings
Chapter Nine
Mobilizing Resources: Raising Money
Getting Over Your Hang-Up About
Asking People for Money
SECTION III: MAKING CHANGE
Chapter Ten
Organizing: Pathway to Change
Personal Reflection on Service and
Organizing
Identifying Real Help
Chapter Eleven
Taking Action, Solving Problems, Getting Results
Information as a Source of Power
Chapter Twelve
Building Community
Group Exercise: Fostering a Group that Meets Its
Members’ Needs
Table
of Case Studies
Starting an Organization
that Makes a Difference
Crafting Your Goals,
Objectives, and Measures
Critique of a Group’s Goals
and Objectives
The “Structureless”
Coalition
Relationships Keep Groups
Together
Harvard Union of Technical
and Clerical Workers
Dividing Up Tasks So
Everyone Can Contribute
Using Role Play and
Critique to Practice Recruiting
Self-Interest at Work in
Leadership Development
The Archaeology of
Organizing:
Digging for Stories, Meaning, and Motivation
One List of Agreements
Next Step – Knocking On
Doors
Moving Beyond the Doughnuts
The Tutoring Project
From the Ground Up –
Building An Organization to Solve a Shared Problem
Table
of Quick Tips
How to Run a Focus Group
Sample Sponsoring Committee
Agreement Letter
How to Coach for Participation
–
Working Across Class, Education, or Experience Backgrounds
The Secret to Recruitment
Membership Cards for New
Recruits
A Flyer to Leave Behind
Bring Your Notebook
Use Your Judgment About Time
Eating and the One-on-One
A Simple 3 x 5 Card System
Works Well
Follow-Up: Using Your Notes to
Strengthen Relationships
Summary of How to Do a
One-on-One Recruiting Visit
Humor Helps
Goals
Physical Layout
Using Ground Rules to Guide
Effective Meetings
Your Rules Are Better Than
Robert’s
How To Get People There:
Provide Good Directions
A Toolkit for Organizers
Three Steps for Facilitating
Discussion at a Meeting*
How to Build or Destroy an
Organization through Meetings
Things to Remember for
Successful Fundraising
Guidelines for Asking People
for Money
Checklist for Evaluating an
Action |
