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PUBLICATIONS - Community Planning Resource Guide 2002 (3) Online Resources |
Introduction | (1) Book Reviews | (2) Print and Video Resources | (3) Online Resources | (4) Partnership Experiences
3 Online Resources for Community Planning (Click here for the 7 page pdf file)
This section of the guide contains references to resources found on the Internet under these headings: Community Assessment, Partnerships, and Community Building. New to the online section this year are links to resources on strategic planning. These contain information on planning community assessments, data collection methods, community indicators, survey instruments, and assets mapping. At the end of this section you will find links to Massachusetts community profiles and sites that contain statistical information on Massachusetts cities and towns.
Adult Education
at Work [http://slincs.coe.utk.edu/pdf/adulted.pdf]
This 154-page monograph describes an assessment process for agencies interested
in starting up workplace education programs. Chapters include: Know your Program,
Know your Community, Know your Workplace, Know your Resources, Know your Plan
and Know your Progress and your Results. Contains information, activities (practical
tools and exercises), and sample survey forms to help get you started in preparing
your own community surveys.
The Alliance for Nonprofit Management is the professional association of individuals and organizations devoted to improving the management and governance capacity of nonprofits — to assist nonprofits in fulfilling their mission. [http://www.allianceonline.org/]
You will find many of your questions about strategic planning and answers to those questions at this FAQ section of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management website. FAQs include “What do I need to know before I start the planning process?” and “What are the individual roles in a planning process?”. [http://www.allianceonline.org/FAQ/strategic_planning/]
Asset Based
Community Development (ABCD) Institute [http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/abcd/abcdbackground.html]
John Kretzmann and John McKnight, authors of Building Communities from the Inside
Out, are the founders of The Asset Based Community Development Institute. This
site is a good introduction to their work in asset-based community development
and includes stories from organizations that have followed this approach to
community development as well as materials written by Kretzmann and McKnight.
Building
Communities Together, A strategic planning guide. [http://www.hud.gov/nofa/ez/stratpln.pdf]
The full text of this 85 page book is online. This Guide sets forth sound principles
and alternative ways to approach the process of strategic planning. Chapter
titles include Understanding the Basics of Strategic Planning and Getting Down
to Business—Designing the Strategic Plan. The Guide is a product of the
Empowerment Zone/ Enterprise Community EZ/EC Initiative of the U.S. Dept.
of Housing and Urban Development [http://www.hud.gov]
The Changes
Project. SABES [http://www.sabeswest.org/publications/oeri/changes1.htm]
From 1997 - 1999, more than 30 adult learners from five Adult Basic Education
programs in western Massachusetts conducted a participatory action research
project. This project focused on the impact of welfare reform, immigration reform
and the changing nature of work on 620 of their fellow adult learners at five
program sites: Center for New Americans, International Language Institute, Mentor
Program, Read/Write/Now, and UMass Labor Management Workplace Education Program.
The final report details not only the findings of the research and recommendations
made by the researchers, but also describes in detail the process by which the
research was conducted and lists the survey and focus group instruments used
in the research. Contact Michele Sedor at the SABES West office at (413) 552-2442
for a copy of this report in print format.
Civic Practices
Network [http://www.cpn.org/]
Civic Practices Network contains case studies, essays, and guides on democracy
building in communities. It is possible to search this site for programs by
state and by organization. You can also search for information by these topics:
community, health, youth and education, community networking, work and empowerment,
religion, families/gender, journalism and the environment. Under CPN Tools you
can find Planning Community-wide Study Circle Programs: A Step-by-Step Guide,
The Electronic Forum Handbook: Study Circles in Cyberspace, and other community
building guides. Under Civic Maps, you will find the Healthy Boston Evaluation:
Final Report and other reports on Massachusetts’s communities.
Commonwealth
Communities. [http://www.state.ma.us/cc]
You can find information on the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts. Contains
information and links to information on 'public school and community profiles,
summaries of municipal finances, state legislators, regional offices for a variety
of state agencies, and more. Also included are links to official city/town and
public school websites, and other community sites that provide substantial civic
information.'
COMM-ORG (Community
Organizing) [http://comm-org.utoledo.edu/]
This site includes working papers, book reviews, links to internet sites and
directions on how to join a listserv on community organizing. One section of
the website is devoted to community planning issues.
Communitybuilders.nsw
[http://communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au/]
This site is a clearinghouse of information on community building. The section
on identifying community strengths and needs under "Understanding Your Community"
contains tools and templates for creating community profiles. Includes sample
surveys and links to full text guides on community indicators and two interactive
online survey development sites.
Community Building Resource Exchange [http://www.commbuild.org/]
This site includes up-to-date resources on community building in areas such
as children and family services, evaluation and public policy.
Community Partners,
Inc. [http://www.compartners.org/]
Community Partners,
Inc. online resources include a list of coalition building tip sheets for programs
interested in developing and sustaining community-based partnerships. The tip
sheets offer advice for groups at different stages of the coalition building
process, including the principles of coalition success, start-up, planning,
stages of development in community coalitions, sustainability and evaluation
of coalitions, barriers to coalition-building and the 'care and feeding of coalition
leaders.' AHEC/Community Partners' website also contains The Healthy Communities
Directory, which describes the work of 71 community coalitions across Massachusetts.
Community
Partnerships for Adult Learning, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, USDOE,
[http://www.c-pal.net/index.html]
This website is designed to provide information, announcements and new resources
to foster successful community partnerships. It includes “how to guides”,
and links to reports, journals and websites. Holyoke JUNTOS will be featured,
among 12 model partnerships nationally, under Partnership Profiles.
Community Toolbox
[http://ctb.lsi.ukans.edu]
The Community Toolbox is a comprehensive guide to community planning and development
prepared by the University of Kansas Work Group on Health Promotion and Community
Development. In its over 5,000 pages, the Community Toolbox offers advice in
sections on community assessment, promoting interest and participation, developing
a strategic plan, leadership, implementing promising community interventions,
generating and managing resources for the initiative and many more.
Community Tool Box: Part D. Chapters 8-12 [http://ctb.ukans.edu/tools/en/tools_toc.htm#partD]
This area of the toolbox focuses on strategic planning. Sections include an overview of strategic planning, creating objectives, and developing an action plan. The strategies, techniques, and case studies are for and about communities and coalitions.
Coping with
Growth: Community Needs Assessment Techniques [http://extension.usu.edu/WRDC/resources/coping/wrep44.htm]
This introduction to community needs assessment provides background information
on the purposes for conducting a community needs assessment; guidelines for
determining which techniques are most appropriate; and a brief description of
13 different needs assessment techniques, including the advantages of each method
and a list of references to which the reader can go for further information.
Education
Leadership Tool Kit [http://www.nsba.org/sbot/toolkit]
This website, a project of the National School Boards Foundation, includes tips
and pointers on strategic planning and information regarding leadership that
can be valuable to a community planning coordinator.
Empowerment
Evaluation [http://www.stanford.edu/~davidf/empowermentevaluation.html]
Interesting links related to participatory and empowerment-oriented evaluation
practice are added to this site regularly. The site offers links to full-text
online guides that can help practitioners plan and carry out evaluations in
their partnerships and programs.
Free Management
Library [http://www.mapnp.org/library/]
Hosted by the Management Assistance Program, this is a complete, highly integrated
library for nonprofits and for-profits that covers 72 popular categories of
topics. Of special interest is the extensive section on strategic planning.
The information on all phases of strategic planning is concise and many entries
are gateways to additional information.
Government
of Canada Publications, [http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/].
To locate specific documents for ordering or URL information you can search
the catalogue. Two documents of special interest are —
“Planning for Change” [http://dsp-psd.communication.gc.ca/Collection/EN1-35-3-2001E.pdf]
This document outlines steps and activities that partnerships can use in a strategic planning process. It also provides clear examples of goals, objectives, and mission and vision statements.
“The Partnership Handbook” [MP43-373-1-2000E.pdf] The objectives of this book are to help people learn more about what partnerships are and to offer suggestions about how to be effective in them. It provides tools and tips and outlines what is needed to move forward together.
Guide for Developing
Local Interagency Linkage Teams [http://literacy.kent.edu/CommonGood/Guide/index.html]
This is a guide written by Susan Imel to help practitioners develop effective
partnerships. This guide is found at the website entitled For the Common Good
[http://literacy.kent.edu/CommonGood/index.html]. The site also contains links
to internet sites, case studies, and abstracts to print materials on partnership-related
topics.
Leader
to Leader Institute (formerly the Drucker Foundation) [http://www.pfdf.org/]
Of special interest on this website is the access to Meeting the Collaboration
Challenge: Developing Strategic Alliances Between Nonprofit Organizations and
Businesses. [http://www.pfdf.org/collaboration/challenge/ordering-options.html]
The workbook, which can be read on line or downloaded, suggests planning your
work in four phases and includes worksheets to chart your course during each
phase.
Management
Alternatives, Paul Bullen [http://www.mapl.com.au/index.htm]
This is the website of an Australian management consultancy business that specializes
in work for the community based, non-profit organizations and government, especially
those providing human services. Of special relevancy to ABE Community Planning
is the material on planning, including strategic planning. Make sure that you
check out the gallery for graphic representations and animations of planning
strategies.
Mapping Community
Assets Workbook. Strengthening Community Education: the Basis for Sustainable
Renewal. [http://www.nwrel.org/ruraled/mapping.pdf]
This is a pdf version of a workbook by Diane Dorfman at the Northwest Regional
Educational Laboratory Rural Education Program designed to help individuals
identify their personal and community assets.
National
Adult Literacy Database of Canada, Partnership Manual, [http://www.nald.ca/clr/partner/contents.htm]
This section of the National Adult Literacy Database of Canada, while specifically
targeting family literacy, is a valuable resource for information about building
and maintaining partnerships. The objective of this manual is to establish a
context for community partnerships, in order to provide an understanding of
the benefits, issues, and challenges that are attached to forming partnerships.
It also contains practical, useful information on building community partnerships
from the ground up.
National Housing
Institute [http://www.nhi.org/]
The National Housing Institute offers a number of resources on its website.
Of potential interest to community planners in the Job and Resource Section
of this website is Where to Get Data for Neighborhood Planning, found
at http://www.nhi.org/resource/data.html. The NHI site also contains an online
book store and lists community development and coalition building websites.
National Network
for Collaboration [http://crs.uvm.edu/nnco/]
This site contains links to full-text resources and training programs on building
inter-agency partnerships. These include a web version of the Collaboration
CD-ROM Training Program Manual, and Evaluating Collaboratives: Reaching the
Potential.
Nonprofit Genie by the California Management Assistance Project, [http://search.genie.org/genie/ans_result.lasso?cat=Strategic+Planning] The Strategic Planning FAQs section covers the topic beginning with “Why Plan?” and includes information on mission statements, content of strategic plans and tips to ensure a successful planning process.
NRM Changelinks
[http://nrm.massey.ac.nz/changelinks/]
The Natural Resource Management site is an online resource guide for those seeking
to improve the use of collaborative and learning-based approaches.
Partnerships
Online [http://www.partnerships.org.uk/]
This website is for people interested in learning 'how to use the Internet to
build and benefit communities.' The website offers a theoretical framework to
participation, questions that help guide people through the process, and practical
suggestions.
Planning for
the Future: A Handbook on Community Visioning [http://www.ruralpa.org/]
Describes a community visioning process: defining and creating vision and elements
of successful visioning. Contains helpful case studies.
Preparing for
a Collaborative Community Assessment
[http://www.extension.iastate.edu/pubs/co1.htm]
Outlines strategies for conducting community assessments.
Public Involvement
Techniques for Transportation Decision Making [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/pittd/smlgroup.htm]
Contains brief descriptions of a variety of data gathering methods that involve
small groups of community members.
Putting the
Pieces Together: Comprehensive School-Linked Strategies for Children and Families
[http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/css/ppt/putting.htm]
Putting the Pieces Together describes strategies that schools and programs can
use to guide them in establishing and maintaining successful community partnerships.
SCN: Community
Building and Democracy [http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/SCN/CommLink/CBD.html]
While the focus of SCN: Community Building and Democracy is on environmental
issues, this site also contains useful tools and information on building partnerships,
visioning & implementation, and civic engagement for community planners.
See also: Sustainable Communities Network [http://www.sustainable.org/].
Strategic
Planning in Smaller Nonprofit Organizations, A Practical Guide for
the Process [http://www.wmich.edu/nonprofit/guide7.htm]
This short guide is designed to help board members and the staff of smaller
nonprofit organizations develop strategic plans that can help them strengthen
and sustain their organization's achievements. This guide was developed as part
of a Nonprofit Capacity Building Project funded by W.K. Kellogg Foundation Youth
Initiative Partnerships.
Strategic
Planning Manual, University of Wisconsin Extension [http://www.uwex.edu/li/learner/spmanual.pdf]
This Manual is a description of a model for strategic planning in Nonprofit
and Public Sector Organizations. The seven steps of this model include worksheets,
examples and the reasons for each step.
Study Circles
Resource Center
Building Strong Neighborhoods: A Study Circle Guide for Public Dialogue and
Community Problem Solving. Pomfret, CT: Topsfield Foundation.
[http://www.studycircles.org/pages/building.html]
This guide helps organizers use small-group, democratic discussions found in
study circles to help people address ways to strengthen their sense of community
and build better neighborhoods. This guide is also available in print format.
Contact the Study Circles Resource Center, 697 Pomfret Street, P.O. Box 203,
Pomfret, CT 06258; Tel: (860) 928-2616; Fax: (860) 928-3713.
University of
Massachusetts Boston. The Center for Women in Politics & Public Policy
[http://www.mccormack.umb.edu/cwppp/index.jsp
]
Connecting for Change: Results of the Mass Action for Women Audit (2001). You
can download the full text report (221 pages) of the results of a statewide
participatory action research project, which has produced fact sheets on the
status of women and girls in Massachusetts by region and by city and town. Describes
what women identified as their accomplishments in their communities, experiences
in trying to bring women from diverse groups together, gaps and concerns, actions
to be taken, and lists resource agencies.
U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development [http://www.hud.gov/comorg1.cfm]
Links to executive summaries of consolidated plans, maps, and contact info for a number of Massachusetts communities found on the HUD website at http://www.hud.gov/library/bookshelf18/plan/ma/massachu.html. Consolidated plans describe how each local government "is planning to use its Federal dollars to improve your community."
*SOURCES OF STATISTICAL INFORMATION
We would like to thank Alison Donta at Massachusetts Institute for Social and Economic Research and Marie Drew, a consultant for SABES, for information provided in this section.
American Factfinder [http://factfinder.census.gov/]
Census Bureau Home Page [http://www.census.gov/]
Census Bureau
Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates Page
[http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/saipe/stcty/estimate.html]
Census Lookup page for 1990 data [http://venus.census.gov/cdrom/lookup]
Economic Census Page [http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/econ97.html]
Local Government
Guide to the Internet.
[http://www.rural.org/lgg//lggurls.html]
Introduces you to online sources of statistical information. Specific topics
include people, place, economy and government. Describes how to interpret and
how to apply this information to initiate a community indicator project, create
maps or write a grant proposal.
Massachusetts Department of Education. Adult & Community Learning Services [http://www.doe.mass.edu/acls]
Massachusetts
Division of Local Services
At a Glance Reports for Mass Cities and Towns [http://www.state.ma.us/scripts/dls/databank/comp1.cgi]
Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Home Page [http://www.state.ma.us/dph/]
Massachusetts
Department of Transitional Assistance
[http://www.state.ma.us/dta/dtatoday/reform/index.htm]
Massachusetts Division of Employment and Training [http://www.detma.org/]
Massachusetts Family Literacy Consortium. [http://mflc.doe.mass.edu/]
MISER Home Page (Massachusetts Institute for Social and Economic Research). [http://www.umass.edu/miser/]