Community Needs Assessment A successful service project Has realistic goals with measurable results Responds to community identified needs Incorporates the abilities of those served Recognizes the importance of all participants Uses available resources effectively Builds networks for future service projects

Community Needs Assessment Assessing your community. Take the time to learn about your communitys issues and the real community needs. Discover new opportunities for service projects and prevent the duplication of existing community assets. Make the best use of available resources so that you can adapt inexpensive options to fit communities

Community Assessment Tools 1.Community Survey 2.Asset Inventory 3.Community Mapping 4.Daily Activities Schedule 5.Community Café 6.Focus Group Assessing strengths and weaknesses is an important first step in effective planning. Some tools to use are: -

1 Community Survey Surveys can be very simple, targeting only a small group of community stakeholders, or quite complex, sampling large segments of a population Person to person, phone, mail or Internet May need to combine several delivery methods Start discussion with a purpose statement Keep short with easy to understand questions Best is one gathering point like a market Test your survey on a small group first Report - Happy – Unhappy – Neither

2. Asset Inventory An asset inventory is a technique for collecting information about a community through observation, similar to stocktaking. Involve several teams of community (2-4) people Teams walk or drive around their community Observing people, places, and things valuable The teams create a list and prioritize importance Then meet and discuss with the larger group Identify community assets the most important Discuss why these are the most important assets

3. Community Mapping Used to reveal peoples perspectives and use of a communitys resources. Can be adapted for participants of any age. Facilitators leads discussions. Involve people from the community In small groups draw a map of their community Mark their place of residence on the map Add places of importance; markets, schools Parks, health clinics, police stations, services, etc. Choose places they spend time or dont enjoy And places they think important Then the places they think are missing

4. Daily Activities Schedule Used to identify the daily routines of different people in your community. This will provide information when different groups are available to participate in a project. Involve people from the community They write down their schedule on a typical day Then in teams discuss similarities Each group to develop a generic schedule Bring groups together to discuss similarities Then what could be done to reduce workloads And what time is available or project involvement

5. Community Café A Community Cafe creates the fun atmosphere at which people from the community can get to discuss issues. It can be both an entertaining event and a unique way to learn about a community. Involve people from the community Meet for coffee at a Cafe or Restaurant Each table has a host or facilitator Guides the discussions on a particular topic Participants move from table to table after a time As each issue is discussed major ideas recorded Report the common ideas to the cafe maitre d Clubs can use these ideas to decide on projects

6. Focus Group A focus group is a carefully planned discussion, used to determine a communitys preferences and opinions on a particular issue or idea and how these issues should be addressed. Involve a group of 5-6 key community stakeholders Someone skilled at facilitating discussions Can be as a panel group at a club meeting Asked a series of carefully worded questions Focuses on different issues in the community More like a job interview than a debate Requires a Scribe to record responses

Resources and Support Douglas Hutchinson Chair Vocational and Services Phone: (06) Resources on Community Needs Assessment Tools can be found by visiting