Community Needs Discovery
This entry was posted on 2/14/2008 12:22 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
So you are starting a new Giving Circle and exploring needs for the first time in your community or are part of an existing Giving Circle and are exploring new needs to include in the Circle's issue scope. This is an exciting point in the development and growth of a Giving Circle.
How exactly do you identify the needs in your community? Is there a "Needs Discovery Process"? Who do you talk with, what do you read and where do you start?If you are in a Giving Circle focused on giving internationally, how do you explore the needs overseas and how do you determine the region and the specific community to which you will give?
Here are some examples:
- The San Diego Women's Foundation actually sets up a community needs "Discovery Team" which is charged with "...investigating current community needs in the topic area for the following year's grant cycle". This Team explores the needs, fleshes out the areas of greatest concern, and then narrowly focuses on the issues that the Giving Circle will fund. The Team then informs the grants process with the grant criteria and guidelines to be used.
- Washington Womenade has a member of their Circle who is directly connected on a professional basis to the homeless in their community. This member is able to provide direct and specific feedback to the Circle on unmet or emergency needs, which the Giving Circle then funds. They do not go through a formal grant process (and do not seek any tax deductions so minimize paperwork), but rather directly give where the need is greatest by paying directly for items such as utility bills, rent, and doctor bills to ensure that people are not displaced or -- if they are homeless -- that they find shelter, food and medical attention.
- The Global Sojourns Giving Circle has members who have worked internationally for many years in a given region -- Sub Saharan Africa. Through their members, they bring experience and knowledge about the needs in a specific geographic area. They further supplement their own expertise and vetting process with that of their host, The Clarence Foundation, through which they work to engage in the international granting process.
Let us know how your Circle identifies needs, so that others -- who are doing this for the first time or who are exploring better ways of meeting local needs -- can learn from experience. Many thanks for your input!
