Community Organizing Evaluation: Crossing the Next Frontier

American Evaluation Association 2008Sue Hoechstetter

Agenda

• Why Community Organizing Evaluation?

• Core Components

• Resources for Evaluating Community organizing (RECO)

Why Community Organizing Evaluation?

General Advocacy Evaluation:

Public Policy & Capacity Building Gains

• Long-term• Flexibility re: Outside Controls

• Influence

Why Community Organizing Evaluation?

Community Organizing Evaluation:

Work & Act Collectively

Greater Focus on Individuals and Groups:Leadership, Power, etc.

Why Community Organizing Evaluation?

• AFJ Advocacy Evaluation & Advocacy Capacity Assessment Tools Experience

• Resources Scattered – Wasting organizers’, evaluators’, funders’ time

• Resources for Evaluating Community Organizing (RECO) – online compendium

New Web Resources

A Living Library!!!

RECO: Community Organizing 7 Core Components

*Collective Power *Constituent Leadership & Power *Participation

*Wins *Meaningful Impact *Organizational Capacity *Reflection & Innovation

RECO: Development of Power

• Collective Power• Short-term and Long-term Power• Shared Power Indicators

– Getting meetings?– Mobilizing large numbers?– Getting support from powerful individuals?– Wins?

RECO: Constituent Leadership & Power

• Sense of Individual Empowerment• Progressive Leadership Levels

– Planning– organizing – Negotiating– etc.

RECO: Participation and Membership

• Identifying Goals• Deciding Strategies• Attending Trainings• Determining Changes in Plans• Becoming Board Members

RECO: Organizing “ Wins”• Most Commonly Evaluated• Public Policy, Corporate Decision, etc.• Incremental Gain can be a Win

– Lose campaign but win stronger organization– Get closer to goal

RECO: Meaningful Impact• Measurable Improvements in Lives• Can be Very Long-term• Determine Whom: Participants Only?

Whole Community?• Follow-up Decided Early

RECO: Organizational Capacity & Management

• Analyze Problems, Develop Strategies

• Staff, Board understand Organizing Role

• Connect to Organizing World

RECO: Ongoing Reflection & Innovation

• “Learn As You Go”• Planned Reflection• Celebration

RECO• Living Library• 7 Core Components Identified• Categories

– Theoretical approaches– Tools and methodologies– Case examples

RECO

http://www.afj.org/for-nonprofits-foundations/reco

RECO

Building Powerful Community Organizations: A Personal Guide to Creating Groups that Can Solve Problems and Change the World

Michael Jacoby Brown

Arlington, Massachusetts: Long Haul Press, 2006http://www.longhaulpress.com/Available for Purchase

Summary:  This resource includes a checklist for evaluating a community organizing action as well as describes one person's experience …

Detailed Description:

Core Organizing Components Emphasized: