The 5 C’s of Community Organizing
So you want to organize something in your community?
Here are 5 things I have learned over the years that have helped me organize many successful events and activities in Winnipeg’s inner city - even though I am just one person and even though I usually had little or no budget. I have leaned on these ideals and in return have developed and watched successful campaigns, ideas and really fun or interesting events take on a life and spirit of their own. Good community organizing can plant the seeds of movements that help us affect systemic changes. These system changes re-direct people’s attention and resources to where we need them the most so that we can improve the well being, health and happiness of our relatives and community members. Finally, good community organizing has to be about more than simply identifying the problem - we have to find and nurture and grow and support the solution that we want to see.
The 5 C’s of Community Organizing
The 5 C’s of Community Organizing are here to help us with our next event or activity. Want to get a new group started? Host an event? Raise awareness? Do you have even more ambitious and revolutionary ideas than what you see around you? You might be a community organizer! And what I always say is that if we don’t see the solution we know we need around us - we may need to work with others to create it for ourselves. There is no one coming to save us, we have to do the work of educating, empowering and mobilizing folks to not accept the status quo ourselves. We must work with others to identify, support and push the ideas that we know will make things better in our neighbourhood and in our lives.
Clarity - the first point is clarity because we have to be clear about what our goal is and how people can get involved. You should be able to explain the purpose of your gathering clearly, in simple words, in a way that is understandable to others. I always try to make sure we have only 2 syllable words, avoid repetition and be as concise as possible. Be as accessible with your language as possible and never assume that people understand you; if you’re wondering about it, respectfully seek confirmation that they in fact understand.
Consistency - people love coming out to an event. But if you want to organize the community effectively, we need to gather with our neighbours and friends pro actively - before the bad thing happens. Schedule a monthly, weekly or semi regular time and day of the week and location that generally works for a large majority of your group. Adjust as necessary but try to maintain whatever regular schedule has been set by the group. Implied here is that we must be patient - don’t be discouraged if few, or no people show up to your events at first. Invite people to come, ask them why they didn’t come, make changes, have event again. Don’t stop until you get it right.
Creativity - Don’t be boring! No one wants to go to an event and sit like a bump on a log or be talked at, so make sure that in your planning for activities in your agenda, you leave room for people sharing their thoughts or ideas that pop up. Ask people questions, let people share, celebrate their participation. You don’t have to know everything that is gonna happen or do the same things everyone else is doing, you are free to be as original and creative as you want. The right people will show up. You go from there.
Compassion - the world is a mean place sometimes. We don’t have to participate or contribute to meanness and destructive comments and actions. Be empathetic to the people around you, be gentle and try as best as you can to bring understanding to others perspectives. IF you are working with all volunteers this is especially important because these folks are giving of their free time and energy and so we must understand when things come up, they are not able to do a task or something like that. If you have a trauma informed and mental health lens to your work, it is easier to be compassionate, understanding and respond appropriately to your team and community.
Coordination - When you first start organizing in the community you have to recognize one important thing: you are not the first person to try and help and no matter how original your idea is there are likely already people working on that topic. Connect with them. Build relationships with other people who are doing similair work, in this way you get to support their events and activities - this demonstrates to them how you would like to be treated when you host and organize things. Also, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel, if there are already awesome things going on in your community approach the organizers and ask if you can partner or at least attend. There should be no competition here, we all want our relatives to live a good life and have more opportunity - let’s work together.
I hope these 5 C’s have been helpful for young people and both experienced and new community organizer types alike. There is definitely nuance and small changes and adjustments that everyone will have to make to their plans - no two communities are alike and as such no two plans for organizing in communities will be alike. Time changes things, capacity changes things, context changes things. Most importantly, healthy relationships and clear communication are our best friends when doing something revolutionary in our neighbourhood. Many of you will say, “what if I don’t know what to do?” - neither did I when I started. That’s why it is so important for us to be curious, ask lots of questions and learn how to be a good helper to others who share your dreams or values. Good community organizing will result in a team of people that are committed to one idea and are willing to withstand all the changes and challenges the world throws at us to achieve our goal and keep committed, keep innovating and keep finding a way to move that mountain.
