Resources

The Center for Community Capacity Resource Center is meant to provide communities with tools and information to build capacity. Under each category there is a brief description of the purpose of the section and the tools provided. Many of the tools are in PDF format and you will need acrobat reader to access them.

The CCC provides various trainings, and summaries are available in the resource center. If your community group would like to receive one of these trainings please email us.

If you know of a great tool that is not provided in this section let us know so we can share it with other communities.

Resource Categories

Advocacy & Policy Advocacy and policy development are crucial to communities and are often difficult issues to tackle. It is important to understand how policies affect you and your community, and how they become policies in the first place. Communities must learn to be advocates.

Community Assessment Community Assessments can make you think, empower you, and help you to select and highlight community resources and skills. Communities that self-evaluate gain skills, feel empowered, and own the data that they collect.

Community Collaboration Collaborating with other people and groups can help communities influence the outcomes of a program. It is important to know who can help your community, who can hurt you, and who really holds the power. These skills will also assist you in getting funding, recruitment, leadership development, and making policy changes.

Community Involvement Improving involvement by ensuring real participation by the community will help to create measurable change for and by the community. It empowers individuals and the community as a whole. Participants should be diverse members of the community to make sure everyone is represented and involved.

Evaluation Evaluation can allow a community to see all of their accomplishments. Empowerment evaluation can teach the community new skills and give direction for future campaigns.

Funding Funding is essential to sustainable community programs and it can be obtained in many different ways; fundraising, contracts, or grants. It is important to use money wisely to ensure continued funding.

Leadership Developing leadership is necessary for community capacity because leaders create direction and structure in a community. It is necessary for organization and productivity. New leadership is important for building sustainability. Diversity in leadership, including formal and informal leaders, allows everyone from the community to get involved and have a voice.

Media Social marketing and media are important ways to tell your community about your issue or program. These tools can help with recruitment, advocacy, and creating a sense of community.

Sustainability The planning process is so important for a successful community program. The planning, implementation, and evaluation plans of a program will greatly affect the life of a program.