You're navigating community funding challenges. How can you ensure sustainability amidst evolving needs?

I stongly belive that coomunity organizing is fundamental since there is a sense of deep understanding of the community needs, priorities and constrains. Understand the community culture, values and norms, helps one appreciate their respected structures of governance, norms and values. Community organizing enables you to identify natural leaders, advocates and degenders of community public interests. Using the trusted gatekeepers, decision makers and influencers, you are able to negotiate time and space to share your agenda, allow community to engage, participate, own, sustain projects and resource mobilze in intrest of their benefits in a project. Change begins when Communities understand the importance and benefits of an intervention

The non-profit sector is accustomed to change. Today change happens at a much faster pace and the consequences are more profound. Emphasizing the need for funds that provide use when and where needed most flexibility empowers organizations to respond to unanticipated needs. Endowments are also an enormous source of strength providing funding streams in perpetuity to sustain programs and priorities. A final and compelling strength is showcasing the non-profit’s effectiveness and ability to consistently demonstrate return on the philanthropic investment so it can reach out to community stakeholders from a position of strength with appeals to support programs and services that respond to new challenges and opportunities in the community.

Community organizing is the core aspect of baseline survey that informs the basis upon which the success of community development stands. When you understand the in-depth needs of the community from strategic engagements with its inhabitants, you become a part of the cog in the wheel of change that eventually contributes to its improvement. Community organizing is the key to understanding the journey of humanity.

I have found it useful to use models which bring in different sectors to address an issue or problem in a given community. Resources are needed to enable scale and impact. Through public private partnerships, funding pools are diversified to enable frontline organizations advocate for a better society and inclusive economy.

Diversify revenue is important, and I would suggest evaluating your mission to make sure what you are funding is mission focused. Sometimes, especially in tight funding climates we have to cut the fat.