Community Intermediaries
Community groups are some of your stakeholders, and they play a key role in identifying a broad range of additional stakeholders, including traditionally underrepresented groups. These community intermediaries can also assist in initiating and maintaining communication with stakeholders. Building relationships with community groups needs to happen early in the service planning process because it takes time to create effective working relationships with them.
Begin by creating a list of community groups you already work with. Inform them about your city’s service initiative and solicit their assistance in the planning process. Consider asking them any or all of the following questions:
- How can service and volunteering improve the issues your organization addresses?
- How can service and volunteering impact critical city needs?
- What other organizations and groups are concerned about or impacted by the problems facing our city?
Click here to download a form to help you through this process.
Identifying Intermediaries
Use the list below to start a community intermediaries brainstorming session. What formal and informal groups would be good community intermediaries?
Formal Groups
- Faith-based groups and congregations
- Nonprofits, for example, Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCAs, YWCAs, and senior centers
- Public and private schools and their PTAs
- Local colleges, universities, and trade schools
- Neighborhood associations, block captains, and community patrols
- Civic groups such as Rotary, Lions, and Junior League
- Membership associations like AARP
- Military/veteran groups
- Fraternities and sororities
- Unions
Informal Community Networks
- Beauty salons
- Barbershops
- Corner/grocery store
- Social Clubs
In addition, the following contacts can be helpful in identifying community intermediaries:
- Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) – a federal agency and the largest national funder of volunteering and service, with offices in each state. CNCS administers the AmeriCorps NCCC, AmeriCorps VISTA, and Senior Corps, which includes RSVP, Foster Grandparents, and Senior Companion programs.
- State Service Commissions are state government agencies, or in some cases nonprofits, that receive funds from CNCS and state governments to promote service and volunteering. They also receive CNCS grants to administer AmeriCorps programs in their states.
- State Education Agencies or State Departments of Education lead education efforts throughout the state and work with issues around public schools, adult literacy, etc. These agencies often administer the K-12 portion of CNCS’s Learn and Serve America grant program.
- AARP State Offices reach out to people 50 years old and above to improve their quality of life. Their Create the Good website includes service opportunities and do it yourself toolkits for creating good in your community.
- HandsOn Network is a network of the HandsOn Action Centers in more than 250 communities throughout the United States. Action Centers, also known as volunteer centers, are connected to a myriad of volunteer opportunities.
Building Relationships
Once you have created a list of community intermediaries, consider how you will build relationships with them.
- Ask your contacts to formally introduce you to them.
- Invite them to attend a meeting to introduce your city of service initiative and solicit their support.
- Host a conference call or webinar to introduce the initiative, and be sure you have a mechanism they can use to provide feedback and express support for the initiative.
- Host networking sessions that provide an opportunity to meet and greet informally. Have lots of materials available and staff members who can mingle and answer questions about the initiative.
Utilizing Community Intermediaries
Because community intermediaries have diverse knowledge and expertise, they may serve many different functions in the planning process.
- Assist with coordinating major aspects of the planning process
- Participate on committees, task forces, and other official advisory and/or decision-making bodies
- Participate in meetings, conferences, focus groups, and surveys
- Provide feedback on marketing materials, surveys, etc., prior to the information being distributed to stakeholders
- Make connections with stakeholder groups including underrepresented populations
- Distribute materials to or communicate with stakeholder groups on behalf of the service planning group
- Serve as issue area experts on the plan’s priority issues
Click here to download a form to help you through this process.
