By Steven Sundstrom, Regional Grants Officer
To succeed at community assessments, projects must accomplish the community’s goals (and not just your club’s).
Each year, Rotary members volunteer their time and expertise in service to the communities where they live, and to communities around the world. It would be an ambitious task to try and count every single service project we carry out as an organisation. However, we can see how contributions to The Rotary Foundation are spent. Last year, US$30 million was distributed to 485 Rotary districts through the annual district grant program, and these funds were then distributed to members in local clubs to carry out thousands of service projects.
The district grant program is far-reaching, but the crown jewel of The Rotary Foundation is the global grant. Rotary members deserve a pat on the back for everything that goes into a global grant application: forming partnerships, getting to know the community, fundraising for the project, writing proposals and so forth. In addition to that, the project still needs to be carried out, sometimes over multiple years.
Global grants are a big commitment – for the Rotary members who see them through, and a commitment between Rotary and the community. The Foundation has always required that local needs be central to planning a project, and in 2018 demonstration of community assessment results became a requirement.
Rotary members have been able to do this with great success, and last year The Rotary Foundation awarded US$82 million to fund 1,285 global grants. Of those, approximately US$6 million went toward scholarships, and US$75 million was put toward 1,127 humanitarian projects or vocational training team grants.
“You wouldn’t start a business without first researching the market,” wrote Maureen Vaught in the February 2021 issue of Rotary magazine (bit.ly/3Nzv1ZG).
The article drives home the point that a good project is designed on more than just infrastructure, and even beyond what the local leaders say. I encourage you to revisit the Do and Don’t list from this article, republished on the right.
Even while communities celebrate the value of Rotary’s involvement, the output and outcomes can fade away before too long. Projects that start off by involving the very community members who we hope to benefit are likely to see those community members sustain the outcomes into the future. In other words, to provide a community with a better tomorrow, we must get to know their present hopes and dreams. In many ways, the community assessment contains the ‘story’ of the application.
It often encapsulates the hard work the sponsors have done to submit the application, and also the story of the community itself, bringing forward the voices of various community members.
Over the following pages I would like to highlight some examples of the community assessments submitted as part of a global grant application.
DO
- Do be aware of the dynamics of the room during community meetings. Are local leaders the only people speaking? You may want to organise smaller focus groups to give everyone a chance to be heard.
- Do include more than just the physical assets in your assessment. Find out who has influence and expertise in the community. Who has the power to make decisions?
- Do connect with local and regional government officials to see what initiatives are already underway. You’ll avoid duplicating efforts and can work to complement what’s already going on.
- Do use a variety of methods. No one method works for every situation. A town hall is a good starting point, but you may want to include a survey or focus group to gather more information.
- Do build a relationship with the community before starting your assessment. People will be more open about their needs, strengths, and weaknesses when they trust you and share a bond with you.
- Do gather data from agencies and governments working in the region, says Martin Strutton, monitoring and evaluation coordinator for ShelterBox, a Rotary project partner. “Whatever information you receive, investigate to make sure it’s accurate,” he adds.
DON’T
- Don’t talk to just one or two people, or only meet with the local club. You can find a list of stakeholders for each area of focus in the Community Assessment Tools at Rotary.org.
- Don’t use a “check the box” wish list to find out what people need. If there is a menu of options, respondents are less likely to identify a need that isn’t on the list.
- Don’t treat the surface issues and ignore the root cause.
- Don’t cherry-pick data to validate your assumptions.
- Don’t use the assessment to justify the project you want to do.
- Don’t focus only on materials and infrastructure; include training and maintenance to ensure your project is sustainable.