Contents | 1. Essence | 2. Types | 3. Models | 4. Jargon | 5. Checklists | 6. Resources

5. Checklists

Planning services and projects

1. What is our vision for the future?

2. What is our role in bringing it about?

3. What values provide the foundations of the service or project?

4. What are we trying to achieve?

Who are the people who will benefit?
What are the benefits to them?

5. How will we achieve this?

6. How will we know we have done what we said we would?

7. How will we know we have made a difference for the people in the community?

The process

1. Have we included all the stakeholders in the planning process?

2. Have we used strategies that are consistent with our core values?

For example, if we believe in empowering people in the community, have we used strategies that have provided opportunities for people in the community to be empowered?

Planning with communities

Questions to ask when doing community development with communities:

1. What is the story of this community?

2. What are the core values of this community?

3. What is our vision for this community?

4. Who is in the community?

5. What are the needs of the people in the community? Who needs what?

6. Who are the relevant stakeholders? What are their needs? Wants? Expectations?

7. What has been happening in the wider society that has been impacting on this community?

8. What are the strengths of this community?

9. What are the resources of this community?

10. What are the weaknesses of this community?

11. What are the opportunities for this community?

12. What are the strategic choices for the development of this community? What are the possible ways of achieving the vision?

13. How can decisions about the future of this community be made? Who needs to be involved

14. How can we plan to bring our vision of the future into reality?

15. Evaluation - How will we know the direction we are moving is worthwhile?

Strategic plan outline for a small community organisation

1. What is our organisation's story?

2. What is our current vision? And purpose?

3. What do we believe in? What are we committed to?

4. What do we do at present?

5. What is the situation in which we find ourselves? What are the things that are impacting on us? What are our strengths? Weaknesses? What are the possibilities?

6. What are the major challenges we are facing?

7. What directions would we like to move in during the next few years? What are the major choices we have? Do we want to be 'this' kind of organisation or 'that' kind of organisation?

8. If we were to move in those directions what would we notice was different?

9. What do we need to do to move in those directions?

10. How will we do it?