Empowering Your Community, Stage 3: Goal Setting
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Based on the previous stages of action (Initiation and Organization of Sponsorship) organized community residents are now ready to move forward in the formulation of action plans (Wilkinson, 2023; Olson & Brennan, 2018; Berardi & Brennan, 2020). In this stage, Goal Setting and Strategy Formulation, the group develops a common vision and establishes measurable means for achieving this vision. Such plans and action transcend the individual self-interest of participants, as well as those of the groups or organizations that they represent. The goal setting and strategy formulation process reflects the tangible and measurable general needs of the entire locality.
The Goal Setting and Strategy Formulation Process
The formulation of goals and strategies is vital to the development of effective action and community development efforts (Wilkinson, 2023; Olson & Brennan, 2018). To begin this process, the forces shaping the community must be identified. Residents take this time to identify what resources exist within the community and how to mobilize them, as well as what deficiencies and needs the community would benefit from addressing (Matarrita-Cascante et al., 2020). Asset mapping highlights the unique local conditions present (community skills or niche markets) and building interdependences and ways residents can share their talents. A needs assessment highlights challenges the community is facing such as the need for improved infrastructure, service opportunities, housing, or jobs.
A combination of goals/objectives that include both needs and assets is often effective when including community residents provides for a co-designed and co-produced set of goals (Matarrita-Cascante et al., 2020). This process shows the obstacles facing communities, but also the unique capacity that local people have for overcoming these challenges. By having a needs assessment and asset map and then ranking information from the two, in order of importance and potential for achieving change, local groups can develop a vision and action agenda. This vision will serve as the general focus for action and community development efforts.
Building Goal Setting & Strategy Formulation into Extension
Extension professionals or agents of change can help residents identify key issues, evaluate community assets, and aid in the development of action agendas by community residents. Useful steps can include:
1. Identification of Issues, Needs, and Assets
By bringing together the residents identified in Step 1 (Initiation) and Step 2 (Organization of Sponsorship), a broad-based representation of the community is in place. This group should be able to speak to the wide range of needs, issues, and assets present in the community. Participants can be asked to list these, and then the overall group can discuss and rank the list in terms of importance, as well as the feasibility of successfully achieving change. This process of assessing local conditions, can take place in individual meetings or over the course of several sessions, depending on the complexity or scope of conditions facing the community. At the end of these sessions, participants will have an agreed-upon vision of what the community should look like.
2. Establishing Priorities and Organizing Participants
Based on the issues and assets identified, residents can begin to develop plans to achieve community change. Once a rating and prioritization of issues and assets has taken place, specific measurable and achievable goals should be established. In practice, most action efforts will contain more than one area of focus. To adequately address these multiple areas and to establish goals for achieving change for each, it is useful to form subgroups or committees. Membership on these groups can be on a volunteer basis or members can be appointed based on their specific skills, experiences, or other characteristics (these can be documented through asset mapping and other activities).
Subgroups can serve as collectors of local data on a particular issue (scope of problems, changes in populations, number of people impacted, community resources available to meet needs). While these subgroups operate individually, it is essential that they be directly linked to the mission of the overall group and the goal of community development. The goal of these subgroups should be to compile usable and manageable data that can give insight into areas for local grassroots action.
3. Review of Data and Other Relevant Resources
Using the data compiled by the subgroups, a detailed overview of the factors shaping a particular community issue can be developed. This data and findings can be presented to the overall group to discuss potential scenarios to achieve change. As the overall group is a diverse group of community residents, they may bring unique and non-traditional options for development to the table, which in other settings might not be heard. Included in this process can be the introduction of Extension and other subject matter experts to present programs and curriculum that have been useful in similar situations.
4. Visioning, Goals, and Strategy Formulation
With solid data in hand and a clear understanding of the issues, each subgroup can then develop their own vision statements, goals, and clearly defined strategies for addressing their goals. Community and group/subgroup leaders play a key role in developing these items through their experience in proposing procedures, setting standards, and sharing knowledge to accomplish mutually agreed upon strategies (Lamm et al., 2017). These items are defined as:
- Vision statements: long-range descriptions of the community and what local people want it to be.
- Goals: clearly defined and measurable, including milestones and logically attainable achievements.
- Strategies: special projects, step-by-step methods for achieving goals, plans for mobilizing resources, and plans for drawing cross-community support.
5. Presentation of Goals and Strategies to Organizing Groups
Following the formulation of ideas for subgroup visions, goals, and strategies, a need exists for these to be presented to the larger group for feedback and constructive contributions from others. This allows for adjustments and improvements to the original plans. Depending on the group, this can take considerable time and it may be effective to distribute discussions of goals and objectives over more than one meeting. It may also be useful to elicit comments and responses through e-mail, fax, and other flexible means. The key to remember is that the more feedback that can be provided, the better the plans for action will be.
Conclusion
The organization of goals, visions, and strategies for change are vital to the long-term success of local community development and action efforts (Wilkinson, 2023; Matarrita-Cascante et al., 2020; Berardi & Brennan 2020). While plans for action can change over time, it is essential that, from the beginning, they be reflective of, and guided by, community needs and capacities. This allows more holistic plans of action to be developed and implemented. The Goal Setting and Strategy Formulation stage is essential in that it provides a clearly defined strategy for enhancing community well-being. This vision and strategy stage creates a solid basis for the next stage, Recruitment, which provides active local citizens with a framework for involvement in efforts to improve local well-being.
References and Useful Reading
Berardi, M. K., & Brennan, M. (2020). Importance of Local Community Action in Shaping Development. Penn State Extension.
Lamm, K. W., Carter, H., Lamm, A., & Lindsay, A. (2017). Community Leadership: A Theory-Based Model. Journal of Leadership Education, 16(3), 118–133.
Olson, B. & Brennan, M. (2018). From Community Engagement to Community Emergence: The Holistic Program Design Approach. International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement. 5(1): 5-19.Â
Matarrita-Cascante, D., Lee, J. H., & Nam, J. W. (2020). What elements should be present in any community development initiative? Distinguishing community development from local development. Local Development & Society, 1(2), 95–115.
 Wilkinson, K.P. (2023). The Community in Rural America. Denver, CO: University of Colorado Press.
