Measuring Community Needs and Capacities

From NCCS Wiki

Many researchers and policymakers have sought to better understand community resources in relation to community needs. Nonprofit organizations are one key type of resource. In the human service field, for example, one might compare spending by human service nonprofit organizations and government agencies in a county with indicators of need such as the number of children, adults, and elderly living in poverty; the number of unemployed; and the number people with disabilities. There are a number of resources available for learning more about the needs of your community.

• *NCCS Geographic Search* lets users select a state, county, metropolitan area, or zipcode and view basic demographics and nonprofit information on the area.
• Community Capacity: Key Concepts: Click on this link to learn more about how researchers think about assessing community needs and capabilities.
• United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg (VA) has a useful framework for Indicators of Community Strength.
• Community Tool Box - "Our goal is to support your work in promoting community health and development...The Tool Box provides over 7,000 pages of practical skill-building information on over 250 different topics."

Contents 1 Some Key Questions 2 Selected Resources 3 Understanding Your Neighborhood 4 Expanding the Circle: Domestic and International Needs 5 KnowledgeBase 6 Community Data

[edit] Some Key Questions

• How can one go about measuring the health of a community? It's needs?
• What is the magnitude of need in the community? How can you categorize the different types of needs?
• What resources are available in the community? Through nonprofit organizations (including congregations)? Government? Schools (public and private)?

[edit] Selected Resources

• Kretzman and McKnight, Mapping Community Capacity
• Bob Putnam - Bowling Alone, Saguaro Seminar, and much more
• Chapin Hall Center for Children at the Univ. of Chicago - Comprehensive Community Development Strategies - http://www.chapinhall.org/category_editor.aspx?L2=63

[edit] Understanding Your Neighborhood

• Community-Building: Learn More or Get Started - Resource List
• NCCS Community Inventory (prototype)
• Neighborhood Assets
• Neighborhood Needs
• Neighborhood Potential
• Collaborate Online

[edit] Expanding the Circle: Domestic and International Needs

Do you feel that your efforts are better spent outside your neighborhood helping to address other or broader issues? Here are some resources to help you think about what you can do.

• National Needs
• International Needs
• Needs of Children and Youth
• Needs of Older People
• Needs of the Disabled
• Global Warming and Climate Change

[edit] KnowledgeBase

• Leadership Skills: Team-Building
• Leadership Skills: Project Management
• Collaborating with Other Organizations
• Model Programs: Community-Building
• Model Programs: Serving Youth
• Model Programs: Serving the Elderly

[edit] Community Data

• Non-IRS Data Sources
• Policy Map
• U.S. Census Bureau - American Fact Finder provides access to numerous statistics from the U.S. Decennial Census and updated Census Bureau survey data.
• The Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health, a project of CAHMI (Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources.
• http://zipskinny.com - A simple tool oriented around display of zipcode-level demographics in comparison to the zipcode's state and the U.S.
• State property tax records
  • Washington, DC: https://www.taxpayerservicecenter.com/RP_Search.jsp?search_type=Assessment
• Local statistical databases and mapping tools
  • Washington, DC: http://www.neighborhoodinfodc.org/index.html