Need

In each of our communities there are organizations and individuals joining together to collectively address a common issue or opportunity.  Their efforts go by many names, including alliance, coalition, collaborative, committee, commission, council, initiative, network, and workgroup.  Occasionally these groups are funded and have full or part-time staff.  But more often they have no funds and no staff and rely on the volunteer labor of their most active members, who typically have full-time positions elsewhere.  Yet, despite their limited means, oftentimes these collaborative efforts are the driving force behind positive change in their communities.

Response

We are piloting this initiative with New Jersey-based colleges and universities to build the capacity of  collaborative efforts to address poverty and related issues at the local and statewide level.  

Full-time NJ Community Networking Corps members will lead campus teams to provide logistical, communication, research, and fundraising assistance for existing and emerging collaborative efforts.  They will build capacity for collective impact by assisting with:

• consortium meetings logistics, including hosting policy forums;
• community-based research such as neighborhood or organizational surveys, data analysis, GIS mapping, oral histories, program assessments, 
• policy & funding research to inform collaborative decision-making and grantwriting for new initiatives of the collaborative;
• on-going communication among collaborative partners;
• website and social media development to promote the collaborations efforts;
• volunteer recruitment and coordination for new collaborative programs; and,
• networking with other collaboratives locally, statewide, and nationally.

Community Networking Teams (Students)

One of the keys goals of the 2012-13 year is to pilot student-led Community Networking Teams that will complement the existing Site- or Issue-Based Teams from our participating New Jersey Bonner Network which mobilize hundreds of students in sustained, weekly direct service engagement with local non-profit agencies.  

Our group of full-time Community Networking Corps members will manage these student teams in coordination with the relevant staff and faculty advisors recruited by the campus service-learning or civic engagement center.  Since we will be recruiting students from the pool of junior and senior Bonner Scholars and Leaders, the Community Networking Teams will be led by student leaders who have extensive direct service experience in the programs and neighborhoods related to the issues the collaboratives will be addressing. 

However, we recognize that these students will need extensive trainng and support in a range of skill areas, including: 

• managing public and consortium meetings; 
• public speaking and small group facilitation;
• policy and community-based research; 
• fundraising research and writing; and,
• using social media and other web-based networking tools.

Community Network Corps Members (VISTAs)

Our Community Networking Corps members will be based at participating campuses in Camden, Trenton, New Brunswick, and Newark.  These full-time members will be brought together regularly by the Bonner Foundation and the statewide coordinator of the NJ Community Networking Corps for training and networking among themselves.  

At the local level, the Community Networking Corps members will be responsible for:

1) Mapping Local Community Organizations and Collaboratives

We need to build a comprehensive directory of local organizations and then map the existing collaborative networks.  Some of these local networks will have a specific issue focus, while others will have a geographic or more general purpose.  

2) Provide Support to Select Local Collaboratives

The Community Networking Corps members will work with their local campus supervisors to identify existing or emerging local collaborative networks with whom to partner.  A number of these partnerships have already formed (see above).  However, we will be identifying additional collaboratives with whom to partner the coming year, with a major effort to be undertaken this summer and fall semester.

The full-time corps members along with the student Community Networking Teams on each campus will be available to provide support requested by the collaboratives in a range of areas, including:

• consortium meetings logistics, including hosting policy forums by:
• managing invitations
• finding space
• taking meeting minutes
• follow-up mailings

• community-based research such as: 
• neighborhood or organizational surveys
• data analysis
• GIS mapping
• oral histories
• program assessments
• on-going data collection for progress reports and other performance tracking.

• policy & funding research to inform collaborative decision-making and grantwriting for new initiatives of the collaborative, including:
•  issue briefs with past and current policies and featuring proposed policy options
•  funding opportunities
•  current studies or evaluations
•  model program profiles
•  sources of current data on the scope of the problem, future trends
•  organizations
•  regulations
•  legislation
•  local, state, and national conferences, workshops, and other related meetings

• on-going communication among collaborative partners
•  establishing a Google group email list;
•  Google docs or Dropbox for document sharing;
•  compiling and distributing progress and other reports to collaborative partners.

• website and social media development to promote the collaborations efforts, including helping develop and manage:
• website for collaborative to promote awareness and participation of others;
• Facebook group
• Twitter feed
• Google+
• blog
• webinars or other forms of online dialogue
• other tools that may prove useful as they are developed

• volunteer recruitment and coordination for new collaborative programs, including:
• students from local colleges, universities, and where appropriate high schools 
• skill-based volunteers that meet specific requirements for new programs
• establishing an effective volunteer management platform for the collaborative

• networking with other collaboratives locally, statewide, and nationally:
•  identifying other individual organizations and collaboratives whose work relates to the local collaborative
•  networking the networks by serving as a hub initially and supporting further collaboration across groups where possible.

3) Maintain PolicyOptions.org

Each Community Networking Corps member will digest news items into the PolicyOptions.org website on a daily basis, as assigned by the director and coordinator of the NJ Community Networking Corps.  Every member will work with students on their campus to cover local news.  For state and national coverage will divide the issues among the corps members and other volunteers.

In addition, in each community we will establish a moderated, citywide email list accessible from PolicyOptions.org and other websites to provide a common communication channel at the local level among active individuals from non-profit, government, business, and educational institutions.  This will be modeled on the successful ConnectRichmond email listserv that links more than 3,500 people in the greater Richmond, Virginia area.

Contact to learn more:

• Robert Hackett, President, Bonner Foundation (rhackett@bonner.org or 609-924-6663)
• Kamran Hakiman, Statewide Coordinator, NJ Community Networking Corps  (kamran@bonner.org or 609-924-6663)