Paperback: 424 pages
Publisher: Long Haul Press; 23921st edition (January 15, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0977151808
ISBN-13: 978-0977151806
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #231,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #49 in Books > Business & Money > Job Hunting & Careers > Volunteer Work #75 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Reference #121 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Philanthropy & Charity
Author Michael Jacoby Brown has created a book with very detailed information on how to organize, create, and lead a community organization. In it he clearly explains all the steps necessary to create an effective organization that can resolve problems. The various areas discussed include the theory of how a group should work, the chemistry involved, the seven basic steps for building an organization, developing a mission statement, goals, and objectives, designing the organization to last, recruiting others, mobilizing, raising money and taking action. Throughout the book are case studies and exercises to help you not only understand how it all works but also to help you work through developing your organization correctly. If you want to change the world and know you need help to do it then you will appreciate this book. Building Powerful Community Organizations is easily the best book on the market today on this subject.
This book should be required reading for hospitals, foundations, public health agencies and people working on any form of community improvement. Michael has documented his learnings with stories and tools that can equip those willing to learn to build powerful community organization, as the title says. There are lots of various community organizing guides but this one mixes stories and tools in an easy to read, nicely laid out style. His wisdom comes from years of community organizing and translates here into practical, easy to access advice. This is the best handbook I have seen in a long time! The author makes himself available with info on how to reach him as well as a website with blog that makes him more than a distant author; he is approachable and willing to extend his teachings beyond the pages of his book. Not may authors do this.
Written by Michael Jacoby Brown, who has more than thirty years' experience in building community organizations, Building Powerful Community Organizations: A Personal Guide to Creating Groups that Can Solve Problems and Change the World is a handy step-by-step guide to creating, strengthening, and revitalizing grass-roots organizations for bringing about social change to solve problems in the community or workplace. From how to effectively recruit (learning to "listen not sell", when short or long visits are appropriate, and how to turn success into momentum) to how to mobilize resources and raise money to the steps for setting change into motion and more, Building Powerful Community Organizations walks the reader through the necessary skills and processes while warning against common obstacles and pitfalls. Enthusiastically recommended for anyone looking to harness communal effort and make a lasting difference.
This is a practical resource idea book for those interested in starting or strengthening a community organization or nonprofit. Brown defined community organizing as "building the power of a group to change the world. . . it requires understanding of your self interest. . . building relationships with others, and a desire to change the world" (p. 3). The book is organized into 4 sections:Section 1 The Inside Story - definitions, step by step considerations for building a community organization including mission, goals, and objectives, and considerations for lasting organizationsSection 2 Resources - recruiting, how to's and leadership development, meeting facilitation, raising moneySection 3 Change - strategy, taking action, solving problems, results, building communitySection 4 Future - where do we go from hereEach section is accompanied by exercises, case studies, quick tips, and stories.
With great insight and honesty Michael Jacoby Brown has drawn on his extensive experience to produce a practical and inspiring resource. This book is a must for anyone wishing to organize a group to work for social change or anyone who is part of a community organization which needs to rejuvenate or rediscover its purpose. It is beautiful in its simplicity, addressing its issues in a way everyone can understand, and broad in its scope, addressing every aspect involved in successful community organizing. "Building Powerful Community Organizations" demands engagement by the reader. It contains exercises and the reader gains best value from the book by engaging in the exercises at the point they are presented.
This is one of the best books available for people who are interested in the nitty-gritty work of building genuine communities. Author Michael Brown provides the reader with not just a theory of community organizations, but also lays out the steps to be followed in order to create the building blocks of what he calls "powerful community organizations." Lots of excellent case studies illustrate each of the steps. It is a good follow-up to the book Counterfeit Community: The Exploitation of Our Longings for Connectedness which warns us about the dangers of pseudo communities, so-called communities that lack the kinds of relationships that Brown is building. Highly recommended.
I am a community organizer in Illinois that kind of fell into the work of improving parent engagement in Latino and low income neighborhood schools. This is my wife's Kindle. Though many of the lessons found herein were already known to me, in an abstract sense, others were not. This book helped me to see where the gaps lay in my knowledge by providing a broad overview of organizing while also delving into the specifics necessary in building and using powerful organizations. El que no sabe que no sabe nada, no sabe nada. Or, He who does not know that he knows nothing, knows nothing. Recommended to fiery new crusaders, or jaded organizers and those in between.
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