Starting out with Community Organising – A guide for organisations
From an article by Community Organisers
Community Organisers have worked with 100s of organisations from across the public, private, voluntary and faith sectors in a variety of contexts, including health, disability, the environment and housing. Over recent years, they have seen an increase in the number of organisations setting up with the sole purpose of community organising or seeking to both adopt and adapt the principles and practice of community organising to fit within their context.
They have put together a guide that reflects the learning that they have developed by working with and alongside organisations to share this with others so that they can consider what is needed to effectively develop and embed a community organising approach in their work.
Here is a summary of the Community Organising Framework:
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Reach. Engage everybody and anyone ensuring inclusivity and equality. Go to where people are.
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Listening. Develop relationships and identify passion, interests and potential leaders. Build a picture of people's life in the neighbourhood. Encourage reflection and explore possibilities. Challenge people about the way things are.
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Connect. Connect and create groups of people with shared interests and concerns. Build bridges between different groups. Identify community resources needs and visions. Share stories.
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Organise. Build local democratic and accountable associations of people that can start to act co-operatively and collectively. Build your power base. Build a structure.
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Leadership. Develop a culture of possibility where people believe in their ability to create change. Motivate and support people to take and share leadership. Identify natural leaders.
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Strategy. Use stories and information to identify issues. Understand power and tactics for shifting it through people taking action together. Analyse information and agree tactics, targets and allies. Address root causes of concerns whilst tackling immediate symptoms.
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Action. Facilitate local, regional and national collective action on the issues that matter most to people using DIY action or campaigns. Bring together and use resources. Engage with power-holders.
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Change. Fight for sustainable change for good. Strengthen democracy – government by people. Bring together and use resources. Engage with power-holders.
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Power. Support everyone’s ability to act. Work together to shift and share power. Build collective power to effect change, overcome social injustice and build community.
And here are the Principles of Practice:
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Help people to develop their collective power to act together for the common good of the whole community.
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Build on what already exists if that is what the community needs and wants, and co- operate with others.
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Put the wellbeing, development and progress of people first.
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Take responsibility for maintaining the quality and ethos of community organising.
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Work for a just society.
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Demonstrate honesty and integrity and uphold public trust and confidence.
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Demonstrate respect for diversity and promote equality.
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Do not do for others what they can do for themselves.
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Manage conflict constructively and non-violently.
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Remain Politically neutral.
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Do not put yourself or others in danger.
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Do not promise what you cannot deliver.
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Use the community’s starting point as your own, and move at their pace according to need.
The guide is a not a definitive ‘how to’ guide but is a reflection of the learning that they have gained. It does not contain all the answers or purport to showing the ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to do things. It has been pulled together as an overview of things to consider and as a starting point for a conversation for teams within organisations who are thinking of embarking on a journey of implementing the principles and practice of community organising within their work.
Download the guide here.
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From an article by Community Organisers, 14/10/2025