As a part of our ongoing community leadership work, we have identified five competencies that are critical to effective practice. Taken together, they help community foundations achieve positive community outcomes across issues.
- Commissioning and disseminating local data and research to help understand the nuances of community challenges and provide information to help solve problems.
- Engaging residents to hear their concerns, lift their ambitions and harness their talents.
- Working across sectors because the challenges facing communities are multifaceted and interconnected and cannot be solved by any one entity or sector. We need all hands on deck.
- Shaping public policy, recognizing that government systems have a significant impact on the lives of every resident.
- Marshalling resources beyond the foundation’s grants — from private foundations as well as from local, state and federal government — to address community needs.
As one of the most emergent competencies in the field, CFLeads launched a Cultivating Community Engagement project to better understand the role community foundations can play in engaging residents.
We’ll be sharing stories on our blog and below about how community foundations across the country are applying these five competencies as a part of their community leadership efforts.