NEEDS
ASSESSMENT
LESSON 3:
NEEDS ASSESSMENT
• Needs assessment is a planning
process conducted to determine and
address the needs of a group.
• This is administered to improve or
correct what is deficient in the area
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
PERSPECTIVES ON NEEDS ASSESSMENT
There are three perspectives on need in a needs assessment:
perceived need, expressed need, and relative need.
1. Perceived needs are based on the people's
thoughts and ideas regarding their own needs.
Each individual has their own ideas and
standards regarding their personal needs.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
PERSPECTIVES ON NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Example:
In a small community, residents feel that they need
more streetlights because they believe their area is
unsafe at night. Even if crime rates are low, this is a
perceived need because it’s based on their personal
sense of security.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
PERSPECTIVES ON NEEDS ASSESSMENT
There are three perspectives on need in a needs assessment:
perceived need, expressed need, and relative need.
2. Expressed needs are defined by how people
seek assistance to achieve their needs and how
they translate their feelings and thoughts on their
needs into action. This perspective assumes that all
people with needs will seek help.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
PERSPECTIVES ON NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Example:
Residents petition the local government to build a
health clinic because they currently travel far to
access healthcare. Their action of petitioning is the
expression of this need.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
PERSPECTIVES ON NEEDS ASSESSMENT
There are three perspectives on need in a needs assessment:
perceived need, expressed need, and relative need.
3. Relative needs consider the differences among
the concerns of members of the population. Needs,
therefore, must be addressed based on fairness and
equity.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
PERSPECTIVES ON NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Example:
In Community A, children have access to a public
library and a computer center. In nearby
Community B, no such facilities exist. Therefore,
Community B’s need for educational facilities is a
relative need, because it arises from the
comparison with a better-equipped community.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT
• Community needs assessment includes gathering information,
community engagement, focusing on the goal of community
involvement, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a
community, and emphasizing the abilities of the members of
the community and partner groups.
• After identifying the needs of the community, leaders begin to
address these through improvement of policies and plans for
development.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
STEPS IN ADMINISTERING COMMUNITY NEEDS
ASSESSMENT
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
These are the recommended general guidelines in implementing community
needs assessments:
Use of Focus Groups
• Select members to be part of the focus group.
They should share a degree of commonality to
discuss about the target community's needs. For
example, one focus group may involve the youth,
while another group consists of adult residents.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
These are the recommended general guidelines in implementing community
needs assessments:
•
The focus groups will gather information on the community and
prepare their guided questions. Sample questions are the following:
1. What are the positive features of your community?
2. What are the things that you would like to improve in your comm
3. What can you contribute to the improvement of your community?
4. What developments do you envision in your community after 10 years?
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
These are the recommended general guidelines in implementing community
needs assessments:
Create a Needs Assessment Survey
•
After obtaining the inputs from the focus groups, the
community's
potential
strengths,
weaknesses,
opportunities, and needs for change can be determined.
This can serve as the basis for preparing the needs
assessment survey that can be created and distributed to
the community members.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
These are the recommended general guidelines in implementing community
needs assessments:
Collect and Analyze Data
• The leaders may summarize the data
through computerized analysis programs
and organize the data for better analysis.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
These are the recommended general guidelines in implementing community
needs assessments:
Conduct Community Public Forums
• The data may now be relayed in public
forums. The identified strengths, weaknesses,
and concerns of the community are scheduled
and presented in open public discussions.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
These are the recommended general guidelines in implementing community
needs assessments:
Produce Final Report and Plan of Action
•
After the final discussions and as ideas are gathered
from the community, a detailed needs assessment report
may already be prepared. Then, plans of action will be
implemented to solve the concerns that emerged during
the process of assessing the needs of the community.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
LEADEARSHIP AND
PARTICIPATORY
ACTION PLANNING
LESSON 4:
COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP
• Community leadership is described as less hierarchal and often
based on voluntary actions, serving as an instrument for
change.
• There are instances when community leaders are not formally.
• Community leadership is described as less hierarchical and
often based on elected.
• They are envisioned to introduce innovations in the community
offering solutions to social problems.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP
• According to Uhl-Bien, Marion, and McKelvey
(2007), the Complexity Leadership Theory stresses
that "leadership should be seen not only as position
and authority, but also as an emergent, interactive
dynamic." The theory cites three types of leadership:
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP
The theory cites three types of leadership:
1. Administrative leadership is hierarchical and
controlling.
2. Enabling leadership encourages creative problem
solving, learning, and adaptability.
3. Adapting leadership is a dynamic that empowers
change. This is a way of dealing with problems that
require learning new behavior and innovation.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP
Onyx and Leonard (2011) and Eaton (2018) identified elements of
successful community leadership and characteristics of community
leaders. These are the following:
1. Leaders are involved in the formal and informal networks of the
community. Thus, it is necessary for leaders to balance the needs of the
group.
2. Leaders share decision making with the community and learn to be
accountable to the community.
3. Leaders engage others in their activities and projects. They mobilize
others and maximize individuals' strengths.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP
4. Leaders have a vision for the community's future. It is
necessary for them to learn how to think forward.
5. Leaders possess practical management skills. They ensure
that everyone works as a team and develop every person's
capacity for leadership by encouraging self-leadership and selfresponsibility.
6. Leaders carefully plan who will be their successors. They
mentor new leaders and practice stewardship
7. Leaders have commitment, persistence, and energy, and they
always lead by example.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP
One of the roles of the leaders is to guide their
members to work collaboratively with their plans
and reflect on the appropriate approaches to
apply to ensure the success of the community.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
PARTICIPATORY ACTION
• According to Animating Democracy participatory
action, in relation to the definition in research, is an
approach that uses different means to address
issues identified by a community.
• It allows for new ways of working, interacting, and
knowing for the improvement of a community's
practice.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
Five Characteristics of Participatory Action
1.Participatory
The community maintains control over the process of dealing with issues.
2. Defined by a Need for Action
The community initiates the project that will address the issues and this
action is guided by a goal.
3. Useful and Meaningful
The members of the community are provided with the opportunity to
analyze situations and develop solutions.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
Five Characteristics of Participatory Action
4. Reflexive
The members reflect regularly on the activities executed, and
determine the benefits and purposes of the projects.
5. Flexible and Interactive
Throughout the process, action plans may be modified
depending on the needs of the community.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
RESOURCE
MOBILIZATION
LESSON 5:
RESOURCE MOBILIZATION
Resource mobilization is the process of
getting a range of resources from a
resource provider (or donor) by using
different mechanisms for a community's
project to work and achieve its goal.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
RESOURCE MOBILIZATION
According to Sekajingo (2007), the following are important
terms related to the concept of resource mobilization:
 Resources refer to the different things or materials that are
needed (e.g., funds, people, goods, and services).
 Mechanisms refer to the different ways of directly getting
resources.
 Resource providers refer to the different people or
organizations that provide the resources.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
RESOURCE MOBILIZATION
Resources are classified into five types:
1. Moral
These are resources that give emotional support such as solidarity
or sympathetic support.
2. Cultural
These are resources that use one's knowledge such as meetings
and news conferences.
3. Social-Organizational
These are resources that deal with disseminating a message such
as giving of brochures.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
RESOURCE MOBILIZATION
4. Material
These are resources that include financial and physical
capital like money and supplies.
5. Human
These are resources exerted by a person that can be
quantified such as labor and skills.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
RESOURCE MOBILIZATION
On the other hand, the following are the resources that are commonly used in
a local community:
1. Financial resources are the most preferred type of local contribution
because these allow the purchase of other needed resources for the
community. There are several ways of raising financial resources:
• Cash donations
• Grants from other groups
• Fees from activities
• Membership dues
• Fundraising activities
• Sponsorship from NGOs or local businesses
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
RESOURCE MOBILIZATION
2. In-kind material donations help reduce the costs of an activity
that will be implemented in the community. The following are
examples of in-kind material donations:
• Office supplies
• Materials for construction
• Vehicles for transport
• Sports and recreational equipment
• Snacks for volunteers
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
RESOURCE MOBILIZATION
3. In-kind intellectual services are valuable contributions that
include expert and professional services such as the following:
• Legal service
• Accounting service
• Medical service
• Psychological service
• Engineering or Architectural assistance
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
RESOURCE MOBILIZATION
4. Spaces are areas that can be used for regular or special
events such as
• Room
• Office
• Building
• Community center
• School or playground
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
RESOURCE MOBILIZATION
5. Volunteer work of local citizens
The following are the benefits gained by mobilizing local resources:
Sense of Ownership
Building Social Capital
Sustainability
Independence
This is the sense of pride There is an increase in There will be a continuous Local communities
and accomplishment for the value of social support from other local will
be
more
having contributed to the networks and other groups
independent
and
positive development of groups and individuals
flexible
in
the
one's community.
who are willing to help in
implementation of
the community.
activities
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
RESOURCE MOBILIZATION
Techniques to Effectively Mobilize Local Resources:
• Hold regular meetings
• Establish committees
• Raise public awareness through media coverage
• Organize events and actions to raise resources
• Recognize donors/volunteers by providing awards
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
RESOURCE MOBILIZATION
Practical Mobilizing Local Resources:
• Have the courage to ask for support.
• Show gratefulness to all types of resources given.
• Connect with potential stakeholders who can invest for resources.
• Develop promotional materials.
• Seek resources that relate to community projects.
• Develop oneself by attending training programs.
• Maintain transparency of records.
• Focus on one's mission.
• Scout several sources for support.
• Express gratitude to all the supporters.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
SOCIAL ACTION
LESSON 6:
SOCIAL ACTION
• Social action in Sociology pertains to the act
that a person makes taking into account the
reactions and behavior of others.
• A social action is also executed in response to a
certain situation or condition
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
SOCIAL ACTION
Social action can be categorized into two types:
1. Rational action
• These are actions performed based on a
valued goal, but not considering the
consequences of the process because the main
focus is to one's goal.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
SOCIAL ACTION
Social action can be categorized into two types:
2. Instrumental action
• These are actions that are planned after
careful evaluation of one's goal, and
considering the different factors leading to the
achievement of that goal.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
SOCIAL ACTION
The following points describe a social action:
1. The action may be done by one or more persons.
2. The action influences other people and the whole society.
3. This is conducted in response to some social situations.
4. The action is in connection to a social system
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ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL ACTION
The actor
The individual/s who perform/s the act
The goal
The objective as to why an action was
implemented
The situation The actor performs her/his role in response
to certain situations which may be
controllable or uncontrollable.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
SOCIAL ACTION
In the Philippines, the National Secretariat for Social
Action (NASSA)/Caritas Philippines helps the poor
and marginalized sectors in the hope of achieving
social justice and transformation.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
SOCIAL ACTION
The following are the projects carried out by NASSA/Caritas Philippines:
1. Alay Kapwa (Offering of Oneself) - a fundraising program
that serves as an emergency fund during calamities and other
major social concerns
2. SEARCHDev - a three-year program that focuses on
providing technical guidance to improve the competencies of
20 Diocesan Action Centers
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SOCIAL ACTION
The following are the projects carried out by NASSA/Caritas Philippines:
3. Project SHARED- a diocese-to-diocese approach in managing risks in
disaster-prone areas
4. EU-PEACH Project - a project that aims to strengthen organizational
and technical competence in for disasters
5. HIV-AIDS - aims to continue the campaign for HIV-AIDS prevention
6. Lead to Heal- a 14-month transformational leadership program for key
movers and workers of the national and diocesan levels
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
SOCIAL ACTION
The following are the projects carried out by NASSA/Caritas Philippines:
7. Self-Help Group- inspires poor individuals, especially women, to realize their
potential
8. Sustainable Agriculture- focuses on surpassing agricultural issues and challenges
related to climate change and food production
9. FARMFIRST- aims to empower and develop model communities for climate change
adaptation and sustainable development
10. Peace building, Human Rights, and Good Governance -supports advocacies and
actions defending the rights and dignity of workers
11. Agrarian Justice- supports the call of farmers for agrarian reform and problems on
land tenure and ownership
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
SOCIAL ACTION
EVALUATION
LESSON 7:
SOCIAL ACTION EVALUATION
According to Social Action Net, the following points describe
an evaluation process:
 To assess or to make a judgment on a certain activity
 To build on what people already know and do
 To use and develop people's abilities and skills
 To check on the progress of the project
 To determine the impact of the activities in relation to the
objectives of the project find out if resources are used
effectively
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
SOCIAL ACTION EVALUATION
According to Social Action Net, the following points describe
an evaluation process:
 To gather substantial information that can aid in decision
making and planning
 To view one's project on a wider perspective
 To analyze information collected and take action to improve
situations
 To develop one's sense of collective responsibility
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
Steps in Conducting an Evaluation
Step 1: Framing the Evaluation
 Identify the aims of the project.
 Identify the problems to be solved.
 State the objectives of the project.
 Form a small group and organize the details for evaluation.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
Steps in Conducting an Evaluation
Step 2: Designing the Evaluation
 Consider the indicator for the effectiveness of the evaluation.
 Carefully plan for appropriate methods.
 Prepare a written evaluation plan (why, how, when, where
evaluation will take place and who are involved).
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
Steps in Conducting an Evaluation
Step 3: Doing the Evaluation.
 Prepare and test evaluation tools.
 Analyze the information
 Prepare presentation of results.
 Decide how the findings will be used.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
These are some tips to keep in mind when preparing questions
for evaluation:
 Construct questions in simple language.
 Prepare questions that are clear and precise.
 Ensure that the questions are comprehensive for the
respondents.
 Questions should not be leading and negatively stated.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
There are also varied ways to gather information. Some of these
include:
• Interviews (face to face, telephone, skype etc.)
 Questionnaires
 Social Media
 Analysis of existing information
 Observation from photos or drawings
 Written information such as in reports or minutes of meetings
 Focus groups and case studies
 Sentence completions
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
The following are the suggested guidelines when
analyzing and interpreting the information gathered:
• Discover patterns, key words, similarities, common
themes, or issues from the gathered information.
• Determine the relationships, correlations, associations,
or contradictions.
• Be prepared to find questions instead of answers and
explore these.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
It will be helpful to write a report about the evaluation, and this
can be prepared by considering the following:
• Involve people in the writing of the report.
• Keep it short and clear.
• Subheadings may be used.
• Emphasize key points in the evaluation (bold, underline).
• Listings and checklists may be used.
• Edit carefully.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
The reports or the information can be disseminated
through the following means:
• Newsletters
• Pictures
• Events
• Social Media
• Meetings and Discussions
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
After the evaluation report has been prepared, it is time to make
an action plan based on the findings. This can be done through the
following:
• Improve what members do in the community
• Inform other people of the recommended process that will be
implemented
• Share experiences with others
• Campaign for changes
• Motivate and encourage members to take part in the action plan
• Develop new and better services
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
Basic template can be prepared to guide or a group in implementing the action plan.
Action
Resources
Time
Allocated
Responsible
person/s
Deadline
When developing strategies for successful action plan, a SWOT structure can
be used to summarize the findings of the evaluation.
Strength
Positive aspects found
Opportunities
Circumstances that offer
positive outcome
Weaknesses
Factors that need improvement
Threats
a Factors that could cause damage
in the community