The Wilder Nonprofit Field Guide to Conducting Community Forums: Engaging Citizens, Mobilizing Communities

Community forums are powerful tools for educating the public, building consensus, focusing action, and influencing policy. They can be an effective mechanism for public debate on issues. Forums can ensure that the community's voice is included in decision making and increase awareness and understanding of key issues facing communities. They can generate hope and confidence in communities that are short on both, and they can help build social capital -- strong relationships and connections among people.

This book is intended to help community groups -- whether citizens, nonprofits, government, or business -- achieve their community building goals and make good use of their scarce resources. It is organized into five sections:

• Planning the forum and obtaining resources;
• Preparing for the forum;
• Orchestrating the event;
• Sustaining the results; and
• Appendices including sample documents, worksheets, and a forum checklist

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Publication Year: 2003