Community-led: Recently, the term has come to the forefront of conversations on global development, aid, and philanthropy. Many are calling for community-led solutions to societal problems. But what does community-led really mean? And according to whom? For the past several years, GlobalGiving has been studying this question, and just last month they completed a major research endeavor with Global Fund for Community Foundations (GFCF). The result of the research is a self-assessment tool developed through a participatory process with community members in six countries. The tool is designed to help nonprofits and other change agents reflect on the extent to which their organization is working for, with, or led by the people they intend to serve.

Before GlobalGiving and GFCF published a public-facing report and version of their tool to measure community led-ness, they came to the LabStorm group for advice. How could they make the tool truly useful for organizations—both nonprofits and funders? And of course, how can they bake feedback from constituents into the tool itself? Here’s what LabStorm attendees had to say:

  1. Show organizations where they stand.
  2. Offer quick wins.
  3. Prove the tool’s value over time.

Community led-ness is hard to measure, but worth the effort. LabStorm attendees were inspired by GlobalGiving’s work to make community led-ness more measurable so that organizations doing the hard work can see their value and be recognized, and ultimately so funders and organizations will be more accountable to the people they serve.

Read the full article about community-ledness by Alison Carlman at FeedbackLabs.