TOOLBOX
COMMUNITY
ORGANIZING
Community Organizing:
The Basics
COMMUNITY ORGANIZING: THE BASICS
WHAT IS CO?
Community organization is that process by which the peo-
ple…organize themselves to ‘take charge’ of their situation
and thus develop a sense of being a community together. It
is a particularly effective tool for the poor and powerless as
they determine for themselves the actions they will take to
deal with the essential forces that are destroying their com-
munity and consequently causing them to be powerless.7
— Reverend Robert Linthicum, World Vision International
Organizing does two central things to seek to rectify the
problem of power imbalance — it builds a permanent base
of people power so that dominant financial and institutional
power can be challenged and held accountable to values of
greater social, environmental and economic justice; and, it
transforms individuals and communities, making them
mutually respectful co-creators of public life rather than
passive objects of decisions made by others.8
— Mike Miller, Organize Training Center
Just what is CO? What are its driving philosophy, values and goals? Who employs the
strategy? What are some examples of CO in practice? What is being accomplished? Why
does it seem to be gaining in importance and use today? How does CO differ from other
strategies, activities or interventions that seek to benefit low-income people and communi-
ties?
This section of the Toolbox paints a broad-brush picture of CO and underscores its
importance for making what may be called “bottom-up” change in pursuit of social and
economic justice.
CO is a values-based9 process by which people — most often low- and moderate-income
people previously absent from decision-making tables — are brought together in organiza-
tions to jointly act in the interest of their “communities” and the common good. Ideally, in
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Community Organizing: The Basics ■ The Community Organizing Toolbox
the participatory process of working for needed changes,
people involved in CO organizations