This resource helps community-based organizations plan for comprehensive engagements. With more than a decade of experience, TYTHEdesign designed this resource with the post-pandemic challenges faced by the social sector in mind. It presents best practices and ideas that respond to the constantly changing environment and provides effective tools to make engagement decisions equitably to help you advocate for the value of community engagement, even during or post crisis.
This almanac is not oriented to be read from start to finish. Instead, consider it a resource you can continue to refer back to as the ways you reach stakeholders and your work evolves. As community, context, programs, and services continue to shift, your community engagement practices must also adapt. We recommend utilizing sections most pertinent to your engagement and team’s needs. The tools, assessments, catalog, and mini-guides allow for you to begin to adapt your community engagement strategies for this year and beyond.
PART I – INTRODUCTION
Provides information on how to use the almanac, advocacy points for why community engagement matters – especially in times of crisis – a detailed definition of the spectrum of engagement, and a case study of successful community engagement.
PART II – TOOLS AND ASSESSMENTS
Provides the process to plan community engagement with targeted stakeholders; this section supports your approach, including choosing the right format for your stakeholders, uncovering your blind spots, and leveraging your resources for mutually beneficial engagement; all while ensuring your engagement is equitable, inclusive, and accessible. The tools can be downloaded as editable PDFs.
PART III – MINI-GUIDES
Presents best practices, resources, and checklists to support all aspects of the community engagement experience, as well as methods for promoting safety and inclusion, both in-person and remotely (virtually, digitally, or phone/SMS); the mini-guides are designed to be used independently as a way to build capacity or alignment; or address a specific need depending on the type of engagement.
Click on each title to learn more and to download individual mini-guides.
Mini-Guide for Planning Engagements
Guides you through identifying the purpose of an engagement, building an agenda, utilizing arts and culture, and promoting the engagement; it also provides information on planning for participatory decision-making and planning for safety and inclusion.
Mini-Guide for Engagement Evaluation
Covers strategies for effectively evaluating your engagement by providing resources on the identification of key performance indicators, collecting data, and results-sharing
Mini-Guide for Facilitation
Covers how to support productive dialogue and the roles and responsibilities of a facilitator; within this section are key tools and guides for managing the flow of the engagement and stakeholder interactions.
Mini-Guide for Anti-Oppression, Inclusion, and Accessibility
Provides an overview and helpful strategies to plan and lead a more inclusive engagement. This broadly covers barriers to stakeholder engagement stemming from power dynamics, digital and internet access, and accessibility
Mini-Guide for Virtual Engagement
Guides you through everything from planning to facilitating virtual engagements, including strategies for supporting participants in engaging comfortably and best practices for leveraging digital collaboration
Mini-Guide for Phone/SMS Engagement
Guides you through planning and facilitating phone or SMS/text messaging engagements while also providing resources for outreach
Mini-Guide for Physically Distant Engagement
Provides resources and information to support planning and facilitating a physically distant engagement; it includes strategies for planning while keeping safety front and center
Mini-Guide for Hybrid Engagement
Guides you through planning, facilitating, and structuring engagements that support in-person and virtual participants
PART IV – CATALOG OF IDEAS
Presents a set of creative and effective ideas for leading engagements across alternative platforms both in-person and remotely; these ideas feature methods for conducting engagement across the full spectrum of participation–from outreach to shared leadership. This section inspires with ideas for different ways to set up productive, creative, and safe engagements.
DEVELOPED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH DOHMH
Designed in partnership with the Bureau of Harlem Neighborhood Health, a division of the NYC Department of Health, the Community Engagement Almanac was developed in response to a public health agency’s pivot to adapt to COVID-19, while fulfilling the charge for sustaining community engagement outcomes. We built this almanac to not only address the needs then, but to capture best practices supporting their future facilitation. All content is usable in any social sector organization looking to sustain their community engagement practices in an ever-changing climate.
WHY COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MATTERS
The almanac is intended to guide community engagement conducted today as we navigate the post-pandemic world. The tools, assessments, catalog, and mini-guides allow for you to begin to adapt your community engagement strategies for this year and beyond.
WEBINAR 1. HOW TO USE THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ALMANAC
This webinar is designed as a ‘how to’ guide for the newly updated Community Engagement Almanac. The goal is to introduce this tool to a broad audience and outline how best you can use it within your own organizations.
Community Guest: Kristina Drury, TYTHEdesign
WEBINAR 2. DEEP-DIVE INTO PLANNING, FACILITATION, AND EVALUATION
This webinar is designed as a quick review of the almanac’s Mini-Guides for Planning, Facilitation, and Engagement Evaluation, as well as a set of tools intended to guide your planning process.
Community Guest: Christina Nieves, DOHMH
WEBINAR 3. DEEP-DIVE INTO ANTI-OPPRESSION, EQUITY, ACCESSIBILITY, AND INCLUSION
This webinar is designed as a quick review of the almanac’s Mini-Guide for Anti-Oppression, Inclusion, and Accessibility, as well as an Equity and Inclusion Assessment that can support your planning process.
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Community Guest(s): Hillary Clark, TYTHEdesign and Arlen Zamula, DOHMH
WEBINAR 4. DEEP-DIVE INTO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FORMATS
This webinar is designed as a review of the almanac’s Mini-Guides for Virtual, Phone/SMS, Physically Distant, and Hybrid Engagements, providing a starting point for all types of community engagement.
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Community Guest(s): Philippa Godoy, El Barrio Bikes and Kimberly Moore, Health in Action
Help Us Keep the Almanac Up-to-Date
As with traditional almanacs, we intend this to be a living document, updated with information, resources, and tools relevant to our evolving context. You can share your own ideas, resources, or solutions to help build this almanac further by submitting updates.