CONVERTING GEOGRAPHY INTO COMMUNITY

"Community building" is emerging as an important topic not only for
businesses, political and community leaders, but also for churches
and other nonprofit organizations concerned about the transformation
of neighborhoods and cities. Last November, a diverse group of
leaders gathered in southern California to learn from each other and
share ideas and resources on community building. Included in the
group were pastors, leaders of community leadership foundations,
business and corporate leaders, think tanks and parachurch
ministries.

The principal resource person for their discussions was Peter
Drucker, who observed that, "In the last 40 years, there has been a
veritable explosion in the number of nonprofits created in this
country. There's never been anything like it. It's the most diverse
sector and the largest number created have been community service
organizations."

As part of his preparation for the meeting, Drucker examined the
results of 68 nonprofits, including churches that had been
acknowledged for their effectiveness by the Drucker Foundation for
Nonprofit Management. In searching for the "right things" they did
to achieve results, he found five common actions.

"The first thing to say, is that the ones who have results, aim at
results. They have a very clear definition of and concentration on
what they are trying to accomplish. One cannot do everything, one
gets results by concentration."

"They also abandon. They look every year or two at what they're
doing, say what works and they concentrate on that. The successful
ones know how to collaborate. They know how to mobilize community
resources and work with others."

"A fourth characteristic is that they do not look upon the
beneficiaries as recipients. That creates dependence. I am not
saying it's easy, but the recipients are not beneficiaries. They're
partners to success. The real beneficiaries are the volunteers."

"The evidence is reasonably clear that the greatest and most
important part in creating community is to convert geography into
community. You do not really achieve results by taking care of social
ills. You achieve results by building a healthy body, a healthy
community. And you do that by creating citizenship, if you want to
call it that, community citizenship through your volunteers. This is,
by the way, why faith-based institutions are more effective than any
others."
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