Community Assessments for Sustainability

Sustainability is a component of a Rotary Foundation global grant application: what are the tools and methods that will be employed by the project to assure long-term solutions to community problems? There are no easy answers for providing assurance for something that has yet to occur. I think we could agree that the commitment of a community to the change proposed by a grant project would be essential in this endeavor. One way we get this commitment goes back to the development of the project, conducting a community needs assessment. The purpose of the assessment is to ask the people of the community itself what they believe to be their greatest needs.

When a community is committed to change, it is more apt to persevere in its achievement. To borrow the words of The Rotary Foundation, “Assessing the strengths, weaknesses, needs and assets of the community you plan to help is an essential first step in designing an effective and sustainable global grant project.” This is so important. When we work with community members, these assessments help us understand what’s happening in a community, decide which challenges to tackle, and ultimately implement projects that are more sustainable and have greater impact.

Sustainable projects provide long-term solutions to community problems — solutions that community members themselves can support after grant funding ends. A needs assessment is a requirement of global grant applicants and it is to be submitted with your grant application. For more information about conducting a community needs assessment, see https://my.rotary.org/en/document/community-assessment-tools