Join the Effort!

7 Phase Community Build Project Process

The LTBK Helping Hands award uses a seven phase approach to help reach a community reach its desired outcomes.The following is an overview of each phase:

Phase 1 - Evaluation and Award

Each application is evaluated and vetted through a series of interviews and dialogues to assess the applicant's ability to spearhead such an effort. This includes the organizations ability or potential to build a collaborative effort, creditability in the community, financial standing and other factors to would indicate a potential of a successful project. If a potential project meets the standard, they are notified by letter and a media conference is scheduled and held in the local community announcing the award.

Phase 2 - Preparation

In this phase we establish the desired outcomes of the project as well as the assumed impacts of those outcomes. The following activities occur during this phase:

  • Assign the community their LTBK project Coach
  • Establish terms of reference and working expectations
    • Formal MOU between the community and LTBK
    • Face to Face orientation for community committee
  • Facilitated development of quantifiable and intangible Desire Outcomes for their project using the logic model planning process.
  • Development of an impact matrix
  • 3 part community leaders training-held either face to face or via live video streaming
  • Establishment of committee meeting schedule from now till project completion

Phase 3 - The Scope of the Project

Once the desired outcomes are developed the LTBK coach guides the community through a series of exercises to establish the "scope of work" or in other words helping the community to identify the activities that will take them to their desired outcomes, this phase includes but is not limited to:

  • Facilitated action planning meetings
  • Play ground design community event that allows kids of the community to design the playground itself
  • "Outside the box" planning meetings that ask the question "what else could be done that day in addition to the play structure".
  • Finalizing the scope total work, which includes all activities of the day and all action steps need to reach the day and the final design of the play structure itself.

Phase 4 - Developing the Story

In this phase the community takes the scope of the project, its desired outcomes and impacts and develops the narrative that will be used to tell the story throughout the broader community. It is this "story" that garners support from volunteers, donors and the community at large. During this phase the logistical aspect of the construction itself are also established. The following activities occur during this phase;

  • Training of community committee in the “art” of grassroots marketing
  • Development of a marketing strategy and communication plan
    • This plan must be specific to the community itself using the “trusted conduit of communications” approach to grassroots marketing
  • Development of all hard copy marketing materials
  • Development community LTBK web page
  • Development of a donors target list using the "six degrees of separation" approach to fund raising.
  • Logistical plan for the deliver and installation of the play structure is finalized.

Phase 5 - Telling the Story

Here the total focus is in the telling the good narrative of the great community project. In this phase the committee is telling the "story" in as many ways as possible, recruiting volunteers, soliciting donations and community support and creating a general "buzz" in the community, this is accomplished through the following:

  • Launch of community LTBK web page
  • Distribution of all marketing materials
  • Community rallies and media conferences(if needed).
  • Launch of media campaign (if applicable).
  • Execution of the "six degrees" donor campaign.

Phase 6 - The Day

The day itself is the bringing to fruition of the communities vision, it is also a time of celebration and reflection. The phase includes:

  • Team leader rally the night before the build day
  • Completing of the "Scope of work" including the building of the play structure
  • Dedication of the play structure.

Phase 7

Once the project is complete the follow up phase is used to ensure that desired outcomes were met and to celebrate the achievements of the committee, this is also the phase were the plan for follow-up of the track impact of the project is finalized. The activities in this phase include but are nit limited to:

  • Launch of the "post event" web page
  • Two debriefing meetings with LTBK Coach and community committee
  • Begin impact tracking