Question

Concept principles and objectives of community organisation

Answer 1

Community organization covers a series of activities at the community level aimed at bringing about desired improvement in the social well-being of individuals, groups, organizations, and neighborhoods.

It is synonymous with community work, community development and community mobilization. It can represent both community-based organizations, voluntary associations, community projects, non-profit organizations, and may function as a way of organizing community bounded by geography, shared space, and/or shared experience, interest, need, or concern.

Community organization is a process by which a community identifies needs or objectives, takes action, and through this process, develops cooperative and collaborative attitudes and practices within a community. (Murray G. Ross, 1967).

Community organization is differentiated from conflict-oriented community organizing which focuses on short-term change, by focusing on long-term change through the organizing of community. This is often accomplished through inclusion, cooperation, participation, popular education, and direct democracy.

Within organizations, there are many variations in terms of size and organizational structure. Some are formally incorporated, with a written constitution and a board of directors (also known as a committee), while others are much smaller, informal, and grasroots.

The recent evolution of community organization, especially in low-income nations, has strengthened the view that these "bottom-up," grasroots organizations are more effective at addressing local needs than larger, more bureaucratic charitable organizations, as well as short-term organizing strategies. The multiplicity of institutions, interest groups, and sets of activities do not necessarily define community organization. Factors such as the interaction, integration and coordination of the existing groups and assets, activities, and relationships, the evolution of new groups and institutions, are characteristics unique to community organization.

Community organization is known to lead to greater understandings of community context, and is characterized by community building, planning, social action, and mobilization, the promotion of community change and, ultimately, influence within larger social systems. Community organizations are generally not-for-profit and funding often goes directly toward supporting the activities of the organization.