MODULE 12:

COMMUNITY-BASED MANAGEMENT

Description
This module will challenge the student’s perspective on what a community is and how
they can get themselves be involve in social issues and concerns related to gender,
environment, peace, human rights health and sanitation, education, national security
and governance. It will also stimulate the student’s capacity to apply a community
needs assessment tool in analyzing situations affecting the marginalized sectors such
as the women, children, youth and urban poor.

Preliminaries
1. Greeting / Introductions
2. Opening Prayer
3. Checking of Attendance
4. Recap of the Previous Session
5. Presentation of Context, Objectives and Topics to be covered

CONTEXT
As stated in The Philippine Constitution, every Filipino citizen has a duty to serve
his/her country by rendering civil, personal and military service. While it is the
responsibility of the government to protect the welfare of its people, the citizens also
have a duty to serve and defend their country. Every Filipino citizen is called to be
part in working out its development.
The youth comprised the biggest sector in the society. As the future leaders of our
country, the Filipino youth has a big stake in the nation building. Youth is also
considered as the catalyst for social change. It is deemed necessary that as early as
now, the youth should take an active role in community development and in the
process contribute to nation building in general.
The National Service Training Program (NSTP) 2 is the implementation phase of the
community action plan formulated by the students. However, prior to designing and
planning a community project, it is necessary to understand what community is and
what are the essential steps in conducting a community needs assessment.

Objectives

At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:

1. Understand the importance of community-based management in the context to
community development;
2. Appreciate their role in community management;
3. Identify possible areas or opportunities to participate in community development.
EXPERIENCE

Activity: Picture Talk

Before the activity

1. The class will be divided into groups or they can work with their previous teams
2. Each member of the group will capture 2-3 photos of the community where s/he
is currently residing.
3. All members should agree on a common time when they are available to meet
virtually to do the activity.
During the activity
1. Assign a facilitator and a documenter for the activity.
2. Each member is given two (2) minutes to share the story behind his/her photos.
The following information may be shared to the group:
a. Name of the community
b. Community leaders
c. Brief description of the community (i.e. urban, rural, relocation site, etc.)
d. Other interesting information (i.e. resources, facilities, beautiful spots,
delicacies, culture, practices, award/s received, etc.)
e. Priority issues
f. Vision for your community

3. Consolidate the output based on the above-mentioned information as shared in

the group.
4. Come up an illustration of the group’s consolidated output.
5. Choose a reporter to present your output in the plenary during the synchronous
session.

Input 1: Community-based Management

A community is an aggregation of families and individuals settled in fairly compact
and contiguous geographical area with significant elements of common life, as shown
by manners, customs, tradition, and mode of speech (Ross, 1987). It also refers to
people and the pattern of social relationships among them, which may be
characterized by:
● A common system of values
● Normatively defined relations
● Interdependence
● Recognition of belonging
● System of stratification
● Locality

It is also a combination of social units and systems that perform the following major
SOCIAL FUNCTIONS:
● Economic (production, distribution, consumption) – “The study of how people
and society end up choosing, with or without the use of money, to employ scarce
productive resources that could have alternative uses – to produce various
commodities and distribute them for consumption, now or in the future, among
various persons and groups in society” (Samuelson, 1980).

● Socialization. The processes whereby we learn to behave according to the norms

of our culture.

● Social control. The set of rules and understanding that control the behavior of
individuals and groups in a culture (Kornblum, 1997).There are certain basic norms
that contribute to social control. “All social groups have such ‘commandments’ as
‘Honor thy father and mother,’ ‘Thou shalt not kill,‘ ‘Thou shalt not steal’ (Park &
Burgess, 1921).

● Social participation. Participation involves exchange, which creates mutual

obligation among individuals. Participation can engender or strengthen a sense of
responsibility towards others, the community, or a particular institution. Leaders of
communities and institutions can therefore expect members to participate in and
contribute to group projects. Social participation can also sensitize group members
to the fact that they are subject to the same economic, political, cultural or social
conditions. Participation can therefore promote and strengthen identification with
the group or institution since it is viewed as being advantageous.

● Moral support. A way of giving support to a person or cause, or to one side in a

conflict, without making any contribution beyond the emotional or psychological
value of the encouragement (Wikipedia).

Community-based management is a bottom-up approach of organization which can

be facilitated by an upper government or non-government structure. It aims for local
stakeholder participation in the planning, research, development, management and
policy making for a community as a whole.
A community-based approach insists that people targeted for humanitarian
assistance have “the right to participate in making decisions that affect their lives” as
well as “a right to information and transparency” from those responsible for providing
assistance.

Three Management Approaches

All management strategies consistent of either a top-down, bottom-up or combination
approach.
 Top-down approach is when people other than the resource
users make decisions about managing resources and enforcing
rules. For example, government departments make all the
decisions and rules about the resources.

Bottom-up When people who are directly affected by resource use

are involved in decision making and managing the resource. For
example, fisher people would be involved in making decisions
about the rules that affect them.

Combination Approach
Incorporates top-down and bottom-up approaches
Dynamic partnerships

Input 2. Community Needs Assessment

Community needs assessment is very vital in order to assess the strategic needs of
the community. Not all projects being implemented in the community addressed the
“felt” needs of the community. It is necessary then to conduct a needs assessment
prior to the implementation of a certain project. Conducting a needs assessment is
always a challenge. The needs assessment output will give up a clearer picture on the
situation of the community and what possible project we can do to contribute to
community development.
What are community needs?
Community needs are gaps between what services currently exist in a community and
what should exist. It may be helpful to recognize gaps between on these four types of
community needs receive needs expressed needs absolute needs and relative needs.
1. Perceived needs are based on what individuals feel their needs. These needs
are subjective and standard may change based on each point of view, however
it's important not to dismiss perceived needs as just opinion. Taking into
account the feelings and concerns of community members is an essential
component of assessment.

2. Express needs are defined by what individuals have already voiced as a need.
For instance, the community members may have complained the local officials
about broken streetlights. These complaints are expressed needs and can help
 guide you to what needs to be accomplished. However, make sure you're
mindful of the false assumption that all people who needs seek help.

3. Absolute needs are deemed universal, including those for survival (i.e. food,
water, safety, and clothing). If community members don't even have clean,
running water, this absolute need should be a top priority to consider.

4. Relative needs are rendered necessary based on equity and depend on current
circumstances and the norm. The standard may also vary based on population
differences and social context. For instance, providing students with access to
computers isn't necessary. But with digital literacy now so important to
education, the lack of computers might be deemed a relative need.
A community needs assessment is a key tool that can aid any volunteer program or
project. By conducting an assessment before developing a program ensures a firm
grasp on a community gap. Program works to fill those gaps through resources and
services.
The assessment plays a critical role in guiding decision making and priority setting for
the program while involving community members in the process. By following this
method you will build your program around the most vital services for your community
members.
Essential Step in Conducting Needs Assessment
1. Write objectives. What is it that you want to learn from the needs assessment?
2. Select audience. Who is the target audience? Whose needs are you measuring,
and to whom will you give the required information?
3. Collect data. How will you collect the data that will tell you what you need to know?
Will you collect data directly from the target audience or indirectly?
4. Select audience sample. How will you select a sample of respondents who
represent the target audience?
5. Pick an instrument. What instruments and techniques will you use to collect data?
6. Analyze data. How will you analyze the data you collect?
7. Follow up. What will you do with information that you gain? Data gathering
methods by themselves are not a needs assessment for the process to be
complete the needs assessment has to result in decision-making.
Data Collection
The data collected plays a direct role in the results of community needs assessment
and can help define the actual program or project you want to develop. However, how
you find this data and use it can be confusing.

Methods may include the following:

● Interviews, focus groups, and surveys: Speak to those at ground level,

experts, and community leaders about what they observe and experience in the
way of needs.
● Listening sessions and public forums: Listening and participating in
community gatherings like town meetings are top ways to learn about
perspectives on local issues.

● Direct or participatory observation: Visit your community’s spaces, like senior

centers, shelters, and schools to observe, speak with those at the ground level,
and participate in programs that already exist.

Secondary data of the community if available can also be used. The team may refer
to the existing community/barangay profile.

Data Analysis

Findings and analysis can be of great help to determine the patterns and trends as
well. Key findings can be analyzed according to the following:

● Strengths. What are the existing strengths of your community? For instance,
let’s say you find that robust community partnerships are successful with low-
income youth as graduation rates increased 22% over the past five years. This
can give you a starting point for your program.

● Gaps. Where do you see lags in your findings? Identifying gaps can help guide
the creation of your new program. For instance, you may see that youth
programs tend to halt after graduation, and there is a lack of follow-up support
for low-income women above school age. Perhaps your program focuses on
post-graduation mentorship for women.

● Challenges. Are there any common challenges that affect your community’s
needs? For instance, you might notice that time constraints for working
individuals lead to disinterest in public programming. How can your new program
combat these challenges?

● Opportunities. Are there any known opportunities that you can take advantage
of? For instance, you may find that programs directed toward low-income women
in similar communities experienced an increase in funding last year. Maybe your
program should focus on low-income women since you know that has found
success before.

Presentation and Validation

A community needs assessment report must be presented for validation of the result
by the target community stakeholders.

Suggested Community Needs Assessment Report Format

1. Key Players: Overview of needs assessment participants and program
partners involved.

2. Methodology: Description of the methods used to collect data.

 3. Participation: Describe the demographic and number of individuals
represented in the data collected, i.e., How many individuals responded to
your survey? How many focus group sessions were held?

4. Strengths and Limitations of Assessment: What are the strengths of the

needs assessment and its results? How are the assessment and results
limited? What challenges were faced during the process of conducting a needs
assessment?

5. Key Findings: This section should make up the bulk of your report. Discuss
the gaps, strengths, and challenges discovered in the community needs
assessment results. Present data and case studies. What opportunities did
you uncover?

6. Recommendations and Next Steps: Based on your results and key findings,
what are your recommendations for addressing community gaps and needs?
How will your proposed program address these needs? What information do
you want to communicate with stakeholders?

Synthesis

REFLECTION:
1. What is your definition of the community where you belong to?
2. What are the gaps in your community?
3. How can you be an active community member?

ACTION
Group Activity
1. Identify a local community/organization / sector. Assume that this will be your
area for community service.

2. Conduct a Community Needs Assessment (CNA). Follow the steps discussed in

this lesson.

3. Prepare a CNA report. Include in the report possible project or areas for
engagement.
EVALUATION
1. What is a community?
2. What are the major social functions of a community?
3. What is community-based management?
4. What rights are emphasized in community-based approach?
5. What are the three approaches to management?
6. What is a community needs assessment?
7. What are the community needs?
8. What are the essential steps in conducting a community needs assessment?
9. What is data collection?
10. What aspects should be considered in analyzing the key findings?
11. What is presentation and validation?
12. What are the contents of the Community Needs Assessment Report Format?

Closing Prayer

https://www.galaxydigital.com/blog/community-needs-assessment/#what

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community-based_management
https://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/1500-community-based-participatory-approach.html

https://nmssanctuaries.blob.core.windows.net/sanctuaries-
prod/media/archive/management/pdfs/comm_based_mod3_curr.pdf
https://www.nichq.org/insight/seven-steps-conducting-successful-needs-assessment

https://www.extension.uidaho.edu/publishing/pdf/BUL/BUL0870.pdf