A basic choice
for the organization of community efforts

Institution--Strategic	Association--Responsive
Board of Directors hires an Executive Director	Ad hoc committee hires a facilitator
leadership is mostly top down	leadership is bottom up
centered on programs and tasks; the people part is usually an abstraction	focuses first on relationships and actual people
tends to become needs- or deficiency-based, and focused on control	structure and operation guarantees that it is asset-based, with a focus on empowerment
tends to become funding-driven	outcome-driven
programs become entangled in competition and turf issues; community outcomes of the programs depend on politics	programs arise from cooperation and the desire to add value to existing initiatives; community outcomes depend on capabilities and passion of the proponents and how well they are connected with other community assets
diversity of opinions is a liability, and interferes with the effectiveness of the organization	diversity is an asset, as it enables the full range of community assets and resources to come into play, not just the politically correct ones
tends to be expensive in relation to community outcomes; may be hard to sustain	tends to be cheap in relation to community outcomes; may be easier to sustain
difficult and stressful job	fun, results in personal growth, easier for volunteers to be engaged
tends to give people the idea that their problems will be solved for them; transforms community into spectators taking bets on your performance	does not give people any excuse for thinking that their problems will be solved for them; motivated community members become participants
director becomes so busy that he/she doesn't have time to help actual people	facilitator's only job is to help actual people who are serious about doing something
no training is required for basic operation of this model; but there is an entire training industry devoted to trying to increase the effectiveness of this model	initial training is required in order to change organizational habits and behaviors, and LET GO of the ones that won't work, so as to succeed with this model
	requires a strong belief in the capacity, creativity, and responsibility of people in your community