What is Community Organizing?

“If you give a person a fish, the person will eat once.
If you teach a person to fish, the person will eat for the rest of life.
If you are thinking a year ahead, sow seed.
If you are thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree.
If you are thinking one hundred years ahead, educate people.
By sowing once, you will harvest once.
By planting a tree, you will harvest tenfold.
By educating people, you will harvest one hundredfold.”

-Kuzn-Tzu, 4th Century B.C.

Some Definitions

Community : A group of people with a continuing experience, tradition and history, who support and challenge each other to act powerfully, both individually and collectively, to affirm, defend and advance their values and self-interests.

Community Organization – A grouping of individuals and/or organizations who come together in order to have the power to be able to do together what they cannot do as individual, separate communities.

Community Organizing – A disciplined model that teaches ordinary people to develop the relationships, skills, leadership and strategies necessary to build powerful community organizations capable of involving significant numbers of community members in taking action toward creating lasting and positive community change.