Background
Why Build Community? â—? We can accomplish more together than we ever could apart â—? Community has a mitigating effect on extreme behavior (we tend to behave better when we have neighbors)
How To Build Community? 1. Provide spaces for people to connect 2. Show the value of them connecting
Our Story
What prompted the Monthly Meetings? ● Taylors FBC wanted to get to know its neighbors to discern how to meet needs in the community ● Community gardening initiative started getting Taylors FBC in contact with people ● People were interested in gardening, but discerned at the core of it was a desire to get to know one another
How did the monthly meetings get started? Fall 2012–Spring 2014 Create the context: Community requires presence, presence requires place. We facilitated the space.
How did the monthly meetings get started? 1. Provide the space: We organize regular gathering where residents, business owners, and other interested parties of the Taylors community came together to form relationships.
How did the monthly meetings get started? 2. Protect the space: We do not allow individuals, organizations, or other parties to use TownSquare for personal or organizational goals but rather to build relationships.
How did the monthly meetings get started? 3. Promote the space: We promote the TownSquare in and outside the Taylors Community and encourage participants to do likewise.
How did the monthly meetings get started? No projects: Taylors TownSquare was originally organized to facilitate connection only, not to necessarily provide opportunities such as workdays and projects for people to accomplish together.
How did the monthly meetings get started? No projects 1. This provided people opportunity to encounter one another and build trust without the disagreeing over the particulars of a project. 2. Engaging in “projects� would undermine the neutrality of the space, undercut individual initiative, and compete for resources
Transition from Meetings to Nonprofit
Facilitation + Enabling | Nonprofit Organization Promptings 1. When people connect, ideas connect. When ideas connect, new ventures are born. 2. To ensure people had continued opportunities to connect and an agent to enable the outcomes of those connections, we created a nonprofit corporation.
Developed Purpose, Mission and Scope Mission Taylors TownSquare improves the Taylors, South Carolina Community by facilitating connections and enabling responses to those connections.
Scope Taylors TownSquare will use the Greenville County Planning study area to give definition to the Taylors Community. This definition is a good average of the many possible definitions of Taylors.
Adopted consistent definition of Taylors from Greenville County Planning
Mission: Facilitate + Enable Facilitate Connections ● Relational Strategy ● Physical Strategy
Enable Responses ● Communication Strategy ● Financial Strategy ● Real Estate Strategy
Facilitation + Enabling | Nonprofit Organization Facilitate 1. Relational – A healthy relational climate is critical to a healthy community. (i.e. Monthly Meetings)
Facilitation + Enabling | Nonprofit Organization Facilitate 2. Physical – Structured dialogue with organizations and individuals involved in planning the land-use policies for Taylors allows the community to have a voice in its future. (i.e. Greenville County Planning)
Facilitation + Enabling | Nonprofit Organization Enable 1. Communication – People in the Taylors Community need to be aware of opportunities to become informed and involved in Taylors and opportunities that impact Taylors. (i.e. Email List, Blog)
Facilitation + Enabling | Nonprofit Organization Enable 2. Financial – An open forum will yield new ideas from within the community, some of which will ultimately require financial support to come to fruition. (i.e. Taylors Art Group, Farmers Market)
Facilitation + Enabling | Nonprofit Organization Enable 3. Real Estate – As an unincorporated area, the Taylors Community will benefit from an organization that can acquire, own, exchange, transfer, and lease land for the public interest. (i.e. The Park at Taylors Mill)
We used this information to write our bylaws We then selected our Board of Directors Members
Facilitation + Enabling | Nonprofit Organization Defined Values â—? Our mission tells what to do â—? Values inform how we go about it
Facilitation + Enabling | Nonprofit Organization Values Better Together | We pursue opportunities that lead to individuals connecting with one another. This creates a stronger community.
Facilitation + Enabling | Nonprofit Organization Values Let Your Hair Down | We create spaces for interaction that allow people to express themselves freely. This creates an inclusive community.
Facilitation + Enabling | Nonprofit Organization Values Pioneering Spirit | We strive to move forward because we believe there is more over the horizon. This creates a visionary community.
Facilitation + Enabling | Nonprofit Organization Values No Fine Print | We provide the clearest information about why we do what we do. This creates a trusting community.
Key Takeaways
Clearly Defined Expectations ● Keep expectations low! ● Things will go wrong; plan for it. ● Manage expectations for any programming.
People First â—? Start with coffee and conversations, not architects â—? Find out what people are passionate about, and let the conversations grow
Collaboration, Collaboration, Collaboration… with Purpose
● Don’t be the expert; know the expert ● Working with other organizations is key ● Know what your non-negotiables are