The first step in designing (or redesigning) a program is to inventory your local assets and potentially identify local needs. “Asset” describes an individual or entity’s strengths and resources. An individual’s internal asset may be motivation, for example, whereas an external entity’s (e.g., community, school, or program) asset may be, for example, a community garden. The youth development movement has popularized the term as a way to shift the focus away from need and risk in individuals and communities.
Numerous strategies for identifying assets and needs in a community exist; two we discuss here are asset mapping and needs assessments. Be sure to include everyone who has a role to play in the program: families, youth, volunteers, staff members, school-day staff members and administrators, and community organizations. Input from each group can provide valuable insight and buy-in from your stakeholders. If you have not included these people in the past, you can always go back and do so. No statute of limitations exists for collaboration!
Asset mapping is a fun and interactive way to begin creating a vision and orienting your program team to the local context from a strengths-based rather than a deficit perspective. You can create an asset map with your advisory board, young people, and families.
Asset mapping has a variety of benefits. These include starting a conversation among people who may not know each other; identifying common strengths among members of your community; finding existing resources in the community, school, or neighborhood (these may be your future funders, partners, or advisory board members); and focusing on the positive rather than the negative.
We recommend starting this process with an internal (staff members only) asset map and reaching out to those external to your program (e.g., young people, families, local school staff members, community members, advisory board members, and program partners) soon after. Remember, it is important to have a shared internal vision before you engage others from the community. Use Tool 34: Asset Mapping to get started.
Another common method for learning the needs of your stakeholders is to conduct a formal needs assessment. A needs assessment is a process for determining the “gaps” between what currently exists and what your stakeholder groups desire. As with asset mapping, needs assessments are most effective when they incorporate multiple points of view. These assessments can be conducted through surveys, interviews, focus groups, public forums, a review of secondary data, or a combination of methods. In general, the needs assessment will incorporate questions about what people already have access to, what they would like access, and recommendations for how to provide access to those services. Use Tool 35: Conducting a Needs Assessment to begin thinking about your needs assessment.
A needs assessment has a variety of benefits, including understanding the unique needs of your community or setting; being able to precisely target the scope of services and offerings based on identified needs; and, if done in a participatory fashion, getting to know others in your community and opening conversations among stakeholders.
Sometimes resource constraints may influence your programming, but they shouldn’t be the primary factor in activity selection. If youth interest surveys or focus groups, teacher feedback, and other youth needs all suggest that an activity is needed but the resources are not currently available, you may want to look for other ways to offer the activity. When resources are scarce, work with young people, your advisory board, and other stakeholders to problem-solve about ways to get the needed resources. You shouldn’t work on this alone. Use your asset map to identify free or readily available resources. You also can partner with another organization to offer the program or a specific activity within the program. (See the section on partnerships and collaboration for more information on identifying potential partners.) Another option is to scale back the program but still offer it. You may choose to limit the number of participants or days per week the program is offered. Or you may decide to suggest the program to another organization that can offer it.
Do not allow an afterschool and expanded learning initiative to be on hold indefinitely simply because resources are not immediately available. Be creative and consider every option when trying to find help but also be mindful of where you turn for help. All individuals and organizations you work with should have a sound record, skilled leadership, and established merit.