Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan

National Service Training Program

COMMUNITY
BASED
MANAGEMENT
At the end of the lesson, you 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.
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
Characteristics:
● A common system of values

● Normatively defined relations

● Interdependence

● Recognition of belonging

● System of stratification

● Locality
 
Social Functions:
 

Economic (production, distribution, consumption)  

Socialization

Social control  

Social participation

Moral support 
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

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
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.
Community Needs Assessment

• 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.
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.
 
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.
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.
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.
Essential Step in Conducting Needs Assessment

1. Write objectives.

2. Select audience.

3. Collect data.

4. Select audience sample.

5. Pick an instrument.

6. Analyze data.

7. Follow up.
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
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.  
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

Gaps

Challenges

Opportunities
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

Key Players 

Methodology

 Participation

Strengths and Limitations of Assessment 

Key Findings 

Recommendations and Next Steps

Stay Safe.
Make Good Choices.
Have Better Idols.
Set Good Examples.
Keep the Internet a Kind Place.