Community Collaboration is the lifeblood of Performing Arts. Community engagement is the process of when a group of individuals are willing to work and learn collectively, on behalf of their communities to create and realize bold visions for the future. Community Engagement can involve informing citizens about your initiative, inviting their input, collaborating with them to generate solutions, and partnering with the community from the beginning to create a desired outcome together.
During the grant writing process, especially in regards to performing arts grants, we take into consideration the huge stakeholder that is the community. We accurately present these stakeholders and end-benefactors of grants and the ensuing cultural community benefits to grantors in a way that positively defines a community.
We recognize as community Performing Art grants are received, these key stakeholders move from being passive consumers of information to taking active leadership roles in their community.
- Passive approaches inform people about decisions or consult with them by asking them questions. This approach, however, does not bring the public into the decision-making process.
- Proactive approaches, on the other hand, give more control over decision-making to the public. They encourage the public to participate in the development of action plans that meet their needs and interests.
Engaging citizens is a critical component of any work that will impact the community in any way. It is about listening to the community’s needs and accurately reflecting them. Community Engagement increases community cohesion and allows for the community to have ownership over outcomes that better reflect their needs.
When we look at consulting on your next grant project, we take into mind not only your non-profit organization’s need for the grant, we holistically approach the grant writing process with every stakeholder and benefactor in mind.