Planning for a Community Meeting

Time available for preparing a community meeting depends on whether there is a crisis unfolding, or whether you are dealing with a chronic challenge. It also depends on whether you are aiming for the meeting to be a small group or a large one. 

An ideal time to start planning for a large community meeting would be 3 to 4 weeks prior, while 2 weeks are more than enough for a small community meeting. But life is more messy than that; people are usually swamped trying to make a living for themselves and their families, and when a crisis hits, urgent community meetings are required. 

In any case, it is crucial to plan in advance and be prepared for your community meeting!

• • Talk with your fellow organizers / co-leaders to determine the purpose and scope of the meeting.

  • Decide which community members or groups should be present at the meeting. Consider making a list of people or groups that need to be invited.

  • Think about the agenda, the activities and the best format for the meeting (for example, open house, roundtable discussion, focus groups, etc.). Make sure that these reflect participant needs, concerns and interests. 

  • Decide on your venue, date and time. Be mindful of what else is going on in your community. Choose the best time for community members to get the most participation (such as: not during most people's working hours, not too late in the evening). 

  • Consider the best communication channels to reach the most people, or the people in the community you most want to reach (flyers, newspaper, radio notices, social media posts, phone calls, letters, personal visits).

  • Consider providing refreshments or snacks and think about how you are going to ensure donations for these. Will it be a potluck, or are you going to seek donations from local stores and businesses? Sharing food is a great unifier. Be mindful of the environmental impacts of the cups and plates you are using, and if possible avoid using individual bottled water. Make sure to use recyclable materials.

 Ideally 2 weeks beforehand for large community meetings 

• Finalize your agenda and the activities supporting each agenda item. Don’t try to cram in too much! Keep it simple and -if possible- playful. 

• Make sure you communicate clearly the purpose and goals of the community meeting in the publicity material you are creating (See tips for stating your case in publicity materials).

• Use posters in community notice boards and local stores where people tend to gather for socializing. Use leaflets in places where people are likely to go. If possible, post flyers or send letters or emails to community members you want to reach out to. 

• Publish one or more pieces in the local paper (see Writing Press Releases), and create announcements for the local radio (See Tips for Radio & TV Interviews)  

• Send out regular social media posts, increasing frequency as the date of the meeting is approaching. See the page on Advertising Your Community Meeting for suggestions. 

• Speak to people directly and invite personally key participants. Call them, but if possible visit them. 

• Confirm that the radio and newspaper information has gotten to the right person and you are seeing results.

• Decide on the meeting roles: facilitator(s), notetaker(s), process observer or stacker, and timekeeper. Also, consider whether the meeting has to be recorded for future reference. In that case, decide how and who is going to record the meeting. 

• Gather up materials for PAR and other activities. Order or purchase supplies if needed, such as sticky notes, poster board, markers, paper, pens.

See more tips on advertising your meeting.

Two-three days prior to the meeting:

• Repost on social media, replace any flyers that have been taken down or fallen down.

• Finalize agenda, print out sign up sheets and any other handouts needed.

• Confirm your venue and refreshment suppliers.

• Send email reminders and make last-minute calls.

• Confirm with your co-leaders who will do what (open up venue, pick up refreshments, bring any supplies needed, be sure enough people will stay to clean up and always set yourself as a good example, helping at all posts when necessary). 

• Gather or purchase supplies if needed, any refreshments you need to supplement donations. 

Day of the meeting

• Repost on social media early in the day.

• Arrive early for the meeting.

Day after the meeting 

• Organize the materials produced during the meeting (e.g. community minutes, notes, recordings etc.) and write up follow-up reports, emails and press releases to share outcomes. 

• Write thank you notes to the venue, donors , etc.

The specific materials you will need to bring depend on which PAR methods you have chosen to use.

Here are some suggestions:

• Signup sheets on a clipboard

• 2 easels 

  1. set up with newsprint for exercises or recording responses

  2. agenda posted for everyone to see

• Boards with paper posted to them, or large newsprint for real-time coding 

• Video/audio equipment set up, including a microphone and camera to capture people’s stories with their audio (unless it is a sensitive issue where people will not want their image or words recorded)

• Handouts, including consent forms, county maps, project description flyers, and informational flyers

• Refreshments

•  Hand sanitizer

• Description of suggested values and actions to keep meetings on track and friendly for all ("ground rules").

• Use a variety of methods to advertise:

  • Word of mouth

  • Facebook or other social media posts and reminders

  • Emails

  • Flyers posted in public places and businesses

    • Create a list of good places to post paper flyers so you don't have to remember for each time - or - so you can ask other people to help you. 

    • Posting these flyers also gives you an opportunity to talk with people and answer their questions while you are out and about!

• Be sure to have a signup sheet at each meeting so you can contact people easily to let them know about future meetings and events.

• For more details, see Advertising your community meeting 

(consider that two sessions with a break may be enough for your community or the issue - try not to wear out your participants and remember they have other obligations)

Introduction ( __ minutes):

• Arrival station to sign-in and hand out materials

• Welcome and introductions

• Local facilitator introduces project, agenda, and ground values (see section on Facilitation Guide for a Community Meeting for examples of ground values)

• Project history, overview, and goals

First Session:  ( __ minutes):

• Purpose:

• PAR method

• Roles:

  • Facilitator

  • Note-taker / recorder (audio, video?)

  • Helpers

  • Refreshments

  • Set-up

  • Clean-up

• Guiding questions:

• Any planned follow-up?

Second Session: ( __ minutes):

• Purpose: 

• Prompts: 

• PAR Timeline

• Description:

• Roles: as above?

BREAK 15 minutes

Third Session: Title (__ minutes):

• Purpose: Discussion of Findings and Next Steps

• Materials needed: county maps, colored pens or markers

• PAR methods:

• Description:

• Roles: as above

Closing (10 minutes):

• Thank you's

• Next steps for attendees and how to stay involved in the project

• Call to action

Note: PAR (Participatory Action Research) is a research method that involves actively involving the community in all stages of the research process. It is used to empower communities and encourage them to take ownership of research projects that directly affect them.