Macro practice is very large that many issues can arise within in the advocating group for change. Three areas that can cause issues within the group include not enough community participation, not enough money to sustain the program and there is no clear direction or communication within the group.
Not enough community participation.
Most of the macro work that is done is with bringing a community together as a whole to make changes within society. This can be difficult because some individuals may feel strongly about the change but do not participate in the movement. Participation for the community is very important because they are the individuals know firsthand what they want changed or worked on. One way that one can involve the community would be to send out a survey to all of the individuals in the community. This is helpful because people who may not have the time to put into the group can still report on their feelings and concerns. Getting individuals to be a part of the group actively can be difficult but there are many things that can be done to help recruit individuals. The main group that you want to focus on is the group of individuals that will most benefit from the change. The group should also try and supply language translators, child care, transportation and convenient times to hold the meetings. Another thing that the group could do would be to provide some incentives like banquets, awards and social events to make the group more engaging and fun. Once there is a group of people formed and dedicated it is important to continuously recruit and train individuals so the group is strong and successful with change.
Not having enough money to sustain the program.
Money is a large issue within society and having the money for funding of different events. The number one thing that needs to be in place when dealing with money is developing financial stability. In order to develop financial stability there needs to be a leader that can develop the plan. In the development of the plan the leader needs to determine if the program will be long term and invested so it is worth advocating for the amount of money they are looking for. After the plan is on its way to being developed there needs to be someone that will let everyone know what is going on and what the plan is all about and the group needs to see what money they need and what money they want. In order to receive this money for support of the group there are different things that can be put into place for instance fundraisers or being a part of society’s tax dollars. Aside from fundraising and looking towards the society for raising money, grant writing is a possibility. Grant writing is great because the money is from local businesses, the government, corporations and foundations. These are just a few ideas for financial stability for a group and helping a group raise money for their purpose.
Not having a clear direction or communication within the group.
Having many individuals working together can get difficult because there are so many individuals that you need to communicate with. A way to keep the communication to make sure that everyone is on the same page would be starting by agreeing on the needs that need to be met within the society. Once there is an agreement on what the society’s needs are then development of an action plan needs to be put into place. In order to work all together individuals within the group need to be free from conflict and constantly communicating. Ideas on how to communicate with the group and society as a whole would be to post flyers, email, and word of mouth, create a website and/or send things postal mail. The main parts of communication are who, what and how. Who are you going to communicate the information to? What is going to be said through the communication? How are you going to communicate everything and get everyone on the same page? Communication is a large part of macro practice and community change so it is important to get all ideas organized and make sure everyone is in it together.
Bibliography
Troubleshooting Guide for Solving Problems. (2012). Retrieved February 14, 2012, from The Community Toolbox: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/solveproblem/index.aspx
You know what's funny....I picked the same exact 3 problems and no i didn't look at your post beforehand lol. I think you talk about some great ideas that are solutions to these problems. I really liked how you thought of supplying translators, transportation, and child care in order to try to make it more convienent for members to attend community meetings. That is something i didn't think of but is very important!! Great job!
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