Community Leader Guide
Action Plans
Who Can Help Us Develop an Action Plan?
The two remaining chapters on Volunteers and Fund raising will be relevant to your action plan. The section on Resources in the Appendix lists specific sources of help for the action planning stage.
How should we record our action plan?
If the tasks are fairly simple and well-understood, either of the two formats on the following page might be suitable.
| Goal:_________________________________________________________________________ |
| Objective:_____________________________________________________________________ |
| Major Action #_________________________________________________________________ |
| Person Responsible:_____________________________________________________________ |
| Timeline:______________________________________________________________________ |
| Resources Needed:_______________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ |
| Major Action #_________________________________________________________________ |
| Person Responsible:_____________________________________________________________ |
| Timeline:______________________________________________________________________ |
| Resources Needed:_______________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ |
| Project
Plan Goal:___________________________________________________________ Objective:_____________________________________________________ | ||
| Tasks | Person Responsible | Due Date |
| |
|
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The format below has been successfully used by many groups in carrying out complex projects involving several different actors.
Project work plan| Project: Purpose: | Coordinator: Committee: |
| Task | Who will do it? | Timeline: | |||
| Start | End | Cost | Resources | ||
| 1. | |||||
| 2. | |||||
| 3. | |||||
| 4. | |||||
| 5. | |||||
| 6. | |||||
| 7. | |||||
| 8. | |||||
| Completion Date: Results: | Notes: |
| Follow up needed: |
SOPPADA
The last step in your action plan will be to be clear about what kind of support you need from other groups. Communicating effectively with other groups is key in helping you achieve your goals. You may want volunteers, money, or their vote.
One simple way to communicate with other groups is to have a one-page summary about the situation. An easy way to remember what could go into the summary is SOPPADA:
- S=Situation: what is the overall situation that gave rise to the project. Describe the problem or need.
- O=Objective. What is your group's objective... what is it you want to achieve?
- P=Plan: Give a little more detail about the plan or proposal of how you will achieve that objective.
- P=Price: If you know some costs, list them... especially if you are seeking a financial donation from the group you are contacting!
- A=Advantages: What are the benefits to the particular group you are contacting of supporting this proposal? (you might change this for each group... think of it from their perspective)
- D=Disadvantages: If you don't tell them the possible disadvantages, they will think them up by themselves. It is better to get any possible problems on the table from the beginning.
- A=Action: Exactly what action do you want from the group? Do you want money? Manpower? Signatures on a petition? The more specific you are about what you are asking for, the more likely it is that you will get it!
Don't forget to include a SOPPADA summary in your action plan. This can be used to recruit and orient volunteers as well as funding sources.