Migration network analysis

Carbon dioxide consumption in honor of Earth Day on April 22

School districts using local foods

Food assistance costs falling

High cost of wetland restoration

Percentage on WIC support

Our colleagues at the University of Ireland Galway have a new graduate program to offer, the MA in Sustainable Communities and Development in either a one year (full-time) or two year (part-time ) format. The program combines sustainability studies with community development, planning and social policy. They describe it as: imparting a strong understanding of the significant social, economic, cultural, ecological and place-related concerns and potentials facing today's communities and prepares students to work as effective change agents towards more just and sustainable communities. In an effort to plan for and create more livable, equitable and resilient communities, this Programme equips students with the knowledge and skill-set to become skilled practitioners with transferable skills and knowledge to work effectively in and with community projects and initiatives in a wide range of areas. Please help spread the word about this new program in community development, and see more details at: http://www.nuigalway.ie/courses/taught-postgraduate-courses/sustainable-communities-development.html. Dr. Brian McGrath can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Great faculty and a fabulous location!

By Chris Marko, Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC), Community Development Society (CDS) Vice President of Operations

“The reality today is that we are all interdependent and have to co-exist on this small planet. Therefore, the only sensible and intelligent way of resolving differences and clashes of interests, whether between individuals or nations, is through dialogue.”

 - The Dalai Lama

As Community Developers we understand connections between programs, within communities, the environment. That is one of the fundamental reasons we call ourselves “community developers”. We do not focus on one issue, one program, and try to promote inclusive behavior to solve problems. Still, in our professions and lives we often face the challenge of limits, the need to exclude a particular issue from the dialogue or activity, the focus on a program deliverable for measurable outcomes. How do we balance the multiple values associated with community while maintaining focus on particular facets within community, our work, programs, and issues? CDS Principles of Good Practice can help overcome barriers within communities, programs, and issues to promote greater value in our work.

Listening to be inclusive is an important best practice that helps in community development work I work with small communities on water and wastewater projects. Rural communities often have limited staff, knowledge of programs, funding, and capacity to take on projects. In small towns folks tend to be individualistic, and at the same time, cooperative. Life is at a different pace than larger cities and work involves conversations about many things. It is not common for me to spend a significant amount of time listening and talking about the on goings within the community, stories about certain individuals, what is going on at the state level, how rural communities are left out of the equation. Still, my overall purpose is to help with the water project, but there is much more to the community than just the water project. By embracing the conversation, I am able to build trust, better understand people in the community, what is going on, and how to approach my work.  In addition, I learn about other needs and opportunities to assist the community. Even if I do not have the expertise, I try to find information, resources, and people who might be able to help. This is also another important aspect of being a community developer.

Knowing your program, expertise, or “niche” is important in being an effective community developer. At the same time, knowing as much about other programs and resources is important in providing valuable service to communities. Communities do not operate in a vacuum. They are dynamic, changing, sometimes daily, and programs are becoming more complex. It is rare a project is funded under one source so as community developers we must broaden our understanding of what is available to help communities achieve their goals. A benefit to this involves helping a community to think creatively about how they develop a project. What are some additional benefits a project may have to the community beyond water? Impact on other values. The community capitals framework, as well as other approaches including WealthWorks, promotes an understanding of values: intellectual, social, individual, environmental, built, political, and financial (and cultural depending on the model). By viewing the community in more holistic manner one can consider the potential impact on multiple values, and leverage additional resources one might not have considered with an initial project.

Collaboration is key to moving beyond silos in community development. In recent years funding for programs were cut at the federal, state, and local levels. Many folks lost their jobs, and agencies and organizations were forced to retreat into silos for survival. Keeping current services going became a priority, and many services discontinued. Collaboration and long range thinking became less important than day to day internal operations for many organizations to ensure accountability with programs, deliverables, and specific outcomes related to individual programs to show value to funders. During tough times our tendency may be to retract, but collaboration and partnership building can also have the benefit of opening doors to opportunities. In our modern world of information technology, complexity, and social media, networking is becoming more of the norm. Networks offer opportunities for learning, relationship building, and connectedness essential for communities, and community development. Part of the challenge becomes sorting through which information is most useful, or relevant, to goals you are trying to achieve! As our world continues to evolve through technology and understanding of connectedness we can find a wealth of opportunity at our finger tips, and by collaborating with others who align with our interests.  In community development, that interest involves expanding horizons to support community with dynamic, connected, mutually supportive people. CDS continues to foster best practices involving open inclusive behavior, understanding connections between people, programs, and issues, and collaboration for quality communities.  

By Dave Lamie

It's hard to believe that the middle of February has already passed us by. A recent notice of a dear friend learning that she has cancer and a colleague who suddenly lost her mother gives me pause. Many of you have experienced similar events either directly yourselves or in relation to family, friends, or colleagues. The more mature we come, the more often these reminders of life's fleetingness and human frailty occur. It as at these times that we may also encounter the power of community to help buoy us up to face the adversities of life.

One of my most memorable college teachers used to deliver a lecture entitled "the plow" to help us reflect on how we would respond to life's challenges. As the mule pulls the plow, it slices through the soil with forward momentum, leaving a clean, weed-free furrow behind. This represents our life when we feel we are making progress and all is going well. But, fields often have rocks laying hidden beneath the surface, and sometimes they are big and firmly planted. Some plows are built on a rigid frame, and when they hit such a rock, they often break, requiring substantial repair. Sometimes they are so broken they simply must be returned to the smelter. Technological advances produced a plow that would spring backward when it encountered the rock. The plow operator would need to stop and reset the heavy spring-loaded mechanism before proceeding. Some later tractor-driven models were similar, but they only needed the operator to stop and reverse the tractor in order to reset the blade. Later versions included an auto-reset feature that would trip the blade back when it hit the rock, but it would automatically reset; no stopping or reversing required.

The question left with us at the end of this talk was "what kind of plow are you"?  How will you respond to the challenges that life brings you. We know that it is part of the human condition that we will face many challenges in our lives. We surely have some choice over how we will respond to these challenges and that we can likely build resiliency and capacity as individuals to help. But, what roles can the community play to help strengthen and build the networks of support necessary for individuals to be more resilient? What can we do collectively that individuals cannot do for themselves? Who are those in our communities that are not benefitting from what the community can provide them? Can a robust community that truly cares for and provides for all individuals expect reciprocity from those individuals who benefit? Can we, as community developers, truly help to create these kinds of communities or is this just too daunting a task?

As we all make preparations to gather at our annual conference in July in Lexington, Kentucky, I challenge you to consider how important it is that we, as community development practitioners, find our own community of interest to help support us in the daunting challenge of, each in our own way, helping to create communities that make a strong and lasting impact on the lives of individuals. Never has it been more important for all of us to have a strong network of friends and colleagues who are bound by a common interest in making this world a better place through making stronger, more resilient communities. We hope to see you there!

Each year we invite you to reflect on the outstanding accomplishments made in the field of community development as we issue the call for award nominations.  The Society may present up to nine awards annualy that recognize long-standing service to the organization, outstanding and innovative research, teaching and programs, and the students, new professionals, and friends that help ensure our pracitce endures.  

The full call for award nominations and nomination form is available here.  Nominations are due by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by March 15, 2015.  Award recepients will be honored formally during the annual Awards and Recognition Banquet that will take place during the Annual International Conference that will be held on July 19-22, 2015 in Lexington, Kentucky.  

Summaries of the awards presented by the Society are listed below. Please consider submitting a nomination to recognize the oustanding accomplishments of your colleagues and friends.

Duane L. Gibson Distinguished Service Award

Presented to a CDS member in recognition of superior and long-standing service to the field of community development, and, in particular, work for the advancement of the Society.  Current officers and Board members are not eligible for this award.

Ted K. Bradshaw Outstanding Research Award

Presented to a CDS member in recognition of a significant stream of superior research which exemplifies and positively impacts community development practice and represents a lasting contribution to the field. The award will recognize research which reflects the Principles of Good Practice throughout the research process. Only one Outstanding Research Award may be bestowed by the Society each year.

Community Development Achievement Award

Presented to a CDS member in recognition of his or her outstanding contribution to community development.  The person may be recognized for teaching, research, programming, administration or any combination of these roles.

Outstanding Program Award 

Presented to a CDS member or a group in recognition of completion of superior programming that exemplifies and positively influences community development practice.  The award will recognize a program that reflects the Principles of Good Practice throughout the implementation process.

Innovative Program Award

Presented to a CDS member or a group in recognition of a superior innovative program using the principles of good practice as adopted by the Society.

Donald W. Littrell New Professional Award

Presented to a CDS member in recognition of a superior contribution to the field of community development and the Society.

Current Research Award

Presented to a CDS member in recognition of a current research project(s) or product that represents an important contribution to the field of community development.

Student Recognition Award

Presented to a CDS member who is either an undergraduate or graduate student, in recognition of his or her contribution to community development through a paper, an article, a field project or internship, or other applied research.

Friend of Community Development Award

Presented to a person who is not a CDS member, but who has made a significant contribution to the field of community development.  This contribution could have been accomplished through his or her role as author, educator, administrator (public or private sector), community organizer, or elected or appointed official.

For those of you who have been involved in the Community Development Society for a long time, the name Del Yoder probably rings a bell. He was quite involved in the Society until his retirement from West Virginia University about 15 years ago or so.

Unfortunately, Del, 83, of Morgantown, WV, died Jan. 30, in Bali, Indonesia. He was hiking in the green hills near Ubud when he slipped at the rim of a deep ravine and was instantly killed. Delmar Ray Yoder was born in Kalona, Iowa. He is survived by his wife, Linda; three sons; and four grandchildren.

An early volunteer experience at Calling Lake, Alberta, Canada, set a pattern for his life. After receiving a degree in biology in 1961, from Eastern Mennonite University, Del and his wife went to Timor, Indonesia, where they managed a program of village-level agricultural education and community development. This program introduced a high-yield corn seed that helped the early season food shortage.

Del earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Wisconsin before going to work at Iowa State University as an Extension Community and Economic development Specialist. His next appointment was at West Virginia University in a similar role. During the years in WV, he created Owl Creek Farm, where he did mixed farming and rescued and restored old log buildings. He is best known for his strawberries. He was a member of the Clinton District Volunteer Fire Department. Del was an officer in the Community Development Society, a member of the Rural Sociological Society, active in the North American Strawberry Growers Association and a regular participant at the Creative Problem Solving Institute. He was a lifelong member of the Mennonite Church.

A remembrance service was held in Bali on Feb. 3, attended by friends from many nations, followed by a cremation. A celebration of his life will be scheduled later in Morgantown. Donations in his memory are invited to two of the many causes dear to his heart: care for the environment and teaching peace for a better world. Contact The Nature Conservancy, at nature.org, or the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, at emu.edu/cjp. Condolences may be sent to the family at: 640 Goshen Road, Morgantown, WV 26508-2431.

The New Zealand community Development conference www.unitec.ac.nz/cdconference has sold out and closed registration. A waiting list is beink kept by conference manager abhishek, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. All conference papers are now online

best wishes

John Stansfield

Conference chair

By Cindy Banyai

Did you know there is a Jobs Forum on the new Community Development Society website? It's one of the great new members-only features we've added. The forum is a way for hard working CD job seekers to better connect with opportunities that are aligned with their skill set. Here's how to access it:

1. Login to the CDS website
2. Scroll and and click "Forum" in the bulleted list under the login box
3. Click the right index tag (although many of the most recently posted jobs will be right there in front of you on the landing page!!).
4. Check out all the great jobs in Community Development

Hope that helps! Good luck!

Editor's Pick 2014: Best of Charts of Note - USDA

I am the current Editor of CDS's Community Development. My tenure will end in July 2015. Proposals for the new Editor are being accepted. You can contact Abbie Gaffey for more information (see below). --John Green

-----
Call for Proposals
Editor for the Community Development Society’s Journal
Community Development

Position to be filled August 2015

Community Development is a well-respected interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal on community development issues. The journal is internationally recognized as a high quality outlet for scholarly and applied research and practical applications. Community Development is published five times per year. This schedule incorporates two special issues on specific topics, edited by Guest Editors working with the Editor. The journal is published electronically and in print by Taylor & Francis, and the editorial process involves use of ScholarOne, an online management program.

If you are interested in applying to serve as Editor of Community Development, please contact Abbie Gaffey, Chair of the Communications Committee. She can provide more information on the criteria and proposal process.

Abbie Gaffey
Community Development Society Secretary & Chair of the Communications Committee
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(712) 539-1169

By Gisele Hamm

Keynote Speaker, Michael Rios

One of the highlights of this year’s conference will be the engaging keynote speakers that will be joining us including Michael Rios. Michael is associate professor of urban design and chair of the Community Development Graduate Group at the University of California, Davis. Drawing from architecture, human geography, and urban planning, his research and writing focuses on marginality and the social practice of design, planning, and community development. Critical essays have appeared in The Informal American City: Beyond Taco Trucks and Day Labor, Insurgent Public Space: Guerrilla Urbanism and the Remaking of Contemporary Cities, Beyond Zuccotti Park: Freedom of Assembly and the Occupation of Public Space, and Expanding Architecture: Design as Activism. His co-edited book, Diálogos: Placemaking in Latino Communities, takes note of how Latinos are shaping the American landscape and considers how these changes both challenge and offer insight into placemaking practices in an increasingly multi-ethnic world. Michael is past president of the Association for Community Design and the inaugural director of the Hamer Center for Community Design. He received his Ph.D. in Geography from The Pennsylvania State University and Master of Architecture and Master of City Planning degrees from the University of California, Berkeley.

Fitting with our theme of Creativity and Culture, Michael’s keynote presentation will be “Negotiating the Place of Culture and the Culture of Place.” Unlike the problems of sprawl, environmental degradation, and climate change, there are no straightforward technical solutions to working more effectively with culturally diverse communities. In this plenary session, Michael Rios will discuss the difference that culture makes and how places can be viewed as sites of world-making through negotiations of belonging, authorship, and power to establish what groups can expect of one another. Negotiations are the basis for agreements and provide shared experiences that maintain relationships into the future. These “cultural contracts” measure the degree to which values and commitments are exchanged between groups—including professionals and the publics they purport to serve. Implications for community development include greater attention to cross-cultural practices between individuals and among different social groups to determine why place matters, for whom, and with what results.

Conference Abstract Submissions

If you have not yet submitted your abstract for a presentation at the CDS conference, there’s still time! The deadline for conference abstracts is Saturday, January 31, 2015. Instructions on submitting an abstract is available here: CDS Call for Abstracts Instructions. The online submission form can be accessed here: CDS Online Abstract Submission Form.

Pre-Conference Workshops

Proposals are being accepted through Sunday, February 15, 2015 for pre-conference workshops. CDS currently has space to accommodate a limited number of pre-conference workshops to be held on Sunday, July 19^th in conjunction with the Annual Conference.   More information can be found here:  CDS Pre-Conference Workshop Proposals.

Please join us in Lexington in July as we celebrate Creativity and Culture in Community Development!

By Dave Lamie

Call for Submissions

(Workshops, Paper/Program Presentations, Panel Sessions & Posters)
2015 Annual Meeting of the Community Development Society

Hilton Lexington Downtown Hotel

Lexington, Kentucky– July19-22, 2015

Deadline: January 31, 2015, 11:59p.m. (Central Standard Time)

Creativity and Culture: Community Development Approaches for Strengthening Health, Environment, Economic Vibrancy, Social Justice and Democracy

Community activists and developers are integrating the arts and culture into building vibrant communities. Increasingly, groups and organizations are leveraging the arts and imagination to engage citizens in community development. In doing so, they create places and organizations that support economic diversity and strengthen the aesthetics of communities. There is a growing awareness that the arts can serve as a vehicle to bring people together. There is interest in making places more intentionally open for diverse economic opportunities and fostering connections across cultures which makes communities more vibrant and welcoming.

Culture is also gaining more attention in community development as society becomes more diverse through demographic shifts including greater concentrations of the elderly, immigrants, ethnic diversity, and counter-culture movements. As a result, it could be argued that there isn’t a single public but multiple publics. Community developers are challenged to be culturally aware and sensitive as they weave these multiple publics together into a community of shared vision, interests and investment.

The 2015 Community Development Society conference offers a platform for dialogue about community development with an emphasis on the roles of creativity and culture in framing community issues and responses. We invite you to join us July 19-22, 2015 in Lexington, Kentucky in the heart of the world’s most avid horse culture, to share your research and learning about how the arts and creative expression are strengthening the bonds of communities around the world.

This venue provides opportunities for spirited and lively exchanges about community development practice, learning, and scholarship. Won’t you join us?

Who Should Submit a Proposal?

Anyone who has engaged in community development work, especially work related to the conference theme, is encouraged to submit a proposal.
It is the goal of the Program Committee to formulate a balanced mixture of accepted submissions with pre-selected speakers, mobile learning workshops, our annual banquet, business meeting, off-site hosted events, and other networking opportunities. Every consideration will be given to creating an event from which all participants will substantially benefit.

How to Complete Your Submission:

Beginning Thursday, November 20, submissions will be accepted at:
http://comm-dev.org/about-us/2015-conference/call-for-abstracts

The following instructions provide you with a step-by-step process for submitting an abstract for the 2015 annual meeting:

STEP 1: Complete Contact Information

Please provide the following information: (a) date of your submission; (b) your name; (c) organizational affiliation; (d) email address;(e) complete mailing address (include specific department or bureau, if applicable); (f) telephone and fax numbers; and (g) name/email of your additional presenter(s).

STEP 2: Enter the Title of Your Proposed Presentation

STEP 3: Specify the Topic from the List that Most Closely Reflects the Nature of Your Submission.

Conference organizers will be reviewing submissions based on two areas: conference sub-themes and Community Development Society tracks. Please select a conference sub-theme (such as health, environment, social justice, and so on) and a CDS track (such as general community development, planning and evaluation, community development education,and so on).

Submissions relating to any of the sub-themes and CDS tracks on this list will be reviewed. A description of each sub-theme and CDS track can be found at the end of this document.

NOTE: These conference sub-themes and CDS tracks are designed to help the Program Committee determine the breadth of submissions being considered for the 2015 meeting. Please note that the final session themes and tracks that appear in the conference program may differ from those listed.

STEP 4: Indicate the Format of Your Presentation.

You have SEVEN PRESENTATION OPTIONS from which to choose. Below are the formats you can choose and the amount time associated with each format:

NOTE: The time and locations specified below are intended to serve as general guidelines. Please note that they maybe subject to change in the event that submissions that are approved for presentation at the 2015 meeting exceed expectation:

30 Minute Sessions (20 minute presentation, 10 minutes discussion)

Research Paper: Showcasing community development theory, methodological advances, or applied studies

-- or --

Practice/Outreach Program: Highlighting an innovative project/program you have implemented that is having a positive impact on people, communities, and/or regions

60 Minute Sessions (Allow at least 10 minutes for discussion)

Small Panel Session: Organizing 3-5 individuals with a diversity of perspectives on a topic of importance and relevance to the community development field

-- or --

Innovation Session: Propose an entirely “out-of-the-box” innovative session that connects with the Creativity and Culture theme of the conference while demonstrating the CDS Principles of Good Practice

90 Minute Sessions (Allow at least 15 minutes for discussion)

Workshop: An in-depth, interactive session sharing an innovative program or project that CDS members might be able to readily adopt in their own communities

-- or –

Large Panel Session: Organizing at least 4 individuals with a diversity of perspectives on a topic of importance and relevance to the community development field

Poster: Displaying your research practice efforts through the use of a poster (will be showcase data special time during the meeting)

STEP 5: Select up to Three Acceptable Format Options for Your Proposed Presentation:

Since it will be unlikely that we can accommodate all requests for the various types of presentation formats, you are urged to provide upto three acceptable options for your presentation. For example, if your first choice is to do a workshop but we are unable to accommodate your request, give us your second choice in terms of the format for your presentation. Likewise, if a third choice is acceptable, please provide that as well. For example, would you be willing to present in a Practice/Outreach session as a second choice or in a Poster Session as a third choice? Just let us know your top three preferences (in priority order) in terms of the format for your presentation.

STEP 6: Provide an Abstract of Your Proposed Presentation (300 word limit)

STEP 7: Prepare a shorter, 50-word Summary of Your Proposed Presentation

(for display in conference program, if accepted).

STEP 8: Indicate if You Will Need any Audio-Visual Equipment.

Please tell us what specific equipment you will need. NOTE: Overhead projectors, LCD projectors (for PowerPoint presentations) and audio equipment will be available for your use. However, you must bring your own laptop for your presentation or make plans with another person in your session to use his/her laptop.

STEP 9: Provide an electronic copy of your abstract.

STEP 10: Does Your Submission Embrace the CDS Principles of Good Practice?

Your work should embrace the Community Development Society’s Principles of Good Practice. Please review these principles highlighted at the end of this document. Place a checkmark in the“YES” box if you agree that your submission is consistent with these principles. These principles can be found at the end of this document.

STEP 11: Explain How Your Submission Relates to the Creativity and Culture Conference Theme

Deadline Date:
All proposals must be submitted using the CDS online submission system by 11:59 p.m., SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 (Central Standard Time).

A Special Note to Our International Association for Community Development Colleagues and Other International Participants:

We welcome our IACD and other international colleagues to take part in the 2015 CDS Conference. Named in the top 50 places to visit in a lifetime by National Geographic Traveler, Lexington, Kentucky will provide an enriching experience for you while you are in the United States.

We urge you to submit well-developed abstract proposals to be part of this great event. Due to the additional time needed by many of our international conference participants to arrange for travel to the United States for the July 2015 conference, we are providing a limited opportunity for you to submit your conference abstract and receive an earlier confirmation regarding the acceptance of your presentation. While the official date for general abstract acceptance notification will be in March 2015, we are setting aside a limited number of slots for early notification for international submissions. Thus, if you submit your conference presentation proposal by December 15, 2014, we will notify you of your proposal acceptance/non-acceptance by Thursday, January 15, 2015. If you are notified that your abstract is accepted as a presentation for the 2015 CDS conference, you will receive a registration form with your acceptance email so that you may register early. Please note: All international colleagues are welcome to submit abstracts during the regular call for abstracts timeframe if they do not wish to submit for the early notification option.

Please note that the CDS does not have sufficient resources to help defray the travel expenses of our international attendees. However, if you’re a CDS member, you may be eligible to apply for one of the travel scholarships available for members taking part in a conference outside of their home continent.
An announcement regarding the 2015 travel scholarship application process will be released during the early part of 2015, so you are encouraged to review the guidelines once they are released to see if you might be eligible to apply. The announcement will be posted on the CDS website.
Conference Registration and Hotel Reservations:

Information on the annual registration fee and hotel rates/reservation process will be available on the CDS website soon. Please check this site for up-to-date information on the 2015 conference: www.comm-dev.org.

Questions?
Conference Program Questions:Feel free to submit any questions about the 2015 program to Gisele Hamm, CDS Vice President for Programs at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Online Submission Questions: For issues with the proposal submission process, Please contact Karen Holt at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CDS Principles of Good Practice

We believe that adherence to the Community Development Society's Principles of Good Practice are essential to sound community development.

• Promote active and representative participation toward enabling all community members to meaningfully influence the decisions that affect their lives.
• Engage community members in learning about and understanding community issues, and the economic, social, environmental, political, psychological, and impacts associated with alternative courses of action.
• Incorporate the diverse interests and cultures of the community in the community development process; and disengage from support any effort that is likely to adversely affect the disadvantaged members of a community.
• Work actively to enhance the leadership capacity community members, leaders, and groups within the community.
• Be open to using the full range actionstrategies to work toward the long-term sustainability and well-being of the community.

The CDS 2015 Conference Theme is:

Creativity and Culture: Community Development Approaches for Strengthening Health, Environment, Economic Vibrancy, Social Justice and Democracy

1. Please select at least one of the following conference sub-themes:

Creative Community Development Approaches for Strengthening Health
Presentations focusing on research and effective process for integrating community development and improving health.

Creative Community Development Approaches for Strengthening the Environment
Presentations focusing on research and effective process for integrating community development and improving environmental conditions.

Creative Community Development Approaches for Strengthening Economic Vibrancy
Presentations focusing on research and effective process for integrating community development and strengthening economic vibrancy.

Creative Community Development Approaches for Strengthening Social Justice
Presentations focusing on research and effective process for integrating community development and addressing social justice.

Creative Community Development Approaches for Strengthening Democracy
Presentations focusing on research and effective process for integrating community development and engaging citizens or strengthen democracy.

Creative Community Development Approaches for Strengthening Social or Cultural Well-Being
Presentations focusing on research and effective process for integrating community development and strengthening social or cultural well-being.

2. Please select one of the following CDS tracks:

General Community Development Practice and Process
Presentations focused on community development practices, processes, and theories broadly defined.

Planning and Evaluation
Presentations focused on planning and evaluation as utilized in community development processes and practices.

Community Development Education
Presentations related to teaching and education of community development theories, processes, and practices in classrooms or other educational settings.

Scholarship and Research
Presentations focused on research and scholarship related to community development.

Community Leadership
Presentations related to leaders and leadership in community settings.

Economic Development
Presentations focused on the practices, processes, and theories of community economic improvement.

Rural Community Development
Presentations focused on the practices, processes, and theories of community development in rural settings.

Youth in Community Development
Presentations about the role of youth in community development practices, processes, and theories.

International Community Development
Presentations related to community development practices, processes, and theories in international settings.

By Dave. Lamie

Your Board of Directors just invested a couple of days in Lexington, Kentucky, carrying out the business of the organization and in a strategic planning activity designed to help us focus on priorities for the coming year and beyond. As we further refine our thinking we fully intend to engage the committees and broader membership in this process. I was very encouraged by how well we all worked together and how passionate each and every member is about the our shared vision and future success of YOUR organization. Stay tuned for more details and then join with us to help make CDS the global lifelong learning partner for CD professionals.

We heard from the Lexington-based Local Host Committee about their plans for the 2015 conference. I will leave those details to the Program Committee and or local hosts to provide. But, I have confidence in saying that "You will not want to miss this one!"

Now is the time to consider how you want to be involved in CDS. Do you want to work with a committee? Do you want to present at conference? Do you want to write an article? Do you want to serve as a reviewer? How about serving as a journal editor!? Do you want to run for office? Do you want to make a financial gift? Or, do you want to participate in some other way? Just let us know and we will help you.

Remember that CDS is a community unto itself and should serve as a bright example of how we hope the communities we serve will function. We will never be perfect in this regard  And one person's perfection is another's hell, but we should always be seeking to improve, to learn from our mistakes, to be inclusive of all voices, and to celebrate our achievements. We cannot pretend to be such an example unless and until we see our membership engaged at many levels, motivated not by guilt or shame, but by a true desire to participate in something bigger than self, something that reciprocates by providing the nourishment necessary to sustain you in your chosen profession of community development.

By Cindy Banyai

Executive Summary

This report discusses the composition of the 2014 Community Development Society (CDS) obtained from the membership roster and the most recent Membership Survey.

This information is being analyzed to better inform the CDS marketing strategy, as well as to tailor conference components (mobile workshops).

Here are the top findings:

• Members report being a part of CDS for an average of 11.3 years. They are largely from the Midwest, but there is a sizeable international component of the membership.
• Aside from community development specifically, members are most involved with planning and evaluation, education and training, and dealing with projects and programs.
• Networking, knowledge sharing and learning, and the journal and publications are the most valued components of being a member of CDS.

Membership data from 2011-2014 has also been analyzed to better understand the year to year membership retention rates and to set targets for future growth in this area. The major findings are that we have a major issue with membership retention, with only 40% of members renewing consistently. The issues stem from a lack of continued value for conference-local memberships and problems with the membership renewal system.

The Membership Committee requests $6,000 in 2015 to help address some of these recommendations.

Membership Composition

Average member reports being involved with organization for 11.3 years

Where are CDS members from?

Only a few members in each state, but membership is Midwest-heavy

Top Origins of CDS Members 2012-2013

1. Minnesota (12.5%)
2. Kentucky (7%)
3. Wisconsin (6.2%)
4. Ohio (5.4%)
5. Missouri (5.4%)
6. Illinois (4.7%)
7. Canada (4.7%)
8. New York (3.1%)
9. International (3.1%)

 What areas do CDS members work in?

1. Community Development
2. Planning and evaluation
3. Education/teaching/training
4. With programs/projects
5. Research
6. Economics
7. Rural
8. Leadership
9. Extension
10. Government
11. Youth
12. Business
13. Urban
14. Volunteers
15. Health
16. Tourism
17. Sustainability

What career difference does CDS make?

1. Networking
2. Knowledge sharing and learning
3. Journal/Publishing

This is consistent with what members like about CDS. In the member survey, people most often identified the connections they make through CDS as what they like the most, followed by the publications, and knowledge sharing.

Membership Retention

The findings from analyzing year to year membership lists, as well discussing with other Directors and Julie While from the management office, is that there is a core membership of 135 or so members the sign up every year (2011-2014 puts number at 106). This number is low because of some of the peculiarities of the CDS membership process being associated with the conference. The main issues with this include: a large single-year membership contingent from the conference host area dedicated members who can get the discounted membership rate for 2 conferences, but skip paying years.

Data Analysis highlights:

• Consistent membership 2011-2014: 106 members, 40% of total memberships between 2011-2014. This demonstrates a tremendous issue with overall membership retention.
• 38% of memberships (295 out of 800) between 2011-2014 were only members for 1 year. This data relates to the issue with regional membership in conference areas, but indicates a lack of apparent continued value and outreach to colloquial members.
• 2013-2014 to 2014-2015 retention rate (through July 2014) = 47% according to CDS management office, but analysis of 2011-2013 shows a much lower number of 40%
• 35 people were only members from 2011-2013, 37 people were only members from 2012-2014, and 15 people had gap years in their membership. All of this information points to issues with the membership renewal process.

Potential rationale for retention issues

• Lack of consistent membership outreach – Some members only stay a short time because they cannot find a home in the organization and have difficulty connecting to value of membership (especially if not publishing), this could potentially isolate practitioners
• Lack of consistent membership renewal reminders and ease of renewal process - even long time members have gap years because of lapses in the membership process
• Conferences are too colloquial – the locals who attend the conferences cannot find benefit to continued membership beyond the conference year

Membership Committee 2015 Budget Proposal

2014 -2015 Committee Members

Cindy Banyai - Co-Chair

Dan Kahl - Co-Chair

Sharon Gulick

Chris Marko

John Gulick

Rani Bhattcharyya

Kathy Macomber

Johanna Reed Adams

Tracy Marlo-Daugherty

Dennis Deerey

Christopher Cotton

Paul LaChapelle

James Wilcox

Kurt Mantonya

John McNutt

Beth Nagy

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