Civic Action Project Overview

What is a CAP?
An important part of your experience in Youth LAB is the development of a Civic Action Project that you will be implementing in your home community before the exchange trip takes place in late 2011. A CAP is a community service project that aims to raise awareness and make a difference in an area about which you feel passionately - like the environment, education or social justice.

What's the purpose of my CAP team?

Your CAP teams were created to provide you with a group of peers who are equally interested in the subject you're focused on. Although you're all on a single team, it isn't a requirement that you work on the same project, but you should strive to share resources, ideas, information and encouragement to help your teammates.

How do I get started?

SEE IT: What is the problem?
Find something you think needs to change in your community and come up with a way to make it better.

Define your community. What is your community? Is it your neighborhood? Your school? Your city? What do you want to change? Try to map the strengths and weaknesses of your community. Take a walk around your community and observe good things as well as things that you would like to change. For example: Does every place seem safe? Are there things, places or services that are missing? Are there tensions between different kinds of people in the community? What issues do your community and peers care about? What stories in your local news make you feel angry or anxious? How are you going to change it? Use the internet, libraries, newspapers, documentaries, etc. to find out all you can. The more you know, the better prepared you'll be to face this problem and educate others. Research how other people are tackling the same issue. What programs and resources already exist? Chances are that other people have noticed the same problems that you have. What are community organizations and other NGOs doing to address the issue? Ask the people or community you are hoping to help. This may seem obvious, but people often forget to ask the people they are trying to help for their ideas. This dialogue can take the form of an informal discussion or a more formal survey. Ask your friends and neighbors for their ideas. Since you may need their help latter on, it's not a bad idea to get their input now. The earlier they get involved the more likely they are to help later on. Think creatively: Crazy ideas are good for getting the creative juices flowing. Don't be afraid to "think outside the box."

BELIEVE IT: Why is it important?

Changing the world can be tough work. If you believe in yourself and have a firm grasp on how your passion will pay off for yourself and your community, it'll be so much easier to keep going. It's important to not only pick a cause or an issue that you believe in, but it's also important that the community, especially the people you are trying to help, believe in your project as well. It is important to understand the problem you are trying to solve and be able to communicate the need and goals of your project to others. Explain "Why You"?: People invest in people, not just ideas. Illustrate your commitment, knowledge, and expertise. How has your life experience prepared you for this endeavor? What additional research have you done? Show the audience that you are real, genuine and passion-driven.

BUILD IT: What is the plan?

Nothing happens with an easy snap of the fingers. You have identified the problem and come up with an idea, now it's time to build your project and come up with action steps. The first step is setting up goals for your project. Your long term goal may be to end poverty, but if you think about your project in terms of measurable short term goals, you'll have an easier time making change.

Don't Over-Describe the Problem: Most people are aware of the overwhelming problems out there. Unless you've identified a completely overlooked problem, don't devote more than 90 seconds (one Power Point slide) of a conversation to this topic. Targeted is better, like saying "youth poverty" instead of "18-25 year olds in urban communities with untapped talent and potential who have limited access to job opportunities." Find the Emotional Hook: How will you get your audience to identify with your message? What can they personally relate to? Justify Your Model of Change: You've got to justify how your idea will generate change and help others. Get specific. How will launching an afterschool mentoring program really alleviate education inequalities? Make it Real: Describe how this is more than just an "idea." Present evidence that the need exists and that there is a demand for your solution. Give one or two powerful statistics to support the need for your project. Understand Your Audience: Everyone you speak to will have diverse perspectives, needs and potential roles in your project. Understand specifically who it is that you're talking to, what they do and don't need to hear, what words will speak to them most clearly, what is your ultimate ask. Fine-tune your approach for each listener. How are you going to measure you success? How big is the problem? 300 homeless people in your city? Could you collect 350 pairs of jeans for homeless teens? Identify the extent of the problem and exactly what impact you can have. How are you going to talk about your project? Now it's time to take the tips above and craft your project's messaging. If you're talking about getting jeans for homeless teens, develop your pitch: "1/3 of U.S. homeless are under the age of 18. The first thing they ask for when they arrive at homeless shelters is a pair of jeans. We're holding a Teens for Jeans drive at our school. Our goal is to collect over 400 pairs by adding a denim donation to the ticket price of our winter dance."

DO IT: Put your plan into action.

Set up Goals. Your long term goal may be to end poverty help the homeless, or use the power of music to help sick children, but if you think about your project in terms of measurable short term goals, you'll have an easier time making change. You should have 3- 5 measurable short term goals. Action Steps. After you have the parameters for your overall project developed out, the next step is to break the goals you came up with in the first step into action steps. For example: Goal: Get the local news to do a story on my project Plan: (1) Invite someone like a local celebrity or politician and the media to an event you're holding. (2) Make a list of all your local news outlets and research the best person to contact at each. (3) Write a press release and send it out to all the outlets on your list. (4) Create a packet of materials on your project (a Media Kit) that you can give to any media that attends your event. Map It Out. Give your project some structure. For example: 1. Timeline for the project 2. Resources you will need and where you will obtain them 3. Challenges you may face Other important things to think about in the build it stage include: 1. Creating a budget 2. Creating a marketing plan to get the word out about your project 3. Recording your progress; make sure to keep all your papers, flyers, and letters.

REFLECT: What happened? What's next?

Here is where you think about the goals you set up in the believe it step. Did you reach your goals? What would you do differently going forward or next time? Did you achieve so much success that you want to repeat the project again or keep it going? Even if you decide to keep growing your project past your original goals, it's important to regularly stop and reflect on your goals, celebrate your accomplishments and set new ones. If you don't reach all your goals, don't worry, that's what "next time" is all about. Some key questions you should answer at the end of any project are: What went well? Why? What could have gone better? How could you have improved it? Did you achieve your goals for the community and for yourself? What are your next steps? What else can you do? If you are holding an event, find someone to video record interviews with the guests for their feedback or have all the participants in your project take a survey.

What makes a CAP successful?

When thinking about how to set goals for your project, think SMART! S M Specific Measurable

A R T

Attainable Realistic Timely

Specific Goals should be very specific, clear, easy and emphasize what you want to happen. Specifics help us to focus our efforts and clearly define what we are going to do. What are you going to do? Use action words such as direct, organize, coordinate, lead, develop, plan, build etc. Why is this important to do at this time? What do you want to ultimately accomplish? How are you going to do it? Measurable If you can't measure it, you can't manage it. Choose a goal with measurable progress, so you can see the change occur. How will you see when you reach your goal? Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goals. Attainable When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills and financial capacity to reach them. Your begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals. Realistic This is not a synonym for "easy." Realistic, in this case, means' "do-able." Be sure to set goals that you can attain with some effort! Too difficult and you set the stage for failure, but too low sends the message that you aren't very capable. Timely Set a timeframe for the goal: for next week, in three months, in one year. Putting an end point on your goal gives you a clear target to work towards.

Where can I go for more resources?

Google! There are lots of fantastic resources out there for you, to explore. A few of our favorite online portals are below. www.servicelearning.org www.dosomething.org www.gysd.org