COMMUNITY ORGANISING TRAINING

2. Understanding Power and Purpose

Recognising How Collective Strength Creates Change


To lead effectively, you need to understand both why you are organising and how power works in your community.

Power is often misunderstood. It is not simply control or authority. In community organising, power is the capacity to act together. It is the ability of people, resources, and relationships to influence outcomes.


Understanding power helps you see where influence lies, how decisions are made, and how communities can shape those decisions when they are organised around a clear purpose.

1. Defining Power in Organising


Every community already holds some form of power. It might be social relationships, practical skills, local knowledge, or shared identity. The task of an organiser is to recognise these existing strengths and connect them so that they can be used effectively.


Power can come from:

  • The number of people who share a common goal
  • The relationships that build trust and cooperation
  • The ability to communicate and mobilise others
  • The respect and credibility your group earns through its actions


When these elements are organised around a clear purpose, they become influence.


Practice:

  • List the types of power your community already has. This might include active volunteers, local networks, supportive businesses, or community groups.
  • Identify what kind of power your Association currently uses most. Is it people, information, relationships, or reputation?
  • Ask yourself where your influence is weakest and what connections might strengthen it.


Trainer’s Reflection:
I learned early that power is not a bad word. Communities often avoid talking about it, but every group that wants to make a difference needs it. Once I started seeing power as a shared resource rather than personal control, I understood that organising was about building capacity, not competing for authority.

2. Linking Power to Purpose


Power is only useful when guided by purpose. Purpose gives direction, boundaries, and meaning to collective effort.


It answers three questions: Why are we acting? Who are we acting for? What do we hope to achieve?

An Association without a defined purpose can drift from issue to issue without lasting progress.

A clear purpose gives focus to meetings, unites members, and helps others understand what you stand for.


Try this approach:

  • Write one sentence that describes your Association’s purpose. Keep it short, active, and specific.
  • Ask others in your group to do the same, then compare your statements.
  • Discuss where they overlap. The shared words and themes reveal what truly motivates your group.


In Practice:

During our early organising work, we asked every person why they thought our group existed.

Some said it was to protect local heritage, others said it was to give people a voice.

By writing those phrases on a board and talking through them, we created a shared purpose that everyone could own: to represent and strengthen the heritage of our community through action and participation. That single sentence shaped every campaign that followed.

3. Using Power Responsibly


With power comes responsibility. Communities that act collectively must ensure their influence is used fairly and transparently.


A healthy Association uses its power to improve representation, encourage participation, and serve the wider community, not to dominate or exclude others.


Reflection:

  •  How can your Association use its power to include rather than to influence alone?
  •  What practices will keep your group accountable to its members and its purpose?
  •  Who is affected by your campaigns, and how can you involve them in decisions?



Trainer’s Insight:

I discovered that how you use power matters as much as whether you have it. A campaign can succeed on paper but fail in spirit if it leaves people feeling unheard or excluded. The most effective Associations are those that build power through respect and use it to open doors, not close them.

Summary


Understanding power and purpose is about knowing what drives your Association and how to turn shared conviction into collective influence.


By connecting relationships, skills, and purpose, you transform potential into organised capacity.


This knowledge prepares you for the next stage: identifying issues and setting goals that focus your power where it matters most.



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