Let’s face it: the nonprofit field has an elephant in the room we’ve been ignoring for too long. We think we know what’s best for our constituents and communities. We think we understand what our communities want and need, believing we have the answers to fix society’s problems. After all, we are nonprofit professionals—of course we have the answers to solve the world’s problems.

Here are five guiding principles to help you facilitate self-determination in the communities you serve.

1. View the community as the expert.

In my experience, the biggest risk of implementing a community-centered approach is ignoring what the community says. It’s not dissimilar from asking employees what they want and need—if you ask and then ignore the answers, you will breed distrust and disengagement.

2. Figure out how to access their knowledge.

It’s important to offer a variety of different ways of accessing community knowledge. That is, the more touch points you have with your community, the more opportunity you have for community feedback.

3. Compensate your community for their knowledge.

First of all, compensation is necessary because we are asking our community to do something on our behalf. We compensate our community because we recognize the sharing of their expertise as work. Of course, being part of the nonprofit sector, I don’t want to say time is money, but if we are going to serve our communities in the most equitable and antiracist way possible, we need to recognize—and compensate—the variety of different kinds of labor.

4. Continue the conversation via advisory groups.

While many nonprofits have board members who represent their constituencies, board members are usually recruited for their professional skills and fundraising ability rather than their experience being served by the nonprofit’s mission. An advisory board or committee can help bridge that divide.

5. Look for solutions within the community.

As aforementioned, Portland—like many other places—is currently undergoing a housing crisis. While external builders might be able to address this, we wanted to look within the community for another approach. We resell salvaged building materials and teach repair skills to our community members in order to promote affordable repair for homeowners, landlords, and renters, not just to keep building materials out of the landfill. Admittedly, this might not solve the current problem, but we are confident it presents a strategy to prevent further displacement while also teaching valuable skills to our community members.

Read the full article about community feedback by Jennifer Gwin at Blue Avocado.