SUBJECT TITLE : Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship

MODULE TITLE : Planning and Resource Mobilization

MODULE NO : 13
NOMINAL DURATION : 4 Hours
LEARNING OBJECTIVE : At the end of this module, the students will be able to:
1. develop a community action plan using participatory approaches;
2. explain the principles of participatory action planning and resource mobilization;
3. apply the steps and guidelines of participatory action planning and resource mobilization and realize their importance;
4. experience basic participatory action planning and resource mobilization; and
5. realize the ethics and values of participatory action planning and resource mobilization.

Definition of Planning: There are various definitions of planning, but the most common pertains to the process of
formulating plans, wherein setting goals, developing activities and strategies, establishing policies and procedures,
phasing of implementation, and allocating resources are involved and would support the whole plan and its
implementation.
Having a plan is essential in any organization, community, or institution. Emily Gantz McKay (2001)
mentions the importance of planning, and these are the following:
● Planning is a substantial requirement and necessity for organizational leadership, administration,
management, and governance.
● Most organizations recognize the need to regularly set program goals, objectives, and operational plans.
● Planning is critical in making decisions especially in the midst of continuous dynamics of context or reality.
Aside from the aforementioned importance of planning, the success of the plan and its actual
implementation also depends on its objectives, scope of engagement, and the manner through which it is achieved.

Participatory Action Planning and its Importance: In a community setting, stakeholders refer to the community or
local government unit officers; interested community members; people from involved agencies, schools, and
institutions in the community; and community members who will directly gain from a specific project or program.
The kind of planning which gives importance to an agency's genuine involvement and active participation
of different stakeholders is called Participatory Action Planning (PAP). The said stakeholders particularly refer to
the marginalized community members, who are usually excluded in the development agenda. PAP believes in a
development principle of “from the people, by the people, and for the people.” It also serves as a mechanism for
hearing the voices of the poor stakeholders in the community.
Let us cite some important points of PAP based on the different development practices:
● PAP unifies the different opinions, feelings, positions, views, perspectives, and recommendations of
members or participants.
● Because of efforts to unify, PAP minimizes the conflicts between opposing ideas, individuals, and groups.
Common ground and stand are always products of collective decision-making.
● PAP opens space and opportunities for the poor, excluded, and marginalized sectors to participate in the
planning process.
● PAP allows community members to have control of and access to their lives’ resources.
To be more concrete, there are additional important points of participatory planning:
● Participatory planning allows the stakeholders (especially the poor) to participate in consultation,
dialogue, and decision-making, which are important in the local governance process.
● The participation of stakeholders (especially the poor) opens opportunities for awareness, participation,
and role development in local governance. As such, inclusive development will follow.
● Participatory planning results in a higher probability and more efficient means of addressing community
issues, concerns, and needs.
● Finally, participatory planning allows for an increased transparency and local accountability in local
governance. At the same time, the culture of trust between and among stakeholders and local
government will be improved.
Steps and Guidelines in Participatory Action Planning: Conducting or implementing PAP needs to be guided by a
set of steps and guidelines. According to Higgins and Toness (2010) there are eight steps in conducting PAP. While
the following steps are highly considered, these are still open for innovation and flexibility.

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Step 1: Preparing the participants. This step involves the building of rapport between development workers and
community stakeholders. Through interactions and dialogues, the basic community profile, the nature of
community members, and their primary needs are identified.
Step 2: Sharing of information and needs assessment. Some members of the community have already identified
(or have the potential to identify) their needs and situations. These members might have suggestions or ideas that
may address the community’s needs, but they have no clear development agenda that can be shared to the
community. This process must lead to a common community platform through meetings, dialogues, and
consultations. In this step, it is important that the proceedings are documented and recorded.
Step 3: Identifying resources. It is important to identify the resources within and outside the community. These
resources may be human, sociocultural, material, financial, infrastructural, natural, social service, or intstitutional,
among others. The resources might have strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, or threats, but these can be tapped
for community planning and for the development process.
Step 4: Envisioning a future. This is the step where the community members share how they envision their
community in the future. A detailed plan is yet to be developed in this step, but the community’s hopes, dreams,
and aspirations (that are different from the present situations) are already being defined.
Step 5: Analyzing needs. In this step, the needs of the community are the focus of discussion. Focus group
discussions, in-depth reflection sessions, and meetings with community leaders and other concerned individuals
are conducted, together with other community approaches. Here, community matters are discussed formally in a
participatory approach.
Step 6: Building consensus. In this step, the community and its stakeholders build a consensus on the needs and
concerns that will be addressed. The community will then agree on the possible development interventions,
projects, programs, and engagements that will be applied.
Step 7: Creating an action plan. This step is considered as the heart and soul of the planning process. This is where
the community formulates a development plan, and starts or revitalizes community action and mobilization. This
process allows the community to take responsibilities and ownership of their development.
Step 8: Implementing the Plan. Because there has already been a consensus on the needs and concerns that are to
be addressed, the community will now proceed with the implementation of the plan. Some needs can already be
addressed using the community’s resources. However, there are instances when community resources are not
enough. As such, financial, technical, and expert assistance must be tapped from outside resources. Partnership
with other stakeholders is a key to resource mobilizations.
These are the basic requirements for a realistic community action plan.

Aside from the aforementioned steps, there are also conditions that need to be considered when
organizing a PAP. According to Buckes and Chevalier (3013), these are the following.
● Having deep consideration of the local traditions and culture of the community and members
● Being aware and critical of the different forms of inequalities and dynamics that exist among community
participants or members
● Having balanced and well-distributed tasks to all members of the community
● Coming up with and deciding on expectations, and monitoring them if they are met or satisfied.
● Having trust, sensitivity, open communication, reliability, and accountability
● Being able to conduct a continuous gathering of reliable information and conducting situational analysis
to keep things updated and dynamic.
● Being able to set up and lay down leadership and commitment in different phases of community and/or
organizational operations.
They are the actors and actresses of change that can be named as the following:
● Targets of change. These are the specific or general members of the target community who would
directly (or indirectly) benefit from the development programs, projects, and interventions. Targets of
change can be categorized into two groups: The first one are members of the target community or those
who will directly benefit from the development processes, and likewise share the same culture, age,
gender, language, identity, characteristics, and beliefs within the community. The second one are the
people whose opinion and influence are significant to the community. These people might be members of
the community, or outsiders (e.g., clergy or religious leaders, members of development support groups,

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 elected or appointed officials. Etc.). Usually, these people can be trusted and relied on by the community
members.
● Agents of change. These are the people who possess certain levels of influence in the community,
especially in developing and formulating policies, building public opinion, and becoming partners of
community development. Agents of change may include different individuals and groups from GOs, NGOs,
Pos, and business groups; elected and appointed officials; cultural and religious groups; and researchers,
academicians, leaders, and other influential people in various aspects of community life.
● Interested members of the community. These are community members who have a special interest in
the development of the community or specific issues concerning the community. Interested members
may include parents; teachers’ the youth; senior citizens; person with disabilities or differently abled
persons; community volunteers; advocates of community concerns or social issues affecting the
community and society at large; retired people who are willing to lend their “time, talents, and treasures”;
and professionals living or practicing in the community, among others.
● Members of organizations. Organizations (whether within or outside the community) that have
engagements or operations in the community can be a substantial part of the PAP process. Members of
organizations may include board members, administrators, line or program staff, volunteers, and
supporters.
We cannot strictly categorize people or groups who can be part of the PAP process. Anybody can become
agents of change depending on the context and role one is engaged in.

Definition and Importance of Resource Mobilization

Resources do not only involve money or finance. Resources can be in the form of capital, income,
possession, property, fund, assets, means, wealth, supplies, or sources. In other words, resources take in many
forms and types, which can be utilized for different purposes or objectives by individuals, groups, communities,
institutions, societies, or government, nongovernment, and private organizations.
Theoretically, resource mobilization is concerned in sustaining the relevance of communities, groups,
institutions, social movements, and any forms of organizations by enabling the movement of resources (e.g.,
financial, human, technological, and other tangible assets).
Resource mobilization is important because it (a) helps and assists in the allocation of resources for group
and sectoral development; (b) facilitates the sustainability and development of projects, programs, resources, and
organizations; and (c) assists the community or organization is setting up the priorities and options to be
undertaken.

Steps and Guidelines in Resource Mobilization

You can create your own strategies in resource mobilization. But for the purpose of this module, we shall
adopt the steps developed by the United Nations.
Step 1: Preparing a specific resource strategy. This step involves planning the needs, existing resources, and
mobilization to support the operations, programs, projects, and processes.
Step 2: Identifying and broadening the stakeholder group. This step is where potential supporters, funders,
human expertise, and other willing providers are determined.
Step 3: Developing key messages. This step is a form of resource mobilization strategy similar to campaigns,
advocacies, volunteers’ mobilization, networking, program accompaniment, and solidarity work. This is done to
seek wider and potential public support in other means and expressions.
Step 4: Selecting resource mobilization vehicles. It should be clear that identifying possible sources of resources, in
a sense, is also identifying resources that can be tapped from the community. Development support groups can
have limitations in resources, but such can be augmented by other groups or by the community itself.
Step 5: Resource mobilization monitoring and evaluation. This is where the assessment of various resource
mobilization processes and strategies are undertaken. It is important to develop a monitoring and evaluation plan
to record and find out whether the resource mobilization project is effective.
Step 6: Gearing up for resource mobilization. This step involves the implementation of the resource mobilization.
This is to ensure that the right people or groups will lead and support the mobilization, and that policies, strategies,
and systems are in place.

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As part of the action plan, resource mobilization can already be facilitated during the planning process or during
the needs and resources assessment. Resource mobilization can also be laid down during the formulation of the
action plan, wherein the stakeholders or participants can determine the resources needed in the project
implementation.
EVALUATION/ASSESSMENT/PERFORMANCE TASK:
DATE SUBMITTED: NAME OF STUDENT:
STRAND: MODULE NUMBER: 13

Instructions: Answer the following questions….

1. What social scenario does participatory planning address? (10pts)

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2. How was the participatory planning program conceptualized and operationalized in its full duration?
Give at least five major initiatives of the program implementation. (15pts)
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3. What can you learn or gain from a participatory planning program? (10pts)
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References:

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Diana J. Mendoza, PhD and Ma. Lourdes F. Melegrito, PhD Cand.; Ronaldo B. Mactal, PhD. Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship
(The Padayon Series). https://h.phoenix.com.ph/senior_high/zeal-for-action-community-engagement-solidarity-and-citizenship-the-padayon-
series/

Prepared by: Ms. Necie Mae M. Agana & Ms. Jessa S. Gonzales

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