I an an officer on the board of an all-volunteer folk music club in Cincinnati called the Queen City Balladeers. As you might imagine, it's pretty loosely run.

Several times people have commented how the consider the Balladeers their community. It exists, physically, only on Sunday nights. When we come together to play, and listen, and learn. Learn about the Balladeers here:

http://queencityballadeers.org/

What I would like to know is how to (or even if it possible to) apply the principles of Asset Based Community Development to a community that doesn't have a permanent physical location.

Along those same lines, how would I apply ABCD principles to an organization.

Any tips or best practices to pass along would be greatly appreciated.

Eric Hansen

updated by @eric-hansen: 10/24/16 04:47:22PM

Hi Eric,

This is a great question and I'm happy to connect with you as I'm also part of a somewhat 'locationnless' that is trying to apply ABCD. Mine is called Uprise Art Collective and is a network of artists of all genres (including music) in Sarasota, FL. Our groups seem to have a similar 'glue' which is the love of our creative craft/outlet and the desire to pursue that love in the company of others.

Regarding your question, I'd say definitely YES! You can apply ABCD within an organization without being tied to one location.

I'd highly recommend checking out Deb Puntenney's book (which you can get via pdf here:http://www.abcdinstitute.org/docs/CFWText.pdf). It's all about how to apply ABCD in organizations.

And in my OWN experience, I've found it's about making time and getting others in your group excited about finding out what the assets, gifts, talents and interests of your members are and then figuring out how to use those to get where you're trying to go as an organization. And sometimes the interests of members can help determine where you want to go!

One thing you could do is team up with others in your group who resonate with the ABCD philosophy and discuss how you might go about using it in your group. Much of the stories we hear and 'models' for applying ABCD came from just that 'formula' -- every group is different and local innovation is the heart and soul of ABCD. You will probably find it useful to undertake some kind of asset mapping process. I'd suggest two other publications that are my favorite for that:

A Guide to Capacity Inventories

http://www.abcdinstitute.org/docs/CapacityInventories(1).pdf

Discovering Community Power: A Guide to Mobilizing Local Assets and Your Organizations Capacity

http://www.abcdinstitute.org/docs/kelloggabcd.pdf

Is that helpful?

Please keep us posted on your adventures in this!

Hi, April.

This is very, very helpful. Thanks. It's going to take me a while to view and review and digest everything you've shared -- but I like it.

When I saw that you were from Sarasota, i wondered if we might have connected before, during that time when A Small Group in Cincinnati was having teleconference conversations with SCOPE in Sarasota. And, because I never delete anything if I can help it, I was able to find an email that had your name in it.

I am very happy to getreacquaintedwith you in this new context. I think my first step will have to be to see if i can find any others in the organization who might be interested in uncovering all the assets and talents that we have.

So, again, thanks very much for the insight.

I will do my best to keep you updated.

HI Eric,

Aha! Yes I'm sure we were on a call together, that's so neat! Also I'm close friends with Rex Lai who you might know if you're still involved with ASG? I still wish I could teleport over and take part in the ASG gatherings I'm with you on never deleting, it's exciting you found me in that email (I love when our non-deleting compulsions pay off).

Very happy to get re-acquainted with you too! I think you're right on with finding others to think about uncovering the assets. Together. Maybe find one or two stories that inspire you the most and use those as a way to share?

-A