The Power of Building Community and 5 Tips for Getting Started

Why Is Building Community Important?

Before we dive into our tips for community building, let’s first investigate why it’s so important. A third of adults over the age of 45 feel lonely, and loneliness can have a negative impact on brain and heart health over time. This is where the power of community comes in. 

Communities are all about connection. If you think about the feeling you had the last time you hung out with your close friends or did an activity you really enjoy, that’s the feeling of community. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, these things haven’t been possible, so forging communities virtually has been a welcome option to help combat loneliness and give people a feeling of belonging and togetherness in our changing world. 

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, communities give people a sense of belonging, cultivate support during tough times, and give members purpose, as everyone has a distinctive role to play. This purpose ultimately gives people’s lives meaning and builds social capital.

What Does It Mean to Build Community? 

Community building can happen in many forms, but the process always consists of a number of efforts taking place to enhance the quality of connections between members who have shared interests. 

Just as it takes effort to maintain a personal relationship or friendship, communities take work too. While putting a bunch of people with the same interests in a room could yield immediately impactful and enlightening results, a certain level of maintenance is needed to ensure the group’s sustainability. 

Examples of Communities 

Communities come in all forms. From a social impact network to a weekly study group, each community holds unique potential and value for its members. 

You might be familiar with the concept of special interest housing in colleges, for example. These dormitories or houses are meant to foster connections between students based on a shared interest, such as sustainability, social justice, or a foreign language. 

Communities don’t look any one way, which is one of the reasons they can be so magical. A group of people who routinely attends the same dog park or playground is just as much a community as a workplace softball league. Attending a yoga studio on a particular schedule might give members a sense of community, support, and value, just like a virtual book club would. The opportunities are endless, and it’s often up to the members themselves to determine the strength or weakness of the community as a whole

5 Strategies to Build Community

Whether you’re a business leader looking to strengthen your team, your neighborhood’s designated potluck coordinator, or you’re looking to form the foundation for a new network, these strategies are crucial for effective community building.

1. Embrace Change 

An ebb and flow of participation, focus, and introduction of new challenges are natural for any community. How leadership handles this is another story. As a leader, embracing change and new opportunities is crucial to maintaining the integrity of the group. People who go through changes together will trust each other more when they come out the other side, and new, valuable relationships can form as a result. 

Whether you’re leading a small group at a company retreat or introducing a group of college students to the concept of communal living, it’s important to ensure that the team knows change is a natural part of human interaction and to give them the space to voice their comments.

2. Promote Kindness

Encouraging conversation around a topic is one thing, but giving your participants the space to congratulate and complement one another is crucial for members to gain camaraderie. Facilitate an anonymous comment box, shout-outs, or notes of appreciation for your group to support one another. Try designating a focus group to handle internal relationships and create resources that reinforce a sense of trust among members.

3. Allow Breakouts 

Whether your community is virtual or in person, there are always opportunities to engage in new ways and foster new connections by breaking out into small groups. At Civic Dinners, the events are kept fairly small, but larger groups could use the Zoom breakout feature. In-person, randomly assigned groups provided with discussion questions can lead to unexpected new connections. 

4. Companies, Expand Your Communities 

Building a community that values employees is absolutely imperative, but bringing your customers into the fold is just as important. Consumers are expecting more and more from the brands they support, including a sense of community. One study showed that 85% of marketing practitioners believe that having an online branded community will increase trust and improve the customer journey. In short, we want more from the brand we’re supporting, and simply purchasing products isn’t enough to keep us engaged. 

Businesses can build a community by getting involved in the local area or going virtual, too. Try hosting an Instagram Live or webinar with a value add for your customers or social media followers. For example, during the pandemic, activewear brands have hosted online fitness classes or socially distanced groups outdoors, and restaurants have held virtual cooking demonstrations. These activities are great ways to keep consumers engaged, even after the pandemic ends. 

5. Ask for Feedback 

What is your network looking to gain from being in your community? Does member participation feel forced? Do community members feel that there’s equity, trust, and support in the group? At the core of any effective community is communication. Make sure you leave your door open so that community members feel like they have the space to give constructive criticism for the overall benefit of the group.