Not reinventing the wheel is an important part of this Network, starting with identifying existing resources that can help us all be more effective Connectors. Finding and sharing these resources is a group effort, and we’re already seeing some great offerings bubble up from Teams.

Take these three, recommended by Connectors in San Diego, Fayetteville, and St. Louis:

Jude Jordan Kalush of San Diego, California likes The University of Kansas’s Community Tool Box, an online suite of resources for people who want to up their social good game:

“The Community Tool Box was created to help people build healthier communities and bring about the changes they envision. We provide educational modules and tools to help people work together to make their communities what they dream they can be. Although the Community Tool Box has thousands of pages of resources, its design makes it easy to find what you want.”

Amanda Bancroft of Fayetteville, Arkansas suggests consulting the Solutionary Knowledge Bank’s Community Engagement Sources section which has how-tos on everything from developing a community asset map to creating a shared vision as a team. The Bank was created by Grand Aspirations, a non-profit which cultivates youth leaders:

“This knowledge bank was compiled for sustainable community organizers around the world to allow for the replication of innovative green economy projects and the sharing of tools and resources. We hope the site will allow organizers to avoid ‘recreating the wheel’ and rather harness the work of others to build more effective projects which meet the needs of their communities.”

Lloyd Kinder, of the St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri Teams, offers an innovative spin on the traditional (aka un-fun) meeting model with Fairplays:

“A ‘fairplay’ is a fun event in which all attenders, if possible, take up to 5 minutes each to give a speech, a performance, or just an introduction, which are called acts. The purpose of fairplay acts is to facilitate maximum information, education and entertainment. Members may do their acts individually or in groups. Speeches may be informative, educational, and or entertaining. Performances are educational especially for performers. Performances may also be demonstrations, which are also educational for audiences. Cooperation is involved in preparing for Fairplays and ‘executing’ them.”

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Do you have a resource to recommend to the Idealist Network? Post it to the Resources section on your Team’s page!

You can also share it in our discussion forums, or drop us a line at idealistblog@idealist.org.