The Community Building Field Guide (CBFG) is an effort to develop an open source resource that documents Sprout’s community building philosophy and showcases “dispatches from the field.”
The Sprout Fund is a leader in catalytic funding, network stewardship, and the art of facilitation. Sprout helps foundations, nonprofits, companies, and governments make an impact on the issues they care about most. Over the last 16 years, we've designed dozens of philanthropic programs and invested more than $7 million in more than 1,000 people, projects, and ideas.
At Sprout, we believe that adopting a structured framework for collaboration can help people develop novel, high-impact solutions to their communities’ challenges. We believe that the best chance to equitably spread the adoption of innovative practices is through the distribution of practical, actionable knowledge through well-managed networks. For more than 6 years, we have helped organizations in Pittsburgh and across the United States develop effective, network-based solutions to their communities’ challenges.
This fall, The Sprout Fund is developing a Community Building Field Guide (CBFG) to codify and share what we’ve learned with practitioners around the world. We’re inviting people from our home in Pittsburgh and from further afield to share their insights on the best ways to mobilize people to make an impact on the issues they care about most.
In addition to content developed by Sprout staff, the CBFG will feature profiles that highlight the work of community builders in various contexts. These “dispatches from the field” will highlight the purpose, methods, and achievements of each community builder’s efforts, along with preferred methods, protips, and further insights.
We’re using MozFest to launch our call for contributions from community builders from around the world. In the weeks ahead, we’ll offer more opportunities for people to contribute to the development of the Field Guide’s glossary and knowledge bank.
Thanks for your interest in contributing to the Community Building Field Guide! There are many ways to contribute. To get started, please take a look at CONTRIBUTING.md.
This project adheres to a code of conduct. By participating, you are expected to uphold this code. Please report unacceptable behavior to connect@sproutfund.org.
Join us at the Mozilla Festival October 27-29, 2017 at Ravensbourne College, London! We'll be meeting in person to collaborate on this project and learn from each other. You can find us at our demo on Friday night with our fellow Open Leaders Cohort members, and we’ll be hosting a table on the Open Innovation floor on Saturday and Sunday. Read more about our demo on Friday night on Mozilla Pulse, and make sure to get your MozFest tickets now!
