To continue our strategic planning trend research within the volunteering sector we looked into what a community is and what it means to be a member of a community. One of the common themes that reoccur when exploring the idea of the community construct is the interacting of individuals in some sort of distinct, unique setting.  The emergence of the online era has created an explosion in the variety of ways in which community is defined or viewed, and allowed the idea of community to operate without geographic constraint.  A community is built around relationships and being a member of a community creates a feeling of inclusion and support that theoretically every member benefits from.  Everyone is a part of at least one community whether it is their neighborhood, facebook group, or sports team, etc.  This diagram will help shape thinking around how community can be defined. Community involves common interests and interaction. The faith based community for example is formed because of a shared set of beliefs held by each member.  Community volunteering is successful perhaps because the members of that community value and prioritize community problems highly in order to fix needs that may immediately affect their own lives.  Community creates a shared sense of responsibility and a shared public area that member’s value.  Volunteering with other community members may strengthen bonds and create stronger relationships, and ultimately creates better volunteering retention rates because members care about either or both the cause and the well being of other members. Key Findings

• A critical common theme as it relates to community is the interacting of individuals in a distinct, unique setting (Defining Community)

• Service, participation in a group, connecting to information and current events, social connectedness, and political action are the five central themes when considering participation in one’s community (Defining Community)

• The internet era has vastly expanded the manner in which community can operate and in the construct of community (CNCS’ research project, Civic Life In America released in 2010)

• The mobile phone community is rapidly becoming the preferred manner in which people access the web and is changing the how people interact day to day (Social Trends 2011…Our Turn)

How do volunteer programs use the idea of a community to their advantage and build a strong population of volunteers?  How can volunteering programs use the online community to its benefit and motivate interaction from members outside of the physical geographic range of the volunteer programs?