Local community

Kiwanis clubs dot the globe, making sure kids have what they need to be secure and successful in any local community. Kiwanis members know the needs in their local communities and host nearly 150,000 service projects a year, from building playgrounds to mentoring teens and sponsoring youth sports in the local communities.
Kiwanians want to serve their communities. But what a community needs today may be different than what it needed five, 10 or 20 years ago. Local communities are continually changing. Their populations and economies may grow or contract. They may experience a surge in young families or have more retirees.
To keep a good link with the local communities, the policy of the organisation is that we encourage our clubs to do a needs assessment. Not only is it a great tool, but it’s also a requirement for receiving a club grant from our Kiwanis Children’s Fund. There are many ways that our clubs collect data about their local community. Some of the common ways include holding a community meeting to hear as many voices as possible; creating a focus group to hear from a specific, pre-selected group; holding one-on-one interviews with community members to gain a deeper understanding of opinions; or conducting a survey via email, phone or mail.