Community Profile and Master Plan Visioning Program (RFP August 15, 2008 or January 15, 2009)
What is the Community Profile program?
The Community Profile is a process by which communities take stock of where they are today and develop an action plan for how they want to operate in the future. The process provides a method for citizens to affirm community strengths, find collaborative approaches to meet challenges creatively, and manage change. One of the major outcomes of the Community Profile is more citizen participation in the community and the affairs of its government.
The Community Profile takes about four to six months to plan and organize, and a weekend (usually a Friday evening and all day Saturday, but a one-day Saturday format is also available) to implement. There are two distinct parts of the Profile, planning/preparation and the event itself. The planning is critical to the success of the Profile. The participants must represent a broad cross section of the community so the process is not perceived as an attempt by a specific group to impose its wishes and values upon the community. This must be avoided to ensure success of the process.
What is the Master Plan Visioning program?
In order for a community to complete a Master Plan update, a visioning process should be conducted with the community to determine what citizens want their community to look like 10 or more years down the road. UNH Cooperative Extension helps to organize community forums and workshops and think through possible data collection activities as communities work to update these Master Plans.
For both programs, the first step is:
A Steering/Master Plan Committee is then formed to do the following:
- Make public announcements (press releases, cable television announcements, flyers, posters, etc) to inform citizens who wish to participate.
- Make arrangements for a date, site and refreshments. Often local schools can be used at little or no cost. Local volunteer or church groups or businesses may be willing to provide food. Organize Friday night pot luck dinner.
- Research and contact funding sources if needed.
- Identify and invite a broad cross section of residents to participate. Everyone should be represented.
- Identify facilitators and arrange for facilitator training.
- Evaluate process, develop structure and plan for follow-up support of identified projects.
Before you complete the application form:
1. We encourage you to contact your local county Cooperative Extension office to discuss your timeline and the ability for that office to help support your project. This will strengthen your proposal if you have support your local county Extension office.
| Belknap County 36 County Drive, Laconia NH Phone: 527-5475/ Fax: 527-5477 |
Hillsborough County Room 101, 329 Mast Road, Goffstown NH Phone: 641-6060/Fax: 645-5252 |
| Carroll County 73 Main Street PO Box 1480, Conway NH Phone: 447-3834/Fax: 447-5192 |
Merrimack County 315 Daniel Webster Highway, Boscawen NH Phone: 796-2151/Fax: 796-2271 |
| Cheshire County 800 Park Avenue, Keene NH Phone: 952-4550/Fax: 358-0494 |
Rockingham County 113 North Road, Brentwood NH Phone: 679-5616/Fax: 679-8070 |
| Coos County 629A Main Street, Lancaster NH Phone: 788-4961/Fax: 788-3629 |
Strafford County 268 County Farm Road, Dover NH Phone: 749-4445/Fax: 743-3431 |
| Grafton County 3855 Dartmouth College Highway, Box 5, N. Haverhill NH Phone: 787-6944/Fax: 787-2009 |
Sullivan County 24 Main Street, Newport NH Phone: 863-9200Fax: 863-4730 |
2. Complete the application (Download for printable version - Click for on-line version). The deadlines for the 2008-2009 timeframe are August 15, 2008 and January 15, 2009. We strongly recommend you involve at least one municipal board in providing information for this application.
