Making Local Impact, One Step at a Time

Do you find yourself wanting to be more involved in the community, but not feeling certain on how to approach it? Unsure on how to make a difference? Life can feel disconnected from community fairly easily, but the things people love about them are the result of people stepping up. Not deferring responsibility, but choosing to be active in the community. The problem is, it’s not often obvious how to do that.

It can feel like civic responsibility is meant for people with more time, influence, expertise, or knowledge of the city, and it doesn’t always feel inviting. And with already balancing the other aspects of your life, finding time to get involved can feel vague, performative, or insurmountable.

But there are ways to get involved that only require the will to show up. It doesn’t take any specific skillset or knowledge, and can be small steps to making a difference. Listening, asking questions, and continuing taking those steps.

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So, what does that mean, specifically?

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1. Find what matters most personally. It can feel like diving in head-first when starting out, so it’s easiest to start with something you personally feel connected to. Education, housing, public safety or transportation, whatever it may be, focus it on one area. It’s not about solving everything, it’s about doing something. 

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2. Connect with people already doing the work. Every town and city has someone who’s been showing up for years. Grassroots organizations, local nonprofits, neighborhood leaders, etc. have been working on any issue you could think of. Meeting with them to understand their mission and how to help can be mutually beneficial, as doing so can clarify any questions you may have had, and understand the motivations behind others doing the work.

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3. Visit online volunteer programs. Many cities will have websites dedicated to matching volunteers with organizations looking for them. Searching “Volunteer opportunities near me” will bring up different efforts in your area, often with contact information and immediate registration for people with wide ranging skillsets, interests, and available time. 

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4. Support with what you have. As the saying goes, “you can’t pour from an empty cup.” Donate what you can, spend the time you’re able to, but don’t give more than you have. Burnout doesn’t serve you or your community, and can often lead to further disengagement. Offer your skills, your time, and your willingness to learn, but keep it sustainable.
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5. Attend public meetings. Sitting in on an open session can feel bureaucratic, and that often comes by design. They’re often poorly attended, hard to follow, and stepping up to speak can feel intimidating alone. That is exactly why they need more people outside the councils to become involved, to make it more palatable, transparent, and accessible to the community at large.

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6. Share what you’ve learned to multiply impact. It doesn’t just stop with what you do, but what the impact of your doing has on the further community. Share the knowledge you get from meetings and workshops, the feelings you got from contributing, and the personal impact it made on you in conversations with your family, friends, and colleagues. Spend time talking about the issues that are impacting your community, and share what you know about the organizations doing work and the opportunities there are to get involved. Spreading information builds a stronger bond between you and your community, and turns individuals working into a collective momentum of change.

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For those in a leadership position…

Make time for civic engagement in life. Encourage your team to attend community events and volunteer, give them the time and resources to do so, and make sure you’re setting an example for them as well.

Model what it means to be an engaged citizen. If you care about something in your community, let others know about it. If you aren’t sure what’s going on, it’s okay to say that too. Help find out so you and others can learn with you.

Invest in relationships, not just results. If you only show up when there’s a personal or professional gain, people will notice. Others will remember if they’re treated like an engaged neighbor or seen as a revenue stream.

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At Step Up, we encourage our team members to be involved in their communities. Our staff and leaders sit on numerous nonprofit boards and city committees, support organizations through personal charitable giving, and volunteer and attend community events. As an organization, we align our outreach with organizations making an impact and work to keep folks informed about our nonprofit clients' events and initiatives through our newsletter.

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There doesn’t need to be a perfect plan, and it may feel confusing, insurmountable, or uncomfortable at times. Progress is rarely perfect, there just needs to be a start, that’s where change happens.

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