3 Tips for Launching a Career as a Community Organizer

What tips do you have for aspiring community organizers? Let us know in the comments!

So you want to be a community organizer, eh? Well, kudos to you! Across the spectrum of nonprofits, community groups, issue areas, and locales, community organizers are tasked with one of the most important jobs in social impact: community building.

The folks in these roles are responsible for meeting people, recruiting them to join a specific cause, and mobilizing them when the time is right. Oftentimes, there’s a political or social component to community organizing to help fill a gap in a group's needs or secure resources when they're running low. 

If you are interested in this career path, it is helpful to understand the primary duties and skills required for these roles. Here, we'll help you understand what you need to know about community organization so you can start applying for jobs on Idealist!

What does a community organizer do exactly?

We get it, the term community organizer can sound like a party planning gig or general PR job. Actually, aspiring community organizers have a variety of skills to offer to their employers, so the best way to land one of these roles is to take a look at the job descriptions posted by organizations that interest you.

For a local nonprofit in your city, available community organizing roles may require you to go door-to-door to gain support for your cause. Perhaps you’ll be in charge of signing people up for your newsletter, asking for donations, or organizing programmatic events.

If you’d like to work for a national nonprofit that does a lot of work in policy and advocacy—say, for the environment—community organizers may be in charge of canvassing certain neighborhoods or regions. Interest in your organization's mission is crucial to success in these roles, since you’ll need to have the knowledge, data, and passion to persuade people to join your cause.

3 tips for a launching a career as a community organizer

Does all of the above sound good to you? Have you planned out a targeted employer list to secure a community organizing position at your preferred social-impact employer? As you start to put together your application, keep these three tips for launching a career as a community organizer in mind so you have the best chance of landing the role! 

Tip #1: Join a community group near you to demonstrate your commitment to a specific cause.

You should be prepared to answer some important questions about past experiences that qualify you for a community organizing role. If you don’t have anything to say just yet, then we suggest you find a mutual aid group, club, or other community organization to get your feet wet. Not only will you figure out if you’re actually interested in the kinds of duties these jobs entail, but it’s a great way to grow skills, meet people, organize projects, and build relationships.

Tip #2: Figure out what your community needs, then try to get it.

Don’t be afraid to get out there and talk to your neighbors about what’s missing from your community. Bike lanes, re-painted crosswalks, a useful stop sign, a community center—these things are achieved by neighbors coming together to figure out what they need and then asking for it. Document your campaign and add it to an online portfolio to show future employers what you can achieve.

Tip #3: Spread the word about local events and campaigns.

A key part of community organizing is being able to spread the word about your cause, so you may as well get started now. Use the skills you already have to bring more attention to a local event, fundraising campaign, or community group you support. If you’re a writer, start a newsletter. If you’re a software engineer, offer to design a webpage. Graphic designers can create logos, update the social media pages, and design flyers.

The reason for employing these tips is to build a catalog of resources and impact to highlight in your future job interviews. We hope they will help you along the way—be sure to let us know in the comments about anything else you found useful for community organizers in the making!