Step 1: Identify the Need

Community champions help bring priorities to light through conversation and observation.

Identifying a need means naming something that makes it harder for people in a community to thrive, access opportunities or experience wellbeing. You can uncover needs by observing your community, having conversations and listening to what people care about.

A strong community need should:

1. Support community wellbeing and quality of life.

Think about how the need connects to helping people live, work, learn or connect more easily and safely in their community. A strong need points to something that could meaningfully improve daily life or expand opportunities.

For example, limited access to reliable transportation, lack of safe gathering spaces, or barriers to essential services may signal an opportunity for improvement.

Ask:

What challenge or opportunity do you see that affects people’s ability to thrive?
If you could dream big and anything was possible, what would you change or improve?

2. Affect many people

A strong need should impact more than one person. Look for patterns or issues that several parents, students, staff members or neighbors experience. If the need affects a group, it is more likely to create meaningful, lasting change.

Ask:

What group of people is being impacted?
Who will benefit from a change being made?

3. Reflect community voices

Talk with staff, partners, community members and program participants to understand what people are experiencing. Listening helps you learn why the need matters and what the benefits could be.

Open‑ended questions help people share more about their goals and challenges. They also build trust and help you understand the issue in their own words.

Examples of open‑ended questions:

If things were working really well, what would that look like?
What are your goals?
What’s getting in the way of reaching these goals?
What’s already going well that we can build on?
What opportunities do you see for change?

4. Name the place or setting

Be clear about the space where change can happen. This could be a school, neighborhood park, food pantry, community garden, childcare center, workplace, or another local setting.

The clearer you are about what will change and where it will happen, the easier it is to understand the need and support the effort.

Ask yourself: