Structure and committee ideas
The campaign structure you adopt will depend on what’s needed and who’s involved. Below are examples that have been used effectively elsewhere and can be adapted. The most important thing is to design a structure that works for you and your partners.
Steering Group/Project Management team
Chair & Co-Chair
Purpose
- Implement decisions about vision, strategy and project co-ordination
- Serve as the ‘faces’ of the campaign within the community: e.g. provide leadership, points of contact, public presentations, responding to media enquiries
- Determine political strategy, methods of engaging local leaders
- Recruit organisations for the local campaign and sub-committees
- Provide direction to the campaign overall
- Co-ordinate and facilitate meetings, document and report progress
- Plan the logistics associated with Connections Weeks (if relevant) and the follow up to these
- Ensure that the work of the sub-committees is consistent with the campaign’s vision
- Provide mediation between campaign partners and/or external parties if there are disputes or disagreements
Solutions Sub-committee
Chair & Co-Chair
Purpose
- Determine which agencies/providers are currently providing support services in the community and work out how they fit with the campaign to end street homelessness
- Clarify the expectations for the level of service required from agencies/providers
- Identify gaps in support services in the community and develop strategy for filling these gaps
- Develop ‘asks’ and analyse the ability of the providers to deliver
- With completion of the Connections Week (if relevant), determine which support service representatives will attend future team meetings
Housing Sub-committee
Chair & Co-Chair
Purpose
- Map out or list potential local housing options and resources
- Identify new and existing public or private sector housing partners
- Outline process for identifying new and existing housing units
- Clarify the expectations and role of the agencies/providers involved
- Secure commitments for housing resources or units for the campaign as relevant
- Agree a plan or process to help house those who are street homeless more quickly
Data Sub-committee
Chair & Co-Chair
Purpose
- Review existing data and identify gaps
- Create and implement plan to fill gaps
- Review and finalise survey prior to a Connections Week (if relevant)
- Co-ordinate the entry of data during Connections Week (if relevant)
- Finalise agreement on use and ownership of data in line with good practice and local and national laws
- Lead on analysis of data and evidence collected from different sources
- Discuss findings and any recommendations that arise
- Provide draft final report to Project Management Team
Communications Sub-committee
Chair & Co-Chair
Purpose
- Develop and implement a communications plan
- Create materials to recruit community / volunteers, gather resources, and promote the campaign
- Ensure the voices and views of those who are homeless are central and that there are agreed principles about the use of images, video and quotations
- Co-ordinate efforts with various channels of media
- Launch a social media campaign
- Evaluate and adapt communications methods as needed to achieve goals
Wider Stakeholder Network
Chair & Co-Chair
Purpose
- To engage and inform a wider group in the community than those most directly involved in the campaign
- To enable to draw on wider community support as needed
- To build up a broad supporter base to help the campaign succeed
- To keep interested but not active organisations updated
- To report back on the findings and progress of the campaign
