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Mapping the Assets of Your Community:
A Key component for BuildingLocal Capacity 
Lionel J. Beaulieu, Southern Rural Development Center
Instructor’s
 
GuideDocument
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Database
 http://srdc.msstate.edu/publications/227/227_asset_mapping.pdf 
 
Introduction
In many communities across the country, itis not uncommon for local leaders and citi-zens to assemble together to try to make their community an even better place in which tolive. Unfortunately, the beginning point for these discussions usually is focused on the var-ious problems and concerns existing in thecommunity. In some cases, these community groups seek the advice of friends and neigh-bors as to what they feel are the major prob-lems. In other instances, elaborate community- wide surveys are conducted of local residentsseeking their input on various topics.In the end, what is produced is a laundry list of all the problems being experienced by residents of these communities. The list mightinclude concerns with the local school system,the lack of health services, transportationproblems, inadequate child care services, limit-ed availability of jobs that pay a decent wage,or the lack of good recreation programs for children. No matter what community you aretalking about, or how big or small the com-munity might be in terms of population, com-munity groups that begin taking a hard lookat their community by first documenting allof its “problems,” are already starting thingsoff on the wrong foot.That’s not to suggest that communitiesshould try to sweep all their problems under the rug. What it does indicate is the best way to effectively address the challenges that facecommunities is to have a good knowledge of the resources available to work on local issues.So, an important beginning point involvesmapping the assets of the community — theskills and talents of local residents, as well asthe capabilities available or possible throughlocal organizations and institutions. Collect-ively, these resources offer the wherewithal toaddress the host of important issues impactingthe community.In this brief article, a procedure for mappingthe assets of a community is described. Theapproach is one that has been developed by  John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight intheir book,
 Building Communities From the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and  Mobilizing a Community’s Assets
[4]. It is aprocess that can be used in any community,and offers an effective strategy for involving a variety of people and organizations in helpingbring about improvements in a communities. While this document embraces many of thekey concepts advanced in the Kretzmann andMcKnight volume, we seek to extend their  work in two important ways. First, we offer a
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 Asset Mapping 
Mapping theAssets of YourCommunity:
A Key componentfor Building LocalCapacity 
Lionel J. Beaulieu, Southern Rural Development Center
 
creative strategy for uncovering the poolof individuals whohave the ingredientsfor taking on greater community leader-ship responsibilities.Second, we discussthe role that com-munity asset map-ping can play inpromoting the typeof community development that is concerned with engaging local people in community enhancement efforts.Before moving into a more in-depth treat-ment of asset mapping, we wish to offer anoverview of the needs assessment process. Wedescribe this approach and contrast its key fea-tures with those associated with community asset mapping. While brief, our discussion isintended to illustrate that local ownership of the needs assessment effort is less likely tooccur if not preceded with a sound communi-ty asset mapping activity.
Major Features of theNeeds Assessment andAsset Mapping Approaches
It was not that many years ago that mostpeople involved in community developmentactivities felt that one of the critical first stepsin carrying out any community improvementefforts was to uncover the set of problems or concerns existing in a community. In many respects, this appeared to be a logical step.Most communitieshave finite resources— be they human,physical, or finan-cial — and as such,communities musttake a hard look at what problems existin their community.In its simplest form, what needs assess-ment does is pro- vide a formal tool for identifying local needs,placing needs in order of priority, and targetingresources to help resolve local problemsdeemed to be of critical importance to the wel-fare of the community.One of the unfortunate by-products of start-ing a community development initiative withthe use of a needs assessment tool is that ittransmits to local people the impression their community has many shortcomings. Thisshould not be surprising in light of how “needs” are defined. The commonly accepteddefinition of a “need” is that it represents agap or discrepancy between an existing state of affairs (the what is) and a desired or preferredresult (the what should be) [1]. Just imaginehow communities feel when at the end of their needs assessment project, they find them-selves confronted with a laundry list of all thethings that are wrong with their local areas.Rather, it suggests that community develop-ment should begin with a systematic assess-ment of the assets that exist in the communi-ty. There are three major arenas that serve asfocal point for uncovering community assets:
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 Asset Mapping 
In its simplest form, what needsassessment does is provide aformal tool for identifying localneeds, placing needs in order ofpriority importance, andtargeting resources to helpresolve local problems deemedto be of critical importance to the welfare of the community. What Is? What ShouldBe?ABA Need
“Gap Between A & B”
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