🧭 7 Themes to Guide Community Content 🎯

Kirstie Macfarlane

Creating community content and programming requires creativity and structure to ensure long-term success. Without a framework, brainstorming can feel haphazard and ineffective. To guide your brainstorming efforts, consider these seven themes to guide your community content and programs:

1. Education
   • Provide opportunities for participants to deepen their understanding and mastery of a subject matter.
   • Offer workshops, tutorials, or courses tailored to the interests and needs of community members.
2. Stories
   • Share the history and founding narratives of the community, highlighting important milestones and key figures.
   • Introduce new members to the community's backstory to foster a sense of connection and belonging.
3. Debate
   • Facilitate discussions on topics relevant to the community, encouraging diverse perspectives and respectful dialogue.
   • Create a safe space for members to engage in challenging conversations and explore different viewpoints.
4. Welcome
   • Foster a welcoming environment for new members by providing orientation sessions, mentorship programs, or welcome events.
   • Encourage existing members to reach out and connect with newcomers, helping them integrate into the community seamlessly.
5. Celebrate
   • Recognize and celebrate the achievements, milestones, and contributions of both individual members and the community as a whole.
   • Organize virtual or in-person events, awards ceremonies, or appreciation posts to highlight noteworthy accomplishments.
6. Cultivate Relationships
   • Create opportunities for members to forge meaningful connections and friendships with one another.
   • Host social gatherings, networking events, or casual meetups to facilitate personal interactions and bonding.
7. Collaborate
   • Engage members in collaborative projects or initiatives that align with the community's goals and values.
   • Encourage participation in group projects, community-driven campaigns, or crowd-sourced content creation endeavors.

These themes can serve as a starting point for brainstorming ideas that resonate with your community's unique purpose and values. Challenge yourself to generate at least 10 ideas for each category, pushing beyond the obvious to uncover innovative and engaging concepts. By applying this structured approach to brainstorming, you can bring clarity and direction to your community content and programming efforts, fostering meaningful interactions and driving long-term engagement.

Let us know how you've used these ideas in your content plan!

This post was originally published in 2022 but has been revised and updated from its previous edition to ensure accuracy and relevance.