A community needs assessment is a process that identifies issues and concerns within a community, encouraging stakeholder participation to guide program development. The assessment gathers data on demographics, economic status, and citizen input through methods such as surveys, focus groups, and public records. Proper execution fosters a sense of community ownership and empowers citizens to advocate for solutions to their challenges.

1. Community Needs
Assessment

2. What is Community Needs
Assessment?

3. Community Needs Assessment
• Is a process wherein problems, issues and
concerns of the community are identified through
the use of several tools for assessment.
• It encourages the participation of the community,
as they are the stakeholders, to the findings in the
assessment.

4. Community Needs Assessment
Needs assessment, social analysis or
community diagnosis as others refer to,
is a concrete base for the formulation of
programs. It reflects the sentiments,
needs, aspirations and
recommendations of the community
people

5. Community Needs Assessment
• When it is done properly, it will
reflect also the trainees’ feeling of
oneness with the community. They
begin to see that the people’s
problems also reflect their own.

6. Community Needs Assessment
It is important that the people
realize that they can do something
to change their situation for the
better.

7. Importance of Community Needs Assessment

8. Importance of Needs Assessment
1. Gather information about citizens’ attitudes
and options in order of importance.
2. Determine how citizens rank issues, problems
and opportunities in order of importance or
urgency.
3. Give citizens a voice in determining policies,
goals and priorities.

9. Importance of Needs Assessment
4. Evaluate current programs and policies.
5. Provide speculations about what people
are thinking.
6. Provide speculations about what people
really want.

10. Information to be included in Assessing
Community Needs
1. Historical Development
Refers to data on how the community became what it is
today and provides insights into the kind of resources to
collect and need.
2. Geographical and Transportation Information
It includes information on the community’s patterns and
population contributions.

11. Information to be included in Assessing
Community Needs
3. Political and Legal Functions
It includes strategies for community-based selection [or this
may include strategies that community uses for selecting
players in the political sphere].
4. Demographic Data
It includes data on age characteristics, size, race, and
transience of population.

12. Information to be included in Assessing
Community Needs
5. Economic Data
It refers to the economic base, social, cultural,
educational, recreational organizations. This
includes the values and social pattern.

13. Methods in Collecting Data for Community Needs
Assessment
1. Focused Group Discussion (FGD) with Key informants
The key informants of the community are people who hold
socially responsible positions such as educators, public
officials, clergy and business representatives or the like.
These are people who can provide good information that will
guide and give you better understanding on historical issues
needed by the community.

14. Methods in Collecting Data for Community Needs
Assessment
2. Community Forum/Assembly
This involves holding of group events that may include the entire
community. It gives visibility to the leaders and raises the status of
the community but it requires lots of planning and publicity.
This meeting can be a venue where people can express their needs
and be immediately validated by the rest of the attendees.
Participatory action research effectively uses this method.

15. Methods in Collecting Data for Community Needs
Assessment
3. Public Records
Public records like national census will provide data for
social and demographic indicators of the community.
Data include are age, gender, educational level,
locality, etc. that tend to contribute to library use.

16. Methods in Collecting Data for Community Needs
Assessment
4. Survey
Survey and questionnaires involve asking individuals in the community about
their everyday needs. This can be implemented through the following:
a. Mailing questionnaires to randomly selected members of the community;
b. Performing telephone survey;
c. Handing out surveys while people are in an assembly; and
d. Posting questionnaires on your public access computer catalog
“An example of this is the Minimum Basic Needs (MBN) Form of the DSWD”.

17. Steps in Conducting Needs Assessment

18. Steps in Conducting Needs Assessment
1. Establish a working committee to solicit citizen and
community involvement and develop a plan of action.
2. List important aspects that are needed to be looked upon.
This may also mean identifying the surveyors’ own
capability and strength.

19. Steps in Conducting Needs Assessment
3. Identify the population to be surveyed.
This also includes making communications with community leaders
and authorities of the identified population to facilitate other
procedures (Family members, Sectors or groups).
4. Determine the information that is needed.
It may be existing information which must be collected or it may be
information gathered using a survey. Information like demographic
profile may be readily gathered from the barangay, municipal or city
records office.

20. Steps in Conducting Needs Assessment
5. Select a random sample of person to survey.
A good number of representative populations to be surveyed will
contribute to the validity of the information.
6. Develop and pretest a questionnaire.
Afterwards, if the questionnaire was found to be a valid tool for
measurement of data, proceed to distributing the questionnaire for
community use.
7. Collate the information.

21. Steps in Conducting Needs Assessment
8. Analyze the data.
This may be done together with the core group members of the community.
Community participation in analyzing gathered data is also important so that
they can feel the ownership of the issues and concerns in their community.
9. Go back to the community for validation of information.
This may be done through a community assembly or simple community group
discussion.
10. Finalize the document.
Make sure that there are corresponding recommendations for the issues and
concerns found.

22. Community Assistance in Assessing Needs
1. Help identify community groups and citizens to be involved in the
working committee.
2. Facilitate a group discussion to identify important issues and set
priorities.
3. Help select the sample to be surveyed and design a system to
identify respondents.
4. Provide tested questions from which the working committees
choose questions that address the issues and concerns.

23. Community Assistance in Assessing Needs
5. Help design a process to distribute and collect survey
questionnaires, code, enter and analyze the resulting data.
6. Provide summary reports of data.
7. Suggest programs to report the results and strategies to
solicit community involvement.
8. Work with citizens to identify courses of action based on
the information.

24. Sample of Community Needs
Assessment Framework/Design for
Urban and Rural Setting

25. I. INTRODUCTION
A. Statement
B. Objectives
C. Importance
II. METHODOLOGY
A. Time and Place
B. Sampling Procedure
C. Method of Analysis
D. Scope and Limitations

26. III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. Geographical Profile
(Data source may come from barangay or city/municipal hall)
1. Physical
a) Location/Boundaries (North, East, West, South)
b) Terrain
c) Facilities (like clinic/hospital, schools, recreation hall, etc.
d) Climate
e) Basic Food

27. III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
2. Cultural
a) History of Place and People
b) Languages being used
c) Peace and Order Situation
d) (usual community conflict and/or crime rate)
e) Clothing (most applicable to rural setting)

28. B. Social (Data comes from survey)
1. Total Population
2. Total Number of Household
3. Population distribution by Gender (and Age)
4. Population distribution by Educational Attainment
5. Health and common illnesses
6. Recreation

29. B. Economic
1. Wage Earners in the Family
2. Employment
3. Household monthly income
C. Life Skills
1. Abilities
2. Interests
D. Spiritual Aspect
1. Number of people with active membership in the church

30. F. Socio-political Aspect
1. Known social programs or projects and other related community
efforts (whether existing or planned efforts)
2. Expression of satisfaction/dissatisfaction towards current social
programs
3. Perceived community leaders
4. Recognized community leaders
5. Other Agencies, GOs or NGOs that are in the area or that serve
the community

31. IV. SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
A. Summary
B. Conclusion
C. Recommendation
V. APPENDICES