Cities of Service Playbook
Develop a high-impact service plan and a coordinated strategy focused on matching volunteers and community partners to the areas of greatest local need using this six-step process.
Cities of Service Playbook Resource Guide
Download supporting materials and editable templates that accompany the steps described in the Cities of Service Playbook. Refer to each chapter to find the specific tool you need.
The following list of downloads contains supporting materials and workbooks to go with the Cities of Service Playbook. Refer to each chapter in the book to find the specific tool you need.
Step 1: Invest in leadership
Cities of Service puts the leadership, resources, convening power, and bully pulpit of mayors into the service movement. Some level of dedicated leadership and accountability for service efforts within the mayor’s office is critical, though what this looks like will vary significantly from city to city.
Step 2: Identify priority need areas and specific challenges, resources, and opportunities
A crucial step in developing a high-impact service plan is the identification of priority need areas and the specific challenges within those areas that will be addressed by citizen service.
Step 3: Develop a set of service initiatives to address these challenges
After identifying priority need areas and challenges, the next step is to develop service initiatives that address these challenges. These service initiatives will form the heart of your service plan.
Step 4: Define how you will measure the impact of your service initiatives
Translating effort into impact is an important part of the service plan. Cities of Service efforts focus on the outputs and outcomes of the volunteer activity for each initiative, such as improved reading levels of students receiving volunteer tutoring or the number of trees planted in city parks.
Step 5: Clarify and agree on next steps
This step aims to help ensure that everything is in order for the rollout of your service initiatives, creating an action plan that serves as a map for the road ahead.
Step 6: Publish your plan and prepare for launch
While all high-impact service plans will differ in their content and layout, the completed service plan will be the guiding document for your mayor’s service efforts. A sample plan outline is included as a starting point.