| Connect Network | |
|---|---|
| Name | Connect Network |
| Address # | 809 South Cathedral Place |
| City | Richmond |
| State | VA |
| Zip | 23284 |
| Phone | (804) 827-2168 |
| Web Address | http://www.connectnetwork.org |
| County | |
| Year Established | 2001 |
Mission
Connect Network is a part of Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Nancy Stutts serves as a professor at the Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, and ConnectNetwork theory is predicated on community-based research. We are funded by The Community Foundation Serving Richmond and Central Virginia and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Our mission is to strengthen communities by connecting people to ideas, information and each other.
Our vision is to build shared momentum for locally driven community change. ConnectNetwork provides a place where community leaders, volunteers and citizens converge.
Services Offered
ConnectNetwork builds free and open local civic hubs that empower citizens to shape the places they live from the ground up. Network hubs are community-owned and involve nonprofits, government, businesses and citizens. Using technology and strategy, Networks encourage citizen engagement in a variety of forms through connections to ideas, information and others about issues that matter to them.
Because each community is unique, ConnectNetwork offers flexible options for technology and strategy assistance in getting a Network started. Based on our work in the trenches, we have learned that just because you build it, they will not necessarily come, and that is where we offer the greatest help.
What can a network do for your community? For starters, our proven model has been catalyzing civic action for over 10 years, helping to build on assets, adapting to changing needs and leveraging emerging technologies. Our model breaks the barriers that divide and instead, promotes awareness of issues, connections among people and opportunities to work together to make a difference.
ConnectNetwork offers:
- One entry point for citizens to get involved;
- One searchable list of all nonprofit and government organizations and services with mapped locations;
- Immediate communication with other civic-minded people to ask questions, solve problems and address organizational and community issues;
- Real-time sharing of knowledge, experience, goods, opportunities;
- Simple ways to find others, collaborate and avoid duplication of services;
- Customizable tools (i.e. calendar, volunteer match and more can be modified and tailored to fit your community's needs); and
- Time & money saved to instead be devoted to organizational missions (an estimated $1.3 million saved in Richmond, VA alone)
