Strong Foundations for Rural Advancement
Survey to Inform a Rural Development Ecosystem Map & Capture Big Ideas for Strengthening the Systems Change Ecosystem
Background & Context
Rural America plays a critical role in shaping our shared future. Across the country, national, regional, and local organizations—including yours—are working to strengthen rural communities and advance policies that enable long-term prosperity. This survey is part of a project designed to map and analyze the current rural development “systems change” ecosystem. This includes understanding key capacities such as policy, advocacy, networks, and narrative change. Using this analysis, the project will produce two primary deliverables. 1) A field map and accompanying SWOT analysis of the rural economic development ecosystem as it exists today, along with a vision for what a healthier and stronger ecosystem could look like. 2) A roadmap for moving from the current state to a future, desired state, including concrete fundable projects that enable this vision. Your responses will directly inform both deliverables. Please be candid as you respond and consider what is missing, what creates barriers, or what is needed to enable meaningful systems change. This may include generating support for strong policy ideas, improving coordination, or building new capacities across the ecosystem. This project is not about defining specific policies or identifying individual solutions. Instead, it focuses on understanding how we must collectively work differently and build new capabilities so the rural development ecosystem is more nimble, coordinated, and effective in creating lasting change for rural people and places.
Respondent & Organization Information
Name
First Name
Last Name
Your Job Title
Organization Name
Organization Website
Understanding Your Organization & Key Relationships
Brief Summary of Your Organization Mission, Strategy, and/or Scope of Work
At what scale does your organization operate? For example, an organization that supports community-based work in places across the U.S. is a national organization, not a local one.
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International
National
Regional/Multi-State
State
Local, County, or Place-Based
Below is a list of components of the ecosystem for systems change. To what extent does your organization engage in each component?
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Rows
0 – None
1 – Enough that we need to check the box—but not a lot
2 – We do a good bit of this, but it isn’t central
3 – Core mission and focus
Policy & Strategy
Advocacy & Organizing
Legal & Regulatory
Service Delivery & Operations
Media & Public Narrative
Cross-Sector Hubs & Conveners
Leadership, Training, & Capacity Building
Research & Data
Funders & Philanthropy
To create a map that gives us an understanding of the relationship between organizations, please share the names of the 5-10 organizations with which you work most closely.
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Name the funders you partner most closely with in your rural economic development work and characterize the type of work they fund. The purpose of this is to help us understand the relationship between funders and key organizations in the rural community and economic development space.
The Current State of the Ecosystem for Rural Community & Economic Development Systems Change
We want to understand your take on the strengths and weaknesses, challenges and opportunities within the rural community and economic development systems change ecosystem. Consider the "systems change components" listed above (e.g. policy & strategy, advocacy & influence, leadership & capacity building). What do you see as working well? Where is there a need for improvement? Why are there weaknesses within the systems change ecosystem and what are the causes?
Building a Stronger Ecosystem for Rural Community & Economic Development Systems Change
What are your 1-3 best ideas for how to build the field of rural community and economic development and specifically how to strengthen the muscles and infrastructure for systems change? What part of the systems change ecosystem will each idea strengthen? Reminder, we are not looking for policy ideas, but strategic investments in organizations, people, and relationships that are needed for policy change.
Is there anything else you'd like to share or ask?
If so, use the space below!
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