Create an account with The Pennsylvania State University Prevention Learning Portal and earn completion certificates for several prevention topics. The purpose of this course is to introduce the basics of project management. It covers core project management processes and how they strategically organize and execute tasks needed to achieve a project goal, with skills, techniques, and tools that support efficient and successful project completion.
Category: Building Coalitions and Engaging Communities
Sustainability Planning Checklist
This checklist is designed to assist program implementers during planning for sustainability. It includes categories such as: budget planning, cost efficiency, revenue streams, data, stakeholder engagement, staff retention, and program participation. This tool can help providers and coalitions think through the various facets of sustainability and develop a plan with practical action steps for tackling sustainability barriers.
The Community Toolbox: Resources for Building Stronger Prevention Efforts
The Community Tool Box is a free, comprehensive online resource designed to support professionals in building healthier communities through effective prevention and community development strategies. It offers practical, step-by-step, evidence-informed guidance across core areas of practice, including community assessment and planning, program implementation and evaluation, coalition building, stakeholder engagement, communication, leadership and organizational development, advocacy, cultural responsiveness, and sustainability. Together, these resources provide practitioners, coalitions, and organizations – particularly in child welfare, mental health, and prevention fields – with actionable tools and examples to plan, strengthen, and sustain meaningful, positive change for youth and families.
What is the Community Tool Box?
The Community Tool Box is a long-standing, mission-driven resource created to promote community health and development by connecting people, ideas, and practical tools. Launched in 1994, it was designed to provide accessible, real-world guidance on core community-building competencies—such as leadership, program evaluation, and grant writing—that can be used by both professionals and community members across diverse issue areas. Over time, it has grown into an extensive, multilingual resource with more than 340 sections and thousands of pages of content, serving community leaders and practitioners, organizations that support community change, and funders seeking to strengthen and sustain effective community improvement efforts. In addition to its extensive content, the Community Tool Box is designed for ease of navigation and practical use. Each section follows a clear, practical structure explaining what a skill is, why and when it matters, and how to apply it, supported by curated resources, real-world examples, tools and checklists, and ready-to-use PowerPoint slides that facilitate training, technical assistance, and real-world application.
Coalitions Part 1: Defining and Forming
This resource explains the foundational steps for building and strengthening community coalitions, beginning with clear definitions of what coalitions are and why they matter for collective action. It outlines how to form a coalition – identifying shared goals, recruiting diverse members, and establishing structures and processes – and highlights early planning tasks that set the stage for effective collaboration and sustained community impact.
Coalitions Part 2: Establishing Effectiveness
This resource provides guidance on establishing and strengthening coalition effectiveness once a coalition is formed. It outlines practical strategies for setting clear goals, developing shared vision and action plans, defining member roles and responsibilities, establishing decision-making and communication processes, and monitoring progress to support sustained collaboration and measurable community impact.
Coalitions Part 3: Evaluating success and effectiveness
This resource explains how to evaluate the functioning and impact of community coalitions by identifying meaningful evaluation questions, selecting appropriate indicators and data collection methods, and using findings to improve coalition processes and outcomes. It covers both process evaluation (such as member participation, activities completed, and partnership functioning) and outcome evaluation (such as changes in community conditions or targeted behaviors), with an emphasis on using evaluation results for continuous learning, accountability, and strategic planning.
Developing a Workforce to Support Prevention Efforts and Strengthen Communities: Why and How to Do It
This resource outlines key strategies for developing a skilled prevention workforce, emphasizing the importance of clear competencies, structured training pathways, supportive workplace environments, and ongoing professional development to equip practitioners with the knowledge and skills needed to implement evidence-based prevention effectively. It describes practical actions—such as defining role-specific competencies, using competency-based training and coaching, fostering cross-sector collaboration, and building organizational systems that support retention and career advancement—to strengthen workforce capacity and sustainability in prevention practice.
The PROSPER Delivery System
This video explains the PROSPER prevention delivery system – a structured, multi-level model that helps communities implement evidence-based youth and family programs with high fidelity, strong participation, and long-term sustainability. Speakers describe how PROSPER combines an Extension-led local team with ongoing technical assistance and state/national support, typically delivering a school-based youth program alongside a family program (e.g., a middle-school family skills series), and note research showing stronger substance-use prevention impacts when programs are delivered through PROSPER rather than “business as usual.” The discussion also highlights practical implementation lessons, including the time and resource investment required, the value of using existing community coalitions to recruit team members, stigma reduction to broaden buy-in, and the benefits of PROSPER’s networked supports for adapting operations during disruptions like COVID while protecting program fidelity.
Coalition Check-Up Resource Action Planning Worksheets
Coalitions play a crucial role in fostering robust community development. Four tools were developed using the Coalition Check-Up to support the well-being of your coalition and its activities to ensure success! Coalition Check-Up Resource 2 – Action Planning Worksheets: Need a worksheet to help you make decisions about next steps and itemize them? Then, this is your resource!