Assemble the team

Mar 11

Written By Kate Malloy

Step 4 | Find Your Anchor Partner

Identify a trusted organization already collecting data, coordinating aid, or connecting with smaller nonprofits.

For us, that was Community Action Partners of Strafford County (CAPSC).
They provided the roll call of nonprofits to identify needs and distribution points.
This partnership let us focus on mobilization and communication, not data management.

Lesson: Find who’s already doing the work and amplify them. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Build spokes that make it stronger.

Step 5 | Build Your Core Team: The Change Makers

Gather 8–10 local leaders with different strengths: nonprofit, business, education, creative, logistics, communications.
This becomes your Steering Team: your brain trust and sounding board.
They meet often, share ideas fast, and help spread updates through their own networks.
Keep it lightweight: group texts, short Zooms, in-person huddles.

Lesson: You don’t need a board; you need believers.

Creating your early momentum