Benefits

There are a variety of the significant direct and indirect benefits of community asset building. The list below is in no way exclusive and clearly further analysis and qualitative studies are required to understand the benefits in greater depth.

Benefits for the community

• Community asset building can revitalize areas that may have become undervalued from both an economic and community perspective.
• Community buildings can promote a sense of pride, belonging and ownership develops where assets are community owned.
• Community planning focused on community owned assets can be carried out with certainty and predictability about the future.
• Income generating activities which create local employment provide new and flexible employment for local people.
• Surpluses generated from the assets remain in the community for the benefit of the community (an example of what the New Economics Foundation calls the ‘Local Multiplier Effect).

Benefits for community organisations and their constituents

• Builds a sense of security and hope for the future
• Stimulates an enterprising culture focused on a synthesis between financial and community objectives
• Exposes community organisations to a wider range of relationships through processes of arranging finance and managing the asset.
• Provides status and recognition to those involved as competent financial managers and creative community entrepreneurs.
• Provides an important base from which to build further into constituent asset development, more radical non-funded work, and/or broader community asset building work.

Benefits for external stakeholders

• Asset ownership and enterprise development can revitalise local economies by injecting new business for local service providers.
• By building on financial and community objectives and relationships developed outside the community organisation, peer-based partnerships can form between small to medium businesses and small to medium community organisations.

Benefits for Government

• Funding provided to provide accommodation for community organisations remains with the community organisation and in the community as opposed to the pockets of private investors;
• As community asset building generates community enterprise, reliance on government funding can, over time, be reduced.

Long-term View

• Forming closer links with the community.
• Long-term advantages are more significant than the short-term.
• Ability to make money that can be pumped back into the community.
• Able to afford competitive salary for local service provider against market prices.