People with lived experience of health-related issues bring unique and valuable expertise for creating solutions that address their needs. That’s why we encourage organizations seeking grant support from the Health Fund to develop community engagement strategies that will lead to more responsive and effective programs.
We also believe community members should be supported and compensated appropriately to make it easier to engage.
Community members often bear significant costs in terms of their time, money, and energy when they agree to share their insights. Unfortunately, this unintended consequence of community engagement can place stress on the people the process intends to serve.
To address this challenge, one Michigan organization has created a thoughtful, detailed compensation framework that others can adopt in their own work with communities.
KConnect Community Member & Youth Compensation Frameworks
KConnect is a network of organizations working on a common agenda to ensure all Kent County children have a clear path to economic prosperity. KConnect is a vital bridge between people and organizations working to transform systems and advance equity through collective impact.
This often means learning from community expertise. In 2016, community members and cross-sector partners worked collaboratively to co-create KConnect’s community member compensation framework. The framework — available for download here — lays out a spectrum of engagement activities and sets fair compensation for each.
The framework recommends an hourly wage (a minimum of $35.41) for community members serving on workgroups or presenting at meetings. The wage was derived from an analysis of available ALICE data, setting a reasonable minimum standard and then adding 10%. It also recommends offering childcare and refreshments for those participating in open community conversations, along with a variety of other recommendations.
In 2023, KConnect and the community added to this resource by developing a related youth compensation structure created by and for young people, which addresses the unique considerations of engaging youth in the community and is available for download alongside the community member framework.
“The community compensation structure has strengthened our community by valuing lived experience as true expertise,” said KConnect President and CEO Salvador Lopez. “At KConnect, we ensure that community voices are not only heard but fairly compensated, reflecting our mission to ensure that all children and families can prosper. By investing in those who have historically been excluded, we build a more inclusive system where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.”
What it means for the Health Fund
Our squad heard from Lopez during a learning session on community engagement earlier this year. The discussion allowed us to reflect on our own community engagement practices and what we value in the work of our grantees.
Many of our grantees and partners are already adopting compensation practices in their community engagement efforts — we encourage all grant applicants who are doing community engagement work to do so. We welcome requests for funding to address this important need within Health Fund grant budgets as part of a broader emphasis on community voice in the way we evaluate and prioritize proposals.
In response to these discussions, we’ve also recently updated our own internal compensation practices, including honoraria for grantees and community members who present at conferences at the request of the Health Fund or contribute to our events and communications projects.
Additionally, we offer reimbursements for those traveling to attend Health Fund convenings, and stipends for community members and independent health leaders who contribute to focus groups, application reviews, and other time-intensive feedback mechanisms.
Meanwhile, KConnect is working on a comprehensive community guidebook related to this work scheduled for release later this year. Look for this resource on KConnect’s website in the coming months.