The practice of paying participants for their involvement in public projects removes financial obstacles and logistical challenges to stakeholder engagement and attracts a broad cross-section of community members to provide a range of perspectives. Compensating stakeholders values their expertise and time commitment and results in solutions that better align with community needs. This case study features a compensation plan developed through extensive input from community-based organizations (CBOs) and project partners, as well as research on best practices from leading governmental and nonprofit organizations.
Its primary goals were to ensure engagement is informed by a broad range of viewpoints, foster trust and a sense of ownership among stakeholders, and reinforce the value of community-driven planning for designing effective solutions to community-wide issues. This case study explores the development, implementation, and lessons learned from that compensation plan. Through pre-paid debit cards, meals, transportation, and interpretation services and other wraparound supports, the plan enabled broad participation—especially among community members who face structural challenges to engagement. The plan’s implementation revealed challenges (particularly around technological barriers) establishing sound procedures for fiduciary management and ensuring the plan adhered to all applicable regulatory requirements.
The compensation framework developed through this process supports community participation for this specific project and establishes a replicable model for integrating compensation into other projects with a community engagement component.
