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Luther Snow Articles

Coming Soon!

2011 Newsletters

Below is an archive of my 2011 newsletters.

2010 Newsletters

Below is an archive of my 2010 newsletters.

New Equity Daily

My friend Chinwe Onyeagoro and her colleagues at O-H Community Partners have created a website with a wealth of information for small businesses seeking alternative financing.  Presented in a simple, straightforward way, it will help strengthen community partnerships for positive economic development.

Website:  Leave No Veteran Behind

Roy Brown and Eli Williamson are two committed and talented men who served in Iraq, came back, and are really doing something about the circumstances facing veterans in our society.  They started Leave No Veteran Behind, a non-profit that works to eliminate the educational debt of veterans, while employing vets in community development, like helping inner-city students get to school safely.

Website:  Shalom-Makers

Among national denominations, the United Methodist Church has done as much as any to apply and spread Asset Based Community Development in church life.  The Communities of Shalom initiative supports faith-based and grassroots community development efforts in urban, rural, and suburban contexts.  David Cooper is an experienced consultant in these efforts, an ABCD practitioner, and the principal behind the Shalom-Makers consulting outfit.

Website:  Great Cities Institute  / UIC

One of the oldest and most active University Engagement initiatives is at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  Friend and colleague Martin Berg, expert in marketing for non-profits, is an instructor with this program.  Other good folks I can vouch for include Lauri Alpern, Bob Brehm, Joan Flanagan, Mary Heidkamp, Noah Jenkins, G. Sequane Lawrence, Jean Pogge, Kate Privera, and Deborah Strauss.  A top bunch of committed and expert folks!

Website:  Shorebank

Shorebank is a global pioneer in social enterprise.  When I was working in South Shore in the early 80's, they were one of the first "community development banks," aimed at sparking reinvestment in the inner city.  Since then I've been pleased and proud to see my old friend go on to prove and test the idea that you can "do well by doing good," in microenterprise, environmental banking, and women's empowerment.

Ning:  Tutor/Mentor Connection

Tutor/Mentor Connection is a wonderful example and a model of a networked initiative for positive change.  At its heart, T/M C provides a clearinghouse for adults who want to volunteer with youth, and youth-serving opportunities.  From there it grows in a "dynamic exchange of ideas," as their Ning discussion group illustrates.  See also the main website for Tutor/Mentor Connection.

Website:  Consulting for Change

Consulting for Change founder, friend and colleague Adina Abramowitz is a financial whiz and a results manager.  She has a long track record of work in community development finance and operations.  We've teamed on consultations with organizations, with very nice results!

Website:  The Nova Group

The Nova Group is a consulting organization who support innovation in higher education.  I've worked with the founder, Monica Manning,herself a former Dean, and find her dedicated to real college and university engagement.  I especially appreciate the Nova Group's passion for rural campuses and community colleges.  and they have a nifty online learning resource.

Website:  Consumer's Energy

Small Town and Rural Development

Consumer's Energy is a utility serving much of rural Michigan.  They've been leaders in the promotion and development of Positive Rural Development in the state.  I work with staff leaders of the utility to facilitate a version of my Asset Mapping process in rural communities.  Consumer's has published a set of handouts for rural community leaders, covering the most useful and well-regarded strategies in the field or rural development.  They make these resources available on their website.

Website:  Insight Center

for Community Economic Development

The Insight Center for Community Economic Development is a national research, consulting, and legal organization dedicated to building health and opportunity in vulnrerable communities.  I first connected with the organization 20 years ago, when  it provided key support and training to the grassroots community economic development groups I staffed in Chicago.  I now serve on the Board of Directors.  Current projects include sector-based industry and workforce development, economic security and asset development, the wealth gap in race and gender, and the significance of early childhood development to economic development.

Website:  Alban Institute

The Alban Institute published my book, The Power of Asset Mapping:  How Your Congregation Can Act on Its Gifts.  This is a well-respected consulting organization for congregations that has developed a significant catalog of publications and other resources.  I've been impressed by their movement and growth in positive and networked approaches.

Email Newsletter: Grassroots Grantmakers

Email Newsletter:  Grassroots Grantmakers

Grassroots Grantmakers is a great interest group for philanthropists, foundation executives, public officials, and anyone interested in the support of local, grassroots communitiy initiative.  The organization is led by Janis Foster, a colleague of mine on the Faculty Network of the ABCD Institute and a member of the Editorial Committee for the publication of The Organization of Hope:  A Workbook for Rural Asset-Based Community Development.  I like the newsletter, and check out the rest of the site for Janis's blog, coming events, and information on becoming a member.

Blog: Positive Structures

My friend David Friedman started this blog and asked me to co-author.  The blog compares and contrasts various tools, systems, and approaches that help groups of people build on our appreciation of strengths and assets.  Asset Mapping is one of these, and I'm contributing some of my learnings to the discussion.    David is a principal at Bridgewell Partners, and somebody I look to as a like-minded colleague in the corporate world.

Website: ABCD Institute

How did we first start focusing on "assets" instead of "needs" in community work?  It really starts with John McKnight and Jody Kretzmann, authors of Building Community from the Inside Out and founders of the Asset Based Community Development Institute at the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University.

I have worked with McKnight and Kretzmann since the mid 1980's when I was active in inner-city Chicago with faith-based and community economic development.  They have been mentors and friends to me.  I authored two books and contributed to a third published by the ABCD Institute, produced some of the presentation materials and teaching concepts used in the field, and serve as a member of the loose knit Faculty Network.  Click here to read more about my connection to the ABCD Institute.

University Engagement Strength Statement

Other Publications, Articles, and Presentations

Strategies for Sustainable Small Town and Rural Development, series published by Consumer's Energy, Michigan, 2009.

http://www.consumersenergy.com/content.aspz?id=1868

• Transformational Strategy and Rural Latino Development, with Susan Murty and Elizabeth Mendez-Shannon, white paper for the Northwest Area Foundation, 2008.

Civic Engagement in Higher Education: Reflection, Power, Evaluation, Risk Management, contributing editor with Campbell, Hamerlinck, Kim-Han, Morton, Pribbenow, Campus Compact, 2007.

http://www.compact.org/resources/civic-engagement-in-higher-education/1272/

• Asset Thinking and Network Strategy. Presentation for national staff of the Episcopal Church.
• A New Paradigm for Community Economic Development, presentation for the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, 2007
• Ruralness is a Strength. Keynote presentation to National Rural Economic Development Association, 2009.
• Sustainability is Thinking Backwards: Networked Strategies for Rural Economic Development, presentation to Rural Development Initiatives, Inc., 2005.
• The Networked Youth Development Center: A Business Model for Systemic Change, collaborative product for the Humboldt Park Youth Coalition, Chicago, 2003.
• Convergence: Trends in Academic, Community and Business Development, report to the Ford Foundation for DePaul University, 2001
• Community Planning from the Bottom Up, community planning model developed by grassroots groups, Community Workshop on Economic Development, 1992.
• "The Community's Perspective on the Land Development Process," in Challenging Uneven Development: An Urban Agenda for the 1990s, ed. by Philip W. Nyden and Wim Wiewel, Rutgers University Press, 1991.
• Economic Development Breaks the Mold: Community-Building, Place-Targeting, and Empowerment Zones," Economic Development Quarterly, May, 1991.

The Power of Asset Mapping: 
How Your Congregation Can Act on its Gifts. 
Published by the Alban Institute, Herndon, VA, 2004.  148 pages.

Bestseller and Early Description of Luther's Asset Mapping process.
The Alban Institute is a well-known consulting firm to congregations and faith communities, and they generally publish the work of their own consultants, but they made an exception for this title.  It's been a bestseller, selling as strongly today as when it came out.

This book contains the first widely-published description of Luther's Quick and Simple Asset Mapping Experience, with notes and tips for facilitators.  The book is written for a congregational audience, yet it is accessible to any community or group leader. 

Many volunteers use this book to prepare for leading Asset Mapping with a voluntary group.  If you are a paid professional, use the book to consider how this might apply to your work and to contact Luther to propose mutually beneficial consultation.

"This book is revolutionary in the best sense of the word.  it does a beautiful job of combining spirit and practice.  It is both inspiring and useful.  While ostensibly aimed at congregational and religious life, it should be the operating manual for anyone trying to transform institutions, communities, or nations."

"In these times of shrinking budgets and sagging ranks of volunteers, Luther Snow shares God's abundance in The Power of Asset Mapping. . .  Asset Mapping works with any group, and almost anyone can facilitate it.  Give it a try!" 


"Action-oriented love can change things.  That's my conclusion after ready this how-to book that offers much more than instructions." 


"It's about people discovering their assets and mobilizing them for ministry.  You will want to use this process, and you can -- because it's that easy."



Personalized Copy:  To purchase this book directly from the author, signed and dedicated to you, your group, or your designate:

Follow these instructions to buy with Paypal or a credit card. 

First, click on the link below.  Then, when you get to the "Review your Payment" page, click on "Add special instructions to merchant," and indicate the name of the person or group you would like Luther to make the dedication out to.

Or, send a check or money order for $18 + $4 1st class shipping and handling = $22 to:
           Luther K. Snow, 409 Upper Broadway, Decorah, IA  52101

Be sure to include the name of the person or group you would like Luther to dedicate the book to.

To purchase this book from the publisher, Alban Institute
Click here.
http://www.alban.org/bookdetails.aspx?id=956

Who Uses Asset Mapping?

Asset Mapping works for your group, community, team, network, or association!  Asset Mapping lifts up and builds on the positive spirit of voluntary group participation.  It is meant for any group of people who come together because they want to, not because they have to.  Asset Mapping reminds us why we come together in the first place, and highlights for us all that we can accomplish together when we focus on our strengths and gifts.

The concept of asset thinking and positive action is empowering for individuals as well.  Often, participants say that their participation in Asset Mapping has helped them understand their own situation better and has opened up new opportunities for personal growth.

Bio of Luther Snow -- rural emphasis

Luther K. Snow

is a national speaker, facilitator, and consultant who specializes in empowering communities, groups, and networks to take positive action for the common good. Luther is the creator of Asset Mapping, the in-person method for positive group collaboration that has gone "viral"and spread to over 2.5 million users across the US, Canada, and places overseas. A premier facilitator, Luther has worked with over 25,000people and hundreds of organizations, giving him the nickname of 'theGood Groups Guru."


Luther Snow gets rural.  He sees ruralness as a strength, not a weakness.  As a rural resident himself, Luther understands that rural residents and leaders care passionately about our communities, because we love it here!  He's been a national leader in the movement toward Positive Rural Development.  He is the author of the groundbreaking book in this effort, The Organization of Hope:  A Workbook for Rural Asset-Based Community Development.  Most of all, he has successfully trained and facilitated thousands of rural participants across the nation to build on our rural assets to get things done for the better.  That's why he's considered by some to be "one of the top five rural development experts in the nation."

Community Transformation:
Turning Threats into Opportunities
Published by the Asset-Based Community Development Institute, Bethel New Life, and the Chicago Association of Neighborhood Development Organizations, 2001.  With assistance from Uchenna Ukaegbu.  Sponsored by the Woods Charitable Trust, with additional support from the Chicago Community Trust/Kinship Foundation.  97 pages.

Nuts and Bolts Lessons from Community Innovators.
Some books about community development come with "rose-colored glasses."  The partners who developed this book meant it to provide real, tough, practical lessons for community development practitioners and leaders.

The cases in the book are among the most dramatic and exciting examples in the the nation of the power of grassroots development .  There's the nation's first "transit-oriented development," sparked not by a transit authority, but by the Spanish Speaking Unity Council in Oakland.  There's the Pathway Supermarket developed by Absynnian Development Corporation, the first supermarket ever to serve the 350,000 residents of Harlem.  There's the case of the monumental fishing initiative of Coastal Enterprises, Inc, striving to restore the fishing supply and the community economies of rural Maine.

In each case, you'll hear from the staffers and leaders who were there on the ground.  They share their heartaches as well as their victories, and tell you how they managed to assemble the partnerships, package the financing, manage the politics, and keep the faith over the length of the process, sometimes for years.

If you are a community developer, economic developer, or volunteer leader, you'll want to read this book to see you are not alone, and that yes, it can be done.


To purchase this book directly from the author, signed and dedicated to you, your group, or your designate:

Send a check or money order for $12 + $5 express shipping = $17 to
Luther K. Snow, 409 Upper Broadway, Decorah, IA  52101

Be sure to include the name of the person or group you would like Luther to dedicate the book to.

To purchase this book from the distributor, ACTA Publications,
click here:
http://www.abcdinstitute.org/publications/workbooks/

The Organization of Hope:
A Workbook for Rural Asset-Based Community Development.

Published by the Asset-Based Community Development Institute, Northwestern University, 2001.  Sponsored by the Blandin Foundation, Grand Rapids, MN.  120 pages.

Bestseller at the Birth of the Positive Rural Development Movement
When this book was written, the field of rural development was widely negative.   Experts were wringing their hands, wondering if rural is "obsolete."  But the ABCD Institute and the Blandin Foundation got together with an all-star Editorial Committee of grassroots leaders, who identified and showcased rural communities who are using their rural strengths and assets to get things done.  They saw ruralness as strength, not weakness, and saw real opportunity for rural community development.

And since the publication of this book, the field of rural development has made a remarkable shift to the positive, thanks to a widespread movement of people like the folks described here.

The examples here address real and tough questions for rural communities:  "How do we develop and sustain our youth?"  "How do we protect our culture?"  How do we create jobs and business?"  "How do we organize for power and results?"

The strategies come from every kind of rural community, from every corner of the nation, the Heartland to the Sea Islands off the Carolinas, mountain country to the Colonias on the border with Mexico.  Their stories are their own, but the lessons they learned about approaching rural community from an "asset perspective" are useful and inspirational to anyone.

The Editorial Board that shaped and guided the book included:

• Terry Lynn Holley, VP for Programs and Rural Development, East Tennessee Foundation, TN
• Jim Krile, Director, Blandin Community Leadership Program, MN
• John Kretzmann, Co-Director, ABCD Institute, IL
• Deborah Puntenney, Director of Research and Publications, ABCD Institute, IL
• Diane Littlefield, Executive Driector, Center for Collaborative Planning, CA
• Bernie Mazyck, CEO, South Carolina Association of Community Development Corporations, SC
• Frank Sanchez, Program Officer, Needmor Fund, CO
• Geralyn Sheehan, Community Development Consultant, MN
• Carol Spearman, Director, Blandin Community Investment Partnership, MN
• Dianne Williams, Consultant to the Kellogg and Rapides Foundations, AR

To purchase this book directly from the author, signed and dedicated to you, your group, or your designate:

Send a check or money order for $12 + $5 express shipping = $17 to
Luther K. Snow, 409 Upper Broadway, Decorah, IA  52101

Be sure to include the name of the person or group you would like Luther to dedicate the book to.

To purchase this book from the distributor, ACTA Publications,
click here:
http://www.abcdinstitute.org/publications/workbooks/

Asset Mapping Fact Sheet

Click here for a fact sheet on Asset Mapping

Biography

For a short general biography, click here:



For more detail, or for a biography customized to your audience or group, contact us.

Photos

Head shot, web version (right click and save)
















Head shot, print version

How to use Asset Mapping:  Terms of Use

Asset Mapping is the creation of Luther Snow, who holds all the rights to its distribution.  Luther chooses to share Asset Mapping on a basis similar to Creative Commons.  That is:

VOLUNTEERS:  Asset Mapping is free to you if you are free.  Luther extends open and free permission to volunteers who work with voluntary groups.  So, whether you are a volunteer Board member working with your Board, a neighbor in a community group, a member of a congregation, or a participant in a membership association, you may facilitate Asset Mapping with your group, as long as you credit it to Luther and this web page.

PROFESSIONALS:  If you are a professional, you must make arrangements to share with Luther.  If you are using Asset Mapping in any context where you are paid and/or the participants are paid, you must contact Luther to propose a mutual beneficial sharing in the arrangements.  This applies to any teacher, trainer, consultant, staff member, or other paid person.  Luther especially welcomes proposals that include some kind of sharing of learning and method:  this is how we "loop back" and grow our movement, consistent with the win-win-win message of Asset Mapping.  Click here to contact us for permission to use Asset Mapping in professional work.

We are working to develop a network on a companion website which will facilitate this kind of sharing and peer-to-peer development.  Look for more information here soon.


Read the book:  Get a copy of bestselling book, The Power of Asset Mapping: How Your Congregation Can Act on Its Gifts,published by the Alban Institute.  It contains detailed notes for facilitating an early version of Asset Mapping, which you may use as a volunteer working with any voluntary organization.  If you are a paid professional, use the book to consider how this might apply to your work and to contact Luther to propose mutually beneficial consultation.

Network. Asset Mapping has grown and improved over the past few years, in part because of collaboration and sharing with people like you.  In months to come we'll be providing more ways to share and collaborate with other leaders in this field on this website.  Meanwhile, check the "Neworking" section of this website and our social networking connections like Facebook and Linked In.  Networking

Engage Luther K. Snow.

• Hire Luther to be a speaker and presenter at your conference, gathering, or other event.  Get Asset Mapping straight from the source!  Participants praise Luther's presentations for combining positive, interactive process with powerful insight and inspiration.  Your participants will take home skills and insight they can use, right away! [Speaking]

• Tap Luther to facilitate and lead a workshop or series of workshops for your group or community.  Luther will facilitate Asset Mapping 2.0 with your group, leading to positive group dynamics and tangible action.   You'll tackle the issues that matter most, discover what your people really want to do, and take the action that really works.  And, your leaders will build the capacity to build your group over time. [Facilitation]

• Bring in Luther to consult and train with your group or community.  Discover the benefits of building on Asset Mapping insights with your group or organization.  Luther will help you see opportunities in even the toughest situations, and train your leaders to respond and act from strength. [Consulting]

Asset Mapping 2.0: Luther in Action

Personal transformation story.  The clergy leader of an urban congregation was feeling burned out by the pressures and demands of the job.  Following Asset Mapping with Luther, he felt like a weight came off her shoulders.  "More people are stepping up, because they really want to be part of this positive thing," he says.  "I'm learning to open up my style, and I'm not only having more fun, but we're really getting things done!"

Group transformation story.  A rural leader came to one of Luther's presentations at a conference.  She was excited about Asset Mapping, and went home shared it with other Board members of her community group.  The Board caught on immediately, and their new positive focus led to an exciting new project that generated significant funding.  And that project kicked off a wave of new initiative in the community.

Institutional transformation story.  A foundation hired Luther to facilitate Asset Mapping with some of its prospective grantees.  As the groups discovered new strengths and assets in their communities, they opened new ways to partner with the foundation for even wider impact.  The foundation received stronger grant proposals and saw measurable improvement in its funding impact.

Collaboration story.  In a wide rural region experiencing poverty and hardship, diverse community groups came together to share in Asset Mapping with Luther.  Together they developed an innovative, on-line social enterprise that generated income for each community and created opportunities for local entrepreneurs.

Strengths on Your Side: Asset Mapping

• Remarkable success.  Luther Snow's Asset Mapping process is so successful, it has "gone viral" and spread to over 2.5 million users across the US, Canada, and places overseas.  This growing popularity is particularly remarkable because it has happened at the grassroots, from user to user, rather than by the Internet or by commercial marketing.

• Work with the originator.  When you engage Luther Snow, you are working with the creator and developer of Asset Mapping.  In his experience with over 25,000 participants and hundreds of organizations, Luther has successfully facilitated Asset Mapping in just about every kind of group dynamic.

• Get the new version.  Luther has strengthened, improved, and developed these understandings and tools into Asset Mapping 2.0, and he shares this advanced work with you.

• Arrangements for professionals.  If you are a professional who wishes to train and facilitate groups, or your are a group of staff or other professionals, only Luther can permit and empower you to use Asset Mapping.  True to the approach and purpose of Asset Mapping, Luther wants to work with you to adapt and develop this tool with you for mutual benefit, and he welcomes your inquiry.

• Good Group expertise.  Luther is sometimes called the Good Groups Guru, because he really gets communities and groups.  Participants relate strongly with Luther as a presenter, facilitator, and consultant, and he is generous and collaborative in his work with colleagues working for the common good.

What is Asset Mapping?

Luther Snow's Quick and Simple Asset Mapping Experience, or "Asset Mapping," for short, is a process that can be used with any kind of group, community, or network to facilitate positive group collaboration, in as little as an hour.  It is action planning, experiential learning, volunteer mobilization, and positive inspiration, all wrapped in one.

There are three major benefits of Asset Mapping, which are connected in a self-reinforcing cycle of group interaction:

1. Asset Mapping helps us to recognize assets, strengths and gifts around us – assets that are otherwise overlooked, taken for granted, unappreciated, or outside our vision.
2. Asset Mapping propels us to identify beneficial relationships and build on them in collaborative action. 
3. Asset Mapping opens up opportunities for action toward the greater good. 

Use Luther's Asset Mapping to:

• Break the cycle:  Shift the major pattern of behavior in your group from cycle of neediness and/or conflict to a growing sense of opportunity and power.

• See how and why individuals make a difference in groups.  Build leadership skills and tools to strengthen and support positive group dynamics over time.

• Make a greater impact.  Learn how to structure a sustainable organization or community for real and positive change.

 
See here for more information on Asset Mapping.

How can I use Smart Partnerships?

You are not alone.  Be part of a larger network of community partnership builders!

Read the book:  Community Transformation: Turning Threats into Opportunity, is a practical, nuts-and-bolts telling of 6 stories of community partnerships that had large-scale public impact.  Another bestselling book, The Organization of Hope:  A Workbook for Rural Asset-based Community Development, contains grassroots cases from rural and small town contexts.  

Recognize and build on your own community partnership approaches.  Wherever community partnerships are successful, it's because participants recognized assets and worked to get things done together that none could accomplish on their own.  The most powerful support you can get might be to recognize and build on the good you are already doing.

Network.  In months to come we'll be providing more ways to share and collaborate with other leaders in this field on this website.  Meanwhile, check the "Links" section of this website and our social networking connections like Facebook and Linked In.

Engage Luther K. Snow.

•    Hire Luther to be a speaker and presenter at your conference, gathering, or other collaborative event.  Participants praise his presentations for combining positive, interactive process with powerful insight and inspiration.  Luther will tailor the presentation to your group, and participants will develop practical skills they can take home and use, right away! [Speaking]

•    Tap Luther to facilitate and lead a workshop or series of workshops for your participants or leadership group.   You'll tackle the issues that matter most, discover the strategic value of your partnership, and take the action that really works.  [Facilitation]

•    Bring in Luther to consult with your partnership or emerging collaboration.  Use Luther's skills to get a new community partnership off the ground.  Or apply Smart Partnership methods to the development and implementation of a strategic initiative.  Luther will help you see opportunities in even the toughest situations, and train your leaders to respond and act from strength.  [Consulting]

Thank you for your work on positive change!

Who Uses Smart Partnerships?

Funders, including foundations, government grantmakers, firms, and donors, who want to extend and enhance the impact of their resources.  Funders sometimes use's Luther's services to get a funded initiative off on the right foot.  Other times funders ask Luther to train and consult with staff to incorporate Smart Partnership know-how into their long-term funding and capacity-building strategies.

Institutions and agencies who want to work with communities to accomplish positive change.  Examples might include a health initiative, an economic development partnership, a collaborative justice program, a youth leadership development, or an environmental partnership.  Smart Partnership methods help these groups to build a collaborative culture at the start, or as a mid-stream boost.  In the long-term, Smart Partnership training and strategy helps participants convert relationships into action and real impact.
 
Community-based initiatives and campaigns, including those wishing to build partnerships with institutions.  Luther helps these groups mobilize widespread community participation.  And Luther helps these groups to understand institutional perspectives and find overlapping interests to get things done.  Smart Partnerships result in funding and institutional resources to match and support volunteer effort and community assets, for much greater impact.

Smart Partnerships: Luther in Action

Galvanizing participation.  With Luther's help, a youth development agency partnered with one community to mobilize 2,200 adults and youth around a series of successful community initiatives.  This led to a state funding award and a permanent youth leadership advisory team in the local government.

Making money.   Sparked by Luther's Asset Mapping, local volunteer groups for health raised 7 dollars in community funds for every dollar invested by the public health agency.

From conflict to enthusiastic collaboration.  A foundation faced obstacles to its efforts because of conflict between community newcomers and traditional residents.  Luther's facilitation helped all community members develop and contribute to positive projects, which led to enthusiasm for the partnership and real impact in the community.

Measurable impact:  A statewide economic development agency saw a 60 per cent increase in fundable projects from low-income communities after Luther's training in asset-based collaboration methods.

Strengths on your side: Smart Partnerships

Luther's been an innovator in partnership work for over 35 years, and he understands strategy from institutional and community perspectives.  Luther has:

•    Trained and facilitated over 25,000 community volunteers and institutional staff in collaborative methods and positive strategies.
 
•    Staffed and consulted for foundations and grantmakers, including:  the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; the Northwest Area Foundation; the Blandin Foundation; the Ford Family Foundation; and the Priddy Trust.

•    Staffed or consulted with elected officials and public agencies including Chicago, Corpus Christi, Sioux City, Des Moines, State of West Virginia, State of Washington, and rural Idaho.

•   An 85 percent success rate on grant proposals written for community partnerships.

•    Author of publications on successful partnerships and strategies, including:
  - Community Transformation: Turning Threats into Opportunities.
 -  From the Bottom Up: Building Communities from Within.

What are Smart Partnerships?

From job and business creation to health promotion, from education to the environment, we know that community-based effort is key.  Smart Partnerships are collaborations linking the assets and initiatives of institutions with community assets and interests for powerful, long-term impact. 

Smart Partnerships build on your existing plans and arrangements with asset thinking, collaborative leadership, and networked strategy.  Luther trains staff and community leaders in effective community practice, facilitates positive and productive group sessions, and consults on strategy, resource development, and action.  

Use Luther's Smart Partnerships approach:

• to ensure that a partnership makes a real impact
• to build community buy-in for a sponsored initiative
  
• to mobilize participants for meaningful action
  
• to boost collaborative effort midstream
• to build participant capacity for ongoing action
• to increase project fundability
  

How can I use Engagement?

We are a growing network.  Help make the connections!

Read the book:  Campus Compact is widely recognized as a pioneer in the development of Service Learning, and now in the emerging movement toward Engagement.  Luther has worked with Campus Compact on campuses and in an online dialog of practitioners.  This work resulted in the publication of Civic Engagement in Higher Education:  Reflection, Power, Evaluation, Risk Management, co-written with Campbell, Hamerlinck, Kim-Han, Morton, and Pribbenow, 2007.  Get it from Campus Compact.at (http://www.compact.org/resources/civic-engagement-in-higher-education/1272/)

Build connections in your own institution of higher education.  It's not unusual for Luther to meet with people from the same institution who have mutual interests around Engagement but are not aware of each other's efforts.  As Engagement grows, you may find colleagues in places and roles you wouldn't expect.  Put out a call and see who responds.

Build connections in your field.  If you are thinking about an Engagement issue – how to reimagine publications and tenure, for example, or how to reorganize fundraising and development for institutional advancement – there are people at other institutions dealing with similar issues.  Work to help each other.

Network.  In months to come we'll be providing more ways to share and collaborate with other leaders in this field on this website.  Meanwhile, check the "Links" section of this website and our social networking connections like Facebook and Linked In.

Engage Luther K. Snow.

•    Promote Luther to be a speaker and presenter on your campus.  Luther's presentations are well received by faculty, students, staff, and community partners alike, because he combines hands-on, down-to-earth experience with big picture insight and intelligence.  Luther's presentations can fit with a wide variety of fields, contexts, and settings, to build support and understanding for your efforts.   [Speaking]

•    Hire Luther to facilitate and lead a workshop or series of workshops for your group on campus or campus/community partnership.  Luther is a premier facilitator who uses a mix of interactive process, dialog, story, and presentation to help participants find opportunities for collaboration and Engagement.  [Facilitation]

•    Engage Luther to consult with your Engagement leaders. Because Luther has played so many roles in Engagement, he is able to recognize and develop networked strategies from your existing efforts, for funding, for support, and for impact.  [Consulting]

Thank you for your Engagement!

Who uses Engagement?

Leaders and management groups from universities, liberal arts colleges, community colleges, research institutes, and other institutions of higher education.  These leaders look to Luther for help bringing together and facilitating diverse stakeholders within the institution.  Luther is also asked to consult with leaders on financial strategy and institutional development.

Service Learning programs ask Luther to orient and inspire youth participants to a deeper understanding, or to consult with and train staff to take their efforts to a higher level of civic engagement.

Development and/or Community Relations Offices look to Luther for strategic planning consultation or for facilitation of stakeholder groups.

Academic centers work with Luther to incorporate Engagement thinking and strategy into research and learning on disciplines ranging from the arts to business, sciences to education, and design to technology, often on interdisciplinary efforts.

College and University Engagement: Luther in Action

Luther is sometimes brought in by university officials, sometimes by faculty in a certain field of study, sometimes by students groups, and sometimes by community partners.  Often, he is asked to help out in a variety of ways on the same visit:

•    Campus-wide inspiration:  Luther gave the annual address for the "Community, Agency, and Action Lectureship Series" at Cornell College.  This talk lead to new strategies for college fund developers, advanced the service learning program, inspired student learners in several majors, and gave strength and legitimacy to the scholarly work of faculty.

•    Diffusing tension.  A large urban university had a strained relationship with a bordering neighborhood.  Luther led Asset Mapping sessions and action planning to facilitate "win-win-win" projects leading to new funding and visible collaboration.

•    Student leadership development.  Students from 3 colleges and from high schools across the state recruited Luther for the keynote presentation at the Michigan Youth Symposium.

•    Connecting the dots.  In a single visit as Dean's Fellow at Texas Tech University, Luther consulted with the Deans of two colleges, facilitated faculty planning, lectured on the role of engagement and collaboration in academic disciplines, and trained groups of faculty, staff, and community leaders for successful partnerships.  Months later, stakeholders were sharing and supporting these efforts and wider collaboration around the campus.

Strengths on your side: Engagement

•    Been There, Appreciates That!   Luther has personally experienced University Engagement in many roles around campus, from administrator to public official, from economic developer to scholar, from teacher to community partner, from engaged student to foundation officer.  He's able to view matters from the perspectives of stakeholders and to lift up those perspectives for the collective good.  And participants relate to Luther's style and approach, across the board.

•    Skilled at Recognizing and Tapping Overlooked Assets.  Luther went from Harvard and the Chicago Graduate School of Business to work in the Chicago ghetto, finding special gifts and strengths among different people in different contexts.  He's helped lead the national shift toward Positive Rural Development, and he's raised funding where others said it couldn't be done.  Luther sees opportunities in unusual places, and he knows how to facilitate groups and communities to do the same.

•    Understands the Network Dynamics of Higher Education Institutions and Communities.  Institutions of Higher Education are special creatures.  Traditional business and organizational development approaches can rub participants the wrong way.  But Luther has made a real breakthrough in our understanding of the kind of networked dynamics that operate in and around campus.  His Asset Mapping and related methods work because they help participants contribute their own assets and advance their own interests as part of the larger good.

Click here for more on Luther's background in University Engagement.

What is Engagement?

College and University Engagement means innovative learning, research, and development practices that build around university relationships.  Focusing on assets, instead of needs, stakeholders quickly discover mutual interests and generate collaborations that really work.


Luther supports these practices in the classroom, in the community, and in the Boardroom, drawing on practical facilitation methods and unusual theoretical insight.  In this way, Luther helps lift up and strengthen a culture of opportunity, intellectual curiosity, and shared investment around campus, for both institutional and scholarly advancement. 


Use Luther's College and University Engagement to:

• strengthen your existing efforts in community partnership, service learning, action research, and institutional advancement
  
• help you recognize and tap potential partners, both on campus and off, to get things done.
  
• help collaborators take actions that are more successful because they meet multiple interests.
• draw connections between scholarly work and institutional development.
• renew a sense of collegiality and community.
  
• save money and strengthen fundraising.

How can I use Financial Strategies for Social Innovation?

Read the book: Check the Publications section for information on three books written by Luther which present stories and strategies from innovative social enterprises, and which describe Luther's Asset Mapping process, an ideal tool for building social enterprises in communities and networks.

Reach out to colleagues: There is a large and healthy Social Innovation movement supported by practitioner networks, supportive funders, and books and periodicals. Research these resources, and reach out to like-minded colleagues in our field.

Network. In months to come we'll be providing more ways to share and collaborate with other leaders in this field on this website.  Meanwhile, check the"Networking" section of this website and our social networking connections like Facebook and LinkedIn. [Networking]

Engage Luther K. Snow.

•    Tap Luther to be a speaker and presenter on Social Innovation at your conference or gathering,.  Participants say Luther communicates the ideas and methods of Social Innovation with clarity and humor.  Luther will tailor stories, lessons, and style to your group, and participants will develop practical skills they can take home and use, right away!   [Speaking]

•    Engage Luther to facilitate and lead a workshop or series of workshops for your group.  Luther's Asset Mapping process is ideal for drawing out the assets and relationships in groups that lead to Financial Strategies for Social Innovation. Your group will get past obstacles and take action, because they will want to!   [Facilitation]

•    Bring in Luther to consult with your organization or firm.  Draw on Luther's experience to help you recognize cashflow streams and stakeholder affinities.  Build on Luther's groundbreaking models of development and management to ensure that your Social Innovation is sustainable over time.  [Consulting]

Who Uses Financial Strategies for Social Innovation?

National and regional organizations who want to train and enable their constituents to generate alternative funding streams and develop innovative enterprises.

Public and non-profit organizations who want to generate earned income from their assets and expertise and strengthen their presence and impact in the community.

Funders and grantmakers who'd like to encourage self-sufficiency and market impact from their grantees.

Individual entrepreneurs and firms who would like to make a social difference.

Financial Strategies for Social Innovation: Luther in action

Inner City Asset Mapping leads to social innovation finance. Luther's Asset Mapping and training empowered leaders of an inner-city congregation to work with unlikely partners and develop creative newcommunity-serving enterprises.  They've emerged from red ink to raise$1.7 million for a social incubator.

Rural Asset Mapping leads to social innovation finance . A small rural organization hired Luther to facilitate Asset Mapping and consult on social innovation strategy.  The organization built a network with other rural organizations across three states and developed a distributed online shopping hub for locally produced products.

Networked business model solves collaboration issues. Several youth-serving organizations in an inner-city Latino neighborhood wanted to develop a youth center, but wereconcerned about competing with themselves and losing identity.  Luther facilitate=ds stakeholders to develop an innovative networked business model that builds on the identities of each organization to create greater opportunities and resources for all.

Funder wants self-sufficiency plan. A regional foundation wanted to support plans of a national non-profit to develop a regional office in their area, but wanted to avoid long-term financial dependency.  The foundation hired Luther to develop a social enterprise plan identifying innovative strategies and financial sources for long-term project self-sufficiency.

Strengths on your side: Financial Strategies for Social Innovation

Luther has been a pioneer in Social Innovation since the early 80's, and has adapted those methods to a wide variety of clients and circumstances since then:

•    Young social entrepreneur. Luther developed and managed 3 social enterprises, organized a 110-unit$6M housing cooperative, and co-developed 250 additional units of affordable housing and commercial property before the age of 30.

•    Creator of viral social enterprise. Luther created Asset Mapping, which has spread virally by grassroots participation to over 2.5 million users, and has helped others create their own social enterprises.

•    Creator of model social enterprise management system. Luther conceived of Social Cost Accounting and developed this hybrid management tool with a community-based network of practitioners.  In other names, Social Cost Accounting has been replicated and adapted by leading funders and trainers in the field of Social Innovation.

•    Developer of curriculum. Luther has created social enterprise and self-employment curricula for work with some of the nation's leading technical assistance networks.

•    Education: Luther has a BA from Harvard College and an MBA from the University of Chicago (Booth) Graduate School of Business, with specializations in finance and in public and non-profit management.

What are Financial Strategies for Social Innovation?

There is more to social change work than going after the same grants. Financial Strategies for Social Innovation build on our experience, our relationships, and our overlooked assets to generate earned income by doing good. 

Luther helps leaders to recognize the financial significance of our efforts, and to understand how and why we can draw patronage from potential customers and collaborators.  Using networked and asset-based methods, he helps develop creative enterprises that build on those values and relationships. 

The result is more than financial sustainability.  It's Social Innovation – a re-imagination of ways we can work together for the common good.

Use Financial Strategies for Social Innovation to:

• stop chasing funding, and start generating funds
• get people excited about what you are doing
• find new partners and supporters
• create a path toward long-term sustainability

How Can I Use Empowering Congregations?

Join the movement to build on assets for faith community and action!  

Read the book:  Get a copy of bestselling book, The Power of Asset Mapping: How Your Congregation Can Act on Its Gifts, published by the Alban Institute.  It contains detailed notes for facilitating an early version of Asset Mapping, which you may use as a volunteer working with any voluntary organization.  If you are a paid professional, use the book to consider how this might apply to your work and to contact Luther to propose mutually beneficial consultation.

Develop and strengthen your own Empowering Congregations approaches.  Abundance, connection, open-sum networking, and the larger whole – it's all in Scripture.  You are already using these approaches wherever people are coming together in faith and forming community.  Lift up those blessings in community, and listen and learn from what happens.

Network.  In months to come we'll be providing more ways to share and collaborate with other leaders in this field on this website.  Meanwhile, check the "Links" section of this website and our social networking connections like Facebook and Linked In.

Engage Luther K. Snow.

• Hire Luther to be a speaker and presenter at your conference, gathering, worship, or other spiritual event.  Participants praise his presentations for combining positive, interactive process with powerful insight and inspiration.  Luther will tailor the presentation to your group, and participants will develop practical skills they can take home and use, right away! [Speaking]
• Tap Luther to facilitate and lead a workshop or series of workshops for your congregation or faith community.   You'll tackle the issues that matter most, discover what your people really want to do, and take the action that really works.  [Facilitation]
• Bring in Luther to consult with your congregation or group of congregations.  Use Luther's skills to get a new community partnership off the ground.  Or apply Luther's approaches to youth ministry, outdoor education, stewardship, or another area of ministry.  Luther will help you see opportunities in even the toughest situations, and train your leaders to respond and act from strength. [Consulting]

Thank you, and God bless your ministry!

Who Uses Empowering Congregations?

• Individual congregations, parishes, synagogues and faith communities have used this approach either for:
• a one-time "boost," or for
• longer term consultations to build on fundraising, ministry, facility, and worship.

• National denominations and faith-based non-profits have engaged Luther for his services and the use of his Asset Mapping tools.  This has included
•  "Train-the-trainer" services and consultation in the special application of these methods to specific areas of ministry. 
  
• Applying Asset Mapping methods to existing organizational development systems such as Appreciative Inquiry or Natural Church Development.

• Regional organizations and ecumenical coalitions have tapped Luther to
  
• facilitate large gatherings and to
  
• inspire and support collaboration among groups of congregations.

• Rural, inner-city, and suburban organizations have taken advantage of Luther's unique combination of skills in both congregational development and community development to generate place-based action strategies.

Empowering Congregations: Luther in Action

Inspirational Impact:
An historic congregation with about 30 active members and a lot of unpaid bills brought Luther in for a day-long workshop.  Clergy and lay leaders took the message and method of "asset thinking" to Scripture and to heart.  "Connecting the dots," they developed ministry, grew to 300 members, and raised $1.7 million.

Strength from Sustained Practice:
The leaders of a large denomination used Luther's Asset Mapping skills and tools with thousands of participants in diverse aspects of the church.  When controversy and conflict struck, the culture and habits of asset thinking helped leaders guide with wisdom and strength.

Power in Partnership:
8 smaller congregations struggled in a suburban area surrounded by larger congregations.  They tapped Luther to facilitate sharing and collaboration, growing in spirit and numbers as a "megachurch without walls."

Energized Participants:
A non-profit training organization used Luther's skills and approach to energize congregational participants for action.  In the process, both the non-profit and the participants discovered and tapped valuable connections between ministry, fundraising, building restoration, and congregational strength.

Strengths on Your Side: Empowering Congregations

• Luther has trained hundreds of faith-based organizations in positive, networked strategy for faith community, including
  
• the leaders of 6 major national denominations
• national and regional faith-based organizations such as Lutheran Services in America, the National Catholic Rural Life Council, Partners for Sacred Places, and the Ecumenical Stewardship Center
• Regional, local, and judicatories and ecumenical groups and networks
• dozens of individual congregations.
  

• Over one million people have successfully applied Luther's empowering approaches in every aspect of faith life, including stewardship, outreach, community ministry, global mission, youth ministry, Board development, partnership facilitation, financial development, and work in rural, urban, and suburban contexts.

• Luther's book, The Power of Asset Mapping: How Your Congregation Can Act on Its Gifts (Alban Institute) is a best seller with 10,000 copies purchased to date by people like you.

What is Empowering Congregations?

Congregations, parishes, and other faith communities face daily challenges to our leadership, organization, and finances.  But we can choose to focus on God's blessings.  Empowering Congregations is a strategy that builds on our strengths, gifts, and assets.  From appreciation and thankfulness for these gifts, we are led to connect our gifts with each other to get things done together we could not get done on our own.  In the process, we experience the power of being part of something bigger than all of us.

Use Empowering Congregations to:

• get your congregation or group focused on the positive again
• start a new congregation or ministry
• facilitate positive collaboration among and between congregations or groups
• identify and raise new funds
• build powerful relationships with the wider community
• renew a sense of faith, justice,  and spirit
• train and equip leaders to work effectively

How Can I Use Positive Rural Development?

Join the Positive Rural Development movement!  

Download the free handout from Consumer's Energy in Michigan, called "Prospering from Community Assets."  It's part of a series Consumer's did on the best, most practical strategies out there for small towns and rural communities.  You may distribute this handout in your group for discussion.
Read the book:  Get a copy of bestselling book, The Organization of Hope: A Workbook for Rural Asset-Based Community Development, published by the ABCD Institute.  It has examples and stories of how rural communities have used positive, asset-based approaches to create jobs, resolve conflict, develop youth and families, retain culture, and organize for political action.

Develop and strengthen your own Positive Rural Development projects and approaches.  In months to come we'll be providing ways to share and collaborate with other leaders in this field.

Network with other Positive Rural Developers, through the "Links" section of this website and our social networking connections like Facebook and Linked In.

Engage Luther K. Snow.

• Bring in Luther to be a speaker and presenter at your rural event.  He "gets" rural.  His sessions are lively, inspirational, down-to-earth, and always highly rated.  And participants will get practical tools they can take home and use, right away!  [Speaking]

• Enlist Luther to facilitate and lead your community planning session, rural association gathering, or organizational leadership event.  You'll find yourselves taking positive action and uncovering opportunities you may not have even realized you had! [Facilitation]

• Hire Luther to consult with your organization or collaboration, in Strategic Planning, Business Development, Fundraising and Resource Development, and/or Leadership Development.  Luther has a unique ability to see "the genius in the community" and will help your organization strengthen and grow as a model for successful social change. [Consulting]

Thank you, and remember, ruralness is strength!

Who Uses Positive Rural Development?

Large and small groups across the countryside use Luther's help, such as:

• National rural organizations like the National Rural Economic Development Association, the National Rural Assembly, the National Catholic Rural Life Council, and Rural Partners of Canada.

• Regional providers like the Northwest Area Foundation, the Midstates Community and Economic Development Conference, Cornell University, the Blandin Foundation, the Ford Family Foundation, and the Appalachian Assembly.

• Statewide rural organizations from across the countryside, including Kentucky, Washington, Michigan, Oregon, North Carolina, Ohio, Minnesota, Ontario, Maine, South Dakota, New York, West Virginia, Indiana, Florida, and Texas.

• Dozens of individual rural communities and small towns.

Positive Rural Development:  Luther in Action

Small Town Snowball Effect:

Strengths On Your Side: Positive Rural Development

-  Over 1 million rural leaders like you have used Luther's Asset Mapping methods.

-  Luther "wrote the book" that helped lead the shift toward Positive Rural Development: The Organization of Hope:  A Workbook for Rural Asset-Based Community Development (Check it out in Publications). 

-  Luther's been called one of the top five rural development experts in the nation and has widespread connections and knowledge to share with you.

What is Positive Rural Development?

Your PeopleCommunity, Funder, Congregation, Small Town, Neighborhood, Association, College or University, Organization, Utility, Agency, Coalition, Public Officials, Legislative body, Board of Directors . . .

Taking Positive ActionMobilizing participants.  Raising money.  Leading successful projects.  Developing an innovative strategy.  Resolving conflict.  Attracting support.  Raising spirit and energy. . .

TogetherIn a gathering.  At an event.  With new people.  In collaboration.  On a campaign.  In renewed association. . .

Right AwayGot an hour?  Get a boost!  Build on immediate victories for ongoing success.

College and University Engagement: Collaboration U

How to connect institutional, community, and scholarly activities for the benefit of all.

There's a quiet convergence happening around institutions of higher education.  It goes beyond Service Learning, beyond Community Relations, and beyond traditional Institutional Development.  It leads us to new approaches in research and learning, to effective new institutional structures, and to new development opportunities. 

What I see at the confluence is Engagement, our push toward positive, collaborative action for the larger good.  I've participated in this push from every role and perspective, from university administrator to community partner, from academic researcher to economic developer.   I share lessons from these experiences and facilitate campus collaboration with you for the benefit of faculty, staff, students, business, government, and community stakeholders.

 

• What is Engagement?
• Strengths on Your Side: Engagement
• College and University Engagement: Luther in Action
• Who Uses Engagement?
• How Can I Use Engagement?

Financial Strategies for Social Innovation: Doing Well by Doing Good

How to develop exceptional enterprises for earned income and sustainable impact.

Are you looking for money for your project?  Good news:  by recognizing our gifts and using our relationships, we tap into financial resources all around us.  Innovative new enterprises bridge the social and the economic for long-term, sustainable impact.

 

I've had the experience in Social Innovation to help you put the money in your mission, and the mission in your money.

• What are Financial Strategies for Social Innovation?
• Strengths on Your Side: Financial Strategies for Social Innovation
• Financial Strategies for Social Innovation: Luther in Action
• Who Uses Financial Strategies for Social Innovation?
  
• How Can I Use Financial Strategies for Social Innovation?

Smart Partnerships:

More With Less!

How institutions can really engage communities to get things done.

These days, funders, public agencies, and other institutions are pressed to accomplish more, and spend less.  So we seek to leverage our assets with community partnerships.  But how do we encourage real collaboration, with and among diverse community stakeholders? 

Smart Partnerships take advantage of positive network dynamics.  I work with communities and institutions to enable each of us to contribute and gain as part of the common good.  The result is more participation, more buy-in, better projects, and greater impact for our resources.

• What are Smart Partnerships?
• Strengths on Your Side: Smart Partnerships
• Smart Partnerships: Luther in Action
• Who Uses Smart Partnerships?
  
• How Can I Use Smart Partnerships?

Empowering Congregations:

And all were fed.

How to build ministry, people, funds and spirit, using the assets you already have.

Want to strengthen and renew your congregation?  You can't force it; faith community is voluntary.  But you can release a snowball effect of positive action that grows and multiplies over time.

My asset-based tools and methods have worked in every aspect of congregational life, and have been applied by national, regional, and local religious organizations.  Best of all, they are based on a theology of abundance and traditions of faith that remind us why we form congregations in the first place.

• What is Empowering Congregations?
• Strengths on Your Side: Empowering Congregations
  
• Empowering Congregations: Luther in action.
• Who Uses Empowering Congregations?
• How Can I Use Empowering Congregations?

Asset Mapping: Simple Power

How to bring out the good in your group.

With the widespread success of Asset Mapping, I demonstrated that it is possible to create simple tools for immediate and powerful effects on groups and communities. I made a breakthrough in our understanding of positive group dynamics -- how we get things done together for the common good.

Now I have developed and polished Asset Mapping 2.0, an even more powerful and effective version for group leaders, followed by a whole toolbox of techniques and methods to encourage and sustain positive action over time.  I tailor these tools for presentations, training and consultation that are uplifting, practical, and especially relevant to your people and your interests.

• What is Asset Mapping?
• Strengths on Your Side: Asset Mapping
• Asset Mapping 2.0: Luther in Action
• Who Uses Asset Mapping?
  
• How to Use Asset Mapping

Overview of Services and Specialties

Luther K. Snow is a consultant, facilitator, author and speaker who helps groups of people take positive action for the public good.  As the "Good Groups Guru," Luther has trained and facilitated over 25,000 people and hundreds of organizations in positive collaboration.  Luther is best known as the creator and developer of Asset Mapping. 

For more information on the strengths and experience Luther can bring to your work, go to http://www.luthersnow.com/about-us.html 

Luther can help you as a powerful event presenter, as a dynamic group facilitator, as a strategic consultant, or all three -- see Core Services listed below. 

What makes Luther's work even more powerful and relevant to groups like yours is his 35 years expertise in an extraordinary range of Specialty Areas,   Click on the Specialty section below, enjoy exploring some of the fascinating and cutting-edge approaches Luther has developed,  and consider how this kind of expertise might strengthen you and your group.

Then contact Luther and lets talk about how we can design a service that will work specifically for you.  Thank you for your interest and your inquiry!

Core Services:

Extraordinary Results from Simple Tools

Public Speaking from the Good Groups Guru

Powerful presentations with practical take-home tools for your event participants. 
Today's event participant wants practical benefits they can take home and use.  Luther's interactive, hands-on, and inspirational presentations build on the skills and interests of participants, and remind us of why we gather in the first place.  His highly-rated sessions reflect on your whole event, and lift up your organization. [Read More]

Facilitation. The Snowball Effect.

How to get your group going, and growing, in the right direction.
What gets people to act in community?  It starts with the half-full cup.  As we recognize our assets, we are led to connect with others to get things done.  Our successes inspire us and create new opportunities, and that mobilizes even more people.  Luther knows how to facilitate this "snowball effect" in any group of people, so that the right work gets done, and so that our results are sustainable over the long term. [Read More]

Consulting:  Breakthrough Solutions

Projects and plans that are energizing, practical, and fundable.
Doing a Strategic Plan?  Growing your funding?  Developing a new project?  There's a special genius in your community or organization, just waiting to be tapped.  Luther's consultations go beyond the typical document or process.  He has the ability to see your strengths and opportunities in even the toughest situations.  And he builds the capacities of your leaders to lead ongoing community success, long after the consultation is over. [Read More]

Special Topics and Training:

New Thinking, Making a Difference

In recent years, Luther has  trained and led over 25,000 people and hundreds of organizations in methods that are critical to their own context and community.  From experts to beginners, professionals to volunteers, Luther's knowledge and 40-year experience work for group success.  Some topics of special engagement include:

Asset Mapping: Simple Power

How to bring out the good in your group.
With the widespread success of Asset Mapping, Luther  demonstrated that it is possible to create simple tools that can have immediate and powerful effects.  He made a breakthrough in our understanding of positive group dynamics -- how we get things done together for the common good.  Now Luther has developed and polished a whole toolbox of techniques and methods that build on Asset Mapping principles for positive action.  He tailors these tools for training and consultation that is especially relevant to your people and your interests. [Read More]

Positive Rural Development: Because We Love It Here!

How to mobilize people to build on rural strengths and assets.
People call Luther one of the top five rural development experts in the nation, because he has helped lead the field away from "hand wringing" and toward a greater appreciation of the special strengths and opportunities of rural life.  As a rural resident himself, Luther understands rural perspective and appreciate rural strength.  He teams with community leaders to create Positive Rural Development projects that really work for you. [Read More]

Empowering Congregations:  And All Were Fed.

How to build ministry, people, funds, and spirit with the assets you already have.
Want to strengthen and renew your congregation?  You can't force it; faith community is voluntary.  But you can release a snowball effect of positive action that grows and multiplies over time.  Luther's asset-based tools and methods have worked in every aspect of congregational life, and have been applied by national, regional, and local religious organizations.  Best of all, they are based on a theology of abundance and traditions of faith that remind us why we form congregations in the first place. [Read gMore]

Smart Partnerships:  More with Less!

How institutions can really engage communities to get things done.
These days, funders, public agencies, and other institutions are pressed to accomplish more, and spend less.  So we seek to leverage our assets with community partnerships.  But how do we encourage real collaboration, with and among diverse community stakeholders?  Smart Partnerships take advantage of positive network dynamics.  Luther works with communities and institutions to enable each of us to contribute and gain as part of the common good.  The result is more participation, more buy-in, better projects, and greater impact for our resources. [Read More]

Financial Strategies for Social Innovation:  Doing Well by Doing Good

How to develop exceptional enterprises for earned income and sustainable impact.
Are you looking for money for your project?  Good news:  by recognizing our gifts and using our relationships, we tap into financial resources all around us.  Innovative new enterprises bridge the social and the economic for long-term, sustainable impact.  Luther has had the experience in Social Innovation to help you put the money in your mission, and the mission in your money. [Read More]

College and University Engagement:  Collaboration U

How to connect institutional, community, and scholarly activities for the benefit of all.

There's a quiet convergence happening around institutions of higher education.  It goes beyond Service Learning, beyond Community Relations, and beyond traditional Institutional Development.  It leads us to new approaches in research and learning, to effective new institutional structures, and to new development opportunities. 

What I see at the confluence is Engagement, our push toward positive,collaborative action for the larger good.  I've participated in this push from every role and perspective, both on and off campus.  I share lessons from these experiences and facilitate campus collaboration with you for the benefit of faculty, staff, students,business, government, and community stakeholders. [Read More]

Welcome to my website!  I am a consultant, facilitator, author, and speaker who helps groups of people take positive action for the common good.  As the "Good Groups Guru," I've trained and facilitated over 25,000 people and hundreds of organizations in positive collaboration.  I am best known as the Creator and Developer of Asset Mapping. 

You and 2.5 million people strong. 

Over 2.5 million people have used my tools and approaches to get things done. We are part of an even larger movement of people working for collaborative justice in all walks of life.

Over 35 years in this work, I've made a real breakthrough in our understanding of how groups and communities work for the good.  And I know how to put this understanding to work for you.

If you use Asset Mapping, you'll see a positive impact in as little as an hour!  If you engage my services as a speaker, facilitator, or consultant, your group will get a big boost and you will see even greater impact over the long run.

All Kinds of Groups! 

I work with all kinds of groups, non-profit organizations, associations, foundations, social enterprises, public officials, congregations, and educational institutions, in rural communities, small towns, and inner-city neighborhoods.  I have special experience and expertise in several diverse fields described on this site.

What people are saying about working with Luther Snow:

Rural Turnaround:   "Luther helped our rural community see the gifts and strengths right in our own backyard.  Now we're working together on jobs and business for the future."  see Rural and Facilitation


Congregational Renewal:  "Our congregation loved Asset Mapping with Luther.  We've seen a complete shift in mindset, toward abundance.  And we've raised $1.7 million!"  see Congregations and Public Speaking


Fundable Partnership:  "When our foundation was asked to support the creation of a local office for a national organization, we hired Luther  to figure out how this could work for and with local leaders and organizations."  see Partnerships and Consulting


Positive Community Leadership.  "I saw Luther's positive approach at a workshop, and I knew he was just what we needed to work with our City Council in this budget crisis."  see Asset Mapping and Speaking


Social Enterprise.  "By using Luther's Asset Mapping, our non-profit was able to discover ways that we could earn income while strengthening our efforts." 
see Finance and Consulting


College Collaboration.  "I've discovered connections I never imagined.  That's strengthened my position on campus, and highlighted the value of our efforts to the whole college."  see University and Facilitation


The Power of Asset Mapping.  "This book is revolutionary in the best sense of the word.  It does a beautiful job of combining spirit and practice.  It should be the operating manual for anyone trying to transform institutions, communities, or nations."  Peter Block.
see Publications

Core Services:

Extraordinary Results from Simple Tools

Click below for the kinds of services you are seeking:

• Public Speaking from the Good Groups Guru
  Powerful presentations with practical take-home tools for your event participants.
• Facilitation.  The Snowball Effect.
  How to get your group going, and growing, in the right direction.
  
• Consulting:  Breakthrough Solutions.
  Projects and plans that are energizing, practical, and fundable.

Special Topics and Training:

New Thinking, Making a Difference

Click below for special expertise that's helpful in your work:

• Asset Mapping: Simple Power
  How to bring out the good in your group.
• Positive Rural Development:  Because We Love It Here!
  How to mobilize people to build on rural strengths and assets.
  
• Empowering Congregations.  And All Were Fed.
  How to build ministry, people, funds, and spirit with the assets you already have.
  
• Smart Partnerships:  More with Less!
  How institutions can really engage communities to get things done.
• Financial Strategies for Social Innovation:  Doing Well by Doing Good.
  How to develop exceptional enterprises for earned income and sustainable impact.
• College and University Engagement:  Collaboration U
  How to connect institutional, community, and scholarly activities for the benefit of all.

Explore this site also for downloadable resources, publications, news, biographical information, handouts and other information for sponsors.  I'm working on networking tools and other ways to inform and guide your work.

What each of us does supports all of us, and together we are stronger than we even imagine.  Thank you for all that you do, and I look forward to working with you!

Positive Rural Development:

Because We Love It Here!

How to mobilize people to build on rural strengths and assets.

People call me one of the top five rural development experts in the nation, because I have helped lead the field away from "hand wringing" and toward a greater appreciation of the special strengths and opportunities of rural life.

As a rural resident myself, I understand rural perspective and appreciate rural strength.  I team with community leaders to create Positive Rural Development projects that really work for you.

• What is Positive Rural Development?
• Strengths on your side: Positive Rural Development
  
• Positive Rural Development: Luther in action
• Who Uses Positive Rural Development?
  
• How can I use Positive Rural Development?

Media Kit

Check here for material to use in promoting an event with Luther or covering an event for the media.

Test Record #2

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Calendar

under construction.  contact luther for calendar info

Test

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Contact Us

Luther K. Snow

409 Upper Broadway

Decorah, IA 52101

Phone: 563.382.6386

Email: info at luthersnow.com

(To help us reduce spam, replace the "at" with an @ and remove the spaces.  Either lowercase or uppercase letters will work.)

About Luther K. Snow

Luther K. Snow

is a national speaker, facilitator, and consultant who specializes in empowering communities, groups, and networks to take positive action for the common good. Luther is the creator of Asset Mapping, the in-person method for positive group collaboration that has gone "viral" and spread to over 2.5 million users across the US, Canada, and places overseas. A premier facilitator, Luther has worked with over 25,000 people and hundreds of organizations, giving him the nickname of the "Good Groups Guru."

Luther has 35 years' experience in community and group leadership.

• He's led grassroots social and economic development efforts in inner-city Chicago, and he's sparked positive rural development approaches across the nation.
  
•  He has published three bestselling books, including The Power of Asset Mapping and The Organization of Hope.
  
•  In faith-based work, Luther has trained the leaders of 6 national denominations and strengthened hundreds of congregations.
  
• Luther's expertise includes community partnerships, financial strategy, university engagement, and social enterprise.
  

Luther has a BA from Harvard and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He lives in Decorah, Iowa, with his wife and two sons.

bio with rural emphasis

Facilitation: The Snowball Effect

How to get your group going, and growing, in the right direction

What gets people to act in community?  It starts with looking at the "half-full cup."  As we recognize our assets, we are led to connect with others to get things done.  Our successes inspire us and create new opportunities, and that mobilizes even more people. 

Luther knows how to facilitate this "snowball effect" in any group of people, so that the right work gets done, and so that our results are sustainable over the long term.

Why work with Luther Snow?

1.  Luther has made a breakthrough in our understanding of how groups really work, and he puts that breakthrough into action for you.

2.  Luther is a premier facilitator who has facilitated and trained over 25,000 people for positive collaboration.

3.  Diverse participants relate to Luther's approach.

4.  Your people will act and contribute because they want to act, not because they are being told to.  That means buy-in and sustainability.

5.  Your group will tackle the issues that matter most, and take the most strategic actions to get things done.

Participant and sponsor feedback:

"Our meetings were always "pity parties."  In one day with Luther Snow, we became a positive, powerful team.

"As a participant, I felt like people were finally listening to me.  That made me just want to invest time and energy in the group.

"Our high-powered leaders came together to collaborate, but we couldn't agree on an issue.  Working with Luther, we created a larger agenda that everyone could contribute to and benefit from.

"Amazing.  With Luther's facilitation, our group finally achieved a small victory. That got us rolling, and now there's no stopping us!"

Growing with Success (or "Snowball") model.

Luther has developed a long-range model for group facilitation that builds on these positive network dynamics.  Growing with Success works because it gets participants immediately involved in work they enjoy and care about, then builds on these experiences to refine and develop larger group strategy.  Ask Luther about it!

How to engage Luther Snow as a facilitator for your group.

Every facilitation job is unique, so let's talk about it. 

Drop me an email with a brief description and your phone number.  I'll contact you to collaborate on a facilitation that really works for your group.

Thanks for bringing people together for the common good!

Networking

You're part of a movement! 

There are many of us out there working to promote positive, networked strategies for the common good.  This is one place to connect.

We are currently working to develop an online networking and resource site for the sharing and development of Asset Mapping and related positive strategies.  Watch this space for more information.

For now, you may network with Luther thru these social media, and I'll be happy to receive a friend request from you.  Please add a message explaining your interest or connection, thank you!



Contact us if you would like to exchange links on our website and yours.  We'll list those links in the section below.  

And contact us if you would like to propose other networking.  Have coffee?

Thank you!

Let's Link!

Clients, Colleagues, and Co-Creators in this Movement.

Idea Factory

Coming Soon!

Publications

Hope and Insight in Practice

Luther Snow's publications:

• are clear, lively, and well written
• share real world examples and lessons
  
• provide practical tips and guidance
  
• are insightful and inspirational

Buy the Book!

You can purchase the following books directly from the author (signed and dedicated to you!) or from the publishers or traditional booksellers.  Click below for more detail and purchasing information for each title.

• The Power of Asset Mapping: How Your Congregation Can Act on Its Gifts
• The Organization of Hope: A Workbook for Rural Asset-Based Community Development
• Community Transformation: Turning Threats into Opportunities.

Click here for more information on Luther's other Publications.

Public Speaking from the Good Groups Guru

Powerful Presentations with Practical Take-Home Tools for Your Event Participants

Today's conference or event participant wants something practical., something they cannot get online.  Luther's interactive, hands-on, and inspirational presentations give participants tools they can take home and use to strengthen their groups and communities.  His positive, "good groups" approach builds on the skills and interests of participants, and reminds us of why we gather in the first place.  Luther's highly-rated sessions reflect on your whole event, and lift up your organization.

Why work with Luther Snow?

1.  A presentation from Luther is not just a lecture, but an inspirational, interactive experience.

2.  Luther shares the kind of practical, take-home tools that event participants really value.

3.  Luther's positive message of collaboration also builds your organization.

4.  His presentations are highly rated by all kinds of participants.

5.  Luther's style is engaging, humorous, and insightful.

6.  He will customize his speaking to your context and group, with stories and examples.

7.  Luther's "Good Groups" presentations remind participants of the value and purpose of your organization and event.

Participant and sponsor feedback:

"Luther's presentation gave our conference a boost for the next three years!

"Luther Snow changed the way I think, and helped me appreciate the strengths we have in our association.

" I went home and tried out the Asset Language exercise Luther taught us with the rest of our Board.  It was our best meeting ever!

"He gave me a way to talk about and practice what I already know and believe in." 

New Conferencing: 

Luther's work and presentations are at the leading edge of a New Conferencing movement.  Ask Luther for more information on New Conferencing and to work with you on designing your conference or gathering to inspire, inform, and excite your participants.

How to Engage Luther Snow as a Speaker/Presenter at Your Event:

Send me a note!  Please click here and include the following information:

• A brief description of your organization and the event you are planning.  (If you have a link to a webpage for more detail, that's great).

• The dates and place you have in mind.

• Your budget.

• Your phone number

I'll  respond to you with my availability, and talk with you more about what you want to accomplish and how Ican help.  If you have a team or committee to work with, we can set up a conference call.

I look forward to hearing from you.  Thank you for your interest and for your good work!

Consulting: Breakthrough Solutions

Projects and Plans that are Energizing, Practical, and Fundable

Doing strategic planning?  Growing your funding?  Developing a new project or enterprise?  There is a special genius in your community or organization, just waiting to be tapped for increased funding, greater visibility, and sustainable impact.

Luther's consultations produce real outcomes with projects and plans that take root and grow with you.  Building on his breakthrough analysis of community and organizational dynamics, Luther helps your people see your strengths and strategic opportunities in even the toughest situations.  He helps craft innovative solutions that appeal to potential supporters and partners.  And he builds the capacities of your leaders to lead ongoing community success, long after the consultation is over.

Why work with Luther Snow?

1.  Luther applies a special knowledge of group dynamics and assets to help you generate uniquely effective solutions to tough problems.

2.  You'll save time and expenditure, and you will generate significant new resources and support for your work.

3.  Your efforts will attract funding and other support, because they will appeal to mutual interests.

4.  Luther is a recognized leader with 35 years of successful experience in an extraordinarily broad range of technical subjects.

5.  He has consulted for, staffed, led, funded, and coached over 500 organizations working for the common good.

6.  Luther's innovative models, methods, and tools have been tested, applied, and replicated by expert practitioners and leading organizations in several fields.

7.  With your success, you will become recognized as a model for others in the field.

Participant and client feedback:

"Instead of just producing a "plan to sit on a shelf," Luther engaged us in positive action that led to systemic change.

"Luther's consulting, training, and speaking helped turn the tide for our organization.  Our membership grew, we raised new funds, and we became recognized as a leading organization by our peers.

"Our citizens were in conflict with each other over a major real estate development issue.  Luther helped us elected officials to recognize the positives in what people were saying, and enabled us to lead the community toward action everyone could agree on.

"Luther wrote the best grant proposal I've ever seen.

"The key is, Luther cares."

Generating Social Innovation

Beyond Asset Mapping, Luther has led in the development of over 50 models of social innovation, from inner citiy neighborhoods to rural communities, from enterprise finance to grassroots organizing.  We're working on an online network to share and exchange such models and approaches among colleagues.  Watch for more news on this effort.

How to engage Luther Snow as a consultant for your group or organization.

Send me an email with your phone number, and let's talk!

We'll work together to design a consultation that works for you.  Consultations draw from participant-based analysis, group facilitation, research and evaluation, coaching, and even public speaking, depending on your context and purpose.  You get the best bang-for-the-buck, and together we will make a difference. 

I appreciate your contributions, thank you for your interest, and look forward to hearing from you!

Luther keynotes national rural economic development conference

I'm trying to see what the news site actually shows.  Luther K. Snow will keynote theannual conference of the National Rural Economic DevelopmentAssociation, "positioning Rural America for Success," November 8 - 10,in Destin, Florida.  This will be an example of what Luther calls "NewConferencing:"  His closing session  will tie together learnings fromthe conference, engage participants in positive collaboration, andtrain participants in skills they can apply back home.  See this linkfor conference information.

Testing the News #4 - Links to Site Page

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This is a test of the news section of the site. Just testing it to make sure it works. This is a test of the news section of the site. Just testing it to make sure it works. This is a test of the news section of the site. Just testing it to make sure it works. This is a test of the news section of the site. Just testing it to make sure it works.

This is a test of the news section of the site. Just testing it to make sure it works.

Your people, taking positive action, together, right away

• A congregation turns itself around, reusing parts of its building for a health clinic, and increasing membership and fundraising in the process.
• A rural community finds strengths and assets right in their own backyard, digging out of a "half-empty" mindset and sparking several new businesses that bring newcomers together with longtime residents.
• Several Latino neighborhood organizations reverse long-standing rivalries and create an innovative network for positive youth development.
• A City Council paralyzed by conflict finds common ground and constructive purpose in an economic development campaign that engages community residents (while helping to solve a budget crisis).
• A national non-profit opens a regional office in a new community with enthusiastic support from local funders, political leaders, and community groups.
• A university overcomes a scarcity culture and discovers new opportunities, innovative funding, community support, and academic recognition in service learning, applied research, and campus development projects.
• A funder tries out an "open-sum" form of grantmaking and finds that more gets done with less, while relationships with grantees are strengthened.
• A community group finds that it can start a business to do what it wants to do, and fund itself in the process.  

Your people
Taking positive action
Together
Right away


Your people:  congregation, community, funder, public body, etc
Taking positive action:  raising funds and earning revenue, resolving conflict, increasing participation
Together:  with your hearty band of volunteers contributing to a common agenda
Right away
Got a minute to list assets
Got an hour or so to Asset Map
Take a day or two, or a few months or a year, to engage Luther
Long term and sustainable change.




Welcome to my web site!  I am a consultant, facilitator, author, and speaker who helps groups, organizations, and networks of people take positive action for the common good.  I am best known as the creator and developer of Asset Mapping.  

I see my work as part of a larger movement of positive and networked effort.  If you are here, you are certainly part of this movement too.  I thank you for your role and contributions and hope I can help you too!

You and 2.5 million people strong.  Over 2.5 million people have used my tools and approaches to get things done.  If you are involved with a voluntary group of people -- a non-profit organization, a congregation, a social enterprise, an economic development group, a leadership group, or a social network -- this site is for you.  This site is also for you if you are with a resource organization – a funder, consulting organization, public agency, educational institution, progressive business -- and you are seeking ways to support voluntary action for the common good.    What each of us does supports all of us, and together we are stronger than we even imagine.

Tools and connections for tangible benefit, in as little as an hour.  If you use Asset Mapping, or some of the other tools on this site, you'll see a positive impact in as little as an hour.  If you dig deeper into the Idea Factory, you'll find dozens of other resources that will help you understand, strengthen, and transform your efforts for long-term and sustainable impact.  Finally, as a participant in this network, you'll be able to contribute your own improvements, lessons, and stories, and learn from the experiences of others, as we develop and grow together.

Engage Luther K. Snow to support your efforts.  Sometimes it's good to bring in a leader to help engage, strengthen, and inspire your people.  In recent years I've directly trained and facilitated over 25,000 people.  Together we have turned around organizations, increased participation, raised more money, and transformed the politics and economics of whole communities. Everything I do is "customized" to your context, and my style is participatory, positive, and designed to build the capacities of your participants.  You'll leave my sessions with positive energy, specific goals, stronger relationships, and fresh ideas.  Best of all, it's fun!  I'd be delighted to explore opportunities with you.

How we do the good we do:  I've been doing this kind of work for over 35 years.  I've published 3 books and worked in community to create over 40 models of innovative practice.  I've been a key player in a wide variety of cutting edge initiatives --  from community work in Chicago to entrepreneurship in rural communities, from renewing congregations to facilitating collaboration among national social justice organizations.  This diverse experience means I can bring empathy, relevance, and good stories to your people.  It also means I can demonstrate how our local efforts make up a bigger picture, and how a bigger picture informs and inspires our local efforts.

In this site:

Explore
Engage
Exchange