Community Strategy: frameworks worth starting from

Community building has a body of practice behind it. These are the frameworks and organisations we point people to when they are designing a community from scratch, or trying to work out why an existing one has not come together.

The Community Canvas — A practical framework for designing a community around three areas: identity, experience and structure. Particularly useful when starting something new, or diagnosing why an existing community lacks cohesion.

FeverBee — Community Strategy — Years of practical frameworks covering objectives, member research, positioning, participation and measurement. A strong starting point for treating community building as a discipline rather than a collection of engagement tactics.

FeverBee — The Beginner's Guide to Community Management — A substantial introduction covering strategy, engagement, moderation, measurement, ROI and career development. Useful both for new community managers and for founders trying to understand what the work actually involves.

Get Together — community building resources — Free frameworks and exercises covering the progression from finding the right people and giving them something meaningful to do together, through developing identity and sustaining participation.

CMX — One of the best-known professional organisations for community builders, publishing research and practical guidance alongside events and professional networking.

The Community Roundtable — A long-running source of research and frameworks for professional community management, particularly for organisations connecting community activity to business strategy and measurable outcomes.

The Community Maturity Model — The Community Roundtable's model for how communities evolve from ad-hoc initiatives into strategically managed capabilities.

FeverBee — communities worth studying — Real communities collected as reference material. Useful when designing information architecture, member experiences and participation models rather than starting from a blank page.