---
# System prepended metadata

title: Elements of a Community (of Practice)

---

# Elements of a Community (of Practice)

[TOC]

**Definition**: a self-organised group group of people who "share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly" from [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_of_practice).

## Overview

Use [mermaid charts](https://mermaid-js.github.io/mermaid/#/flowchart) to generate a top level graphical overview of a community but as the diagram rapidly becomes very crowded split at different levels.

```mermaid
graph TD
   A[Community] -->A11[People] & A12[Infrastructure] & A13[Revenue];
   A11 --> B11[Committee] & B12[Constitution];
   A12 --> B21[Room] & B22[Web] & B23[Mailing list] & B24[(Repo)];
   A13 --> B31[Sponsorship] & B32[Membership Fee]  & B33[Donations] & B34[Cake];
  
```

To have a Community we need:

* People 
* Infrastructure
* Revenue

## People

```mermaid
graph TD
   A[People] --> A1[Committee] & A2[Constitution];
```

## Infrastructure

Infrastructure helps the group to gather physically or virtually. It also helps to provide a communications channel internally within the group and also externally to try and recruit new members.

```mermaid
graph TD
  A12[Infrastructure] --> B21[Room] & B22[Web] & B23[Mailing list] & B24[(Repo)];
  B24 --> C41[Licence];
```

## Revenue

Revenues go to pay for expenses mainly in the provision and maintenance of infrastructure and other sundry expenses (invited speakers).

```mermaid
graph TD
  A13[Revenue] --> B31[Sponsorship] & B32[Membership Fee]  & B33[Donations] & B34[Grants] & B35[Charging Model];
```

* Sponsorship: get a company or organisation to provide some funding.

* Membership Fee: ask members to contribute towards the cost.

* Donations: ask people that benefit in some way to pay, e.g. events, a donations button.

* Grants: you may get academic grants from a funding body or organisation to contribute towards the cost.

* Charging Model: you can ask people to pay for support, for use of a product, buy credits towards use of the product, etc

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