No community builder has unlimited time, budget or energy. As communities grow in complexity, so do the number of potential projects, tools, initiatives and experiments demanding attention. This is where resource prioritisation becomes not just helpful — but essential.
Resource prioritisation is the process of strategically allocating time, budget, human capital and attention to the highest-impact resources and efforts that directly contribute to community health, growth and sustainability. It means saying no to good ideas in favour of the right ones — based on evidence, goals and member needs.
In community building, where much of the work is invisible, iterative and relational, prioritisation helps teams operate with clarity, focus and resilience — rather than chasing every new request or trend.
Why resource prioritisation matters in community building
In product teams, prioritisation is expected. In marketing teams, it’s measured. In communities, it’s often neglected — until burnout, member dissatisfaction or stagnation force a reckoning.
Here’s why prioritisation matters:
Focuses on impact, not activity: Not all effort leads to value. Prioritisation filters for what truly moves the needle.
Maximises limited capacity: Community teams are often small. Prioritisation ensures their time is spent where it matters most.
Improves member experience: Investing in the most relevant resources (content, tools, programmes) builds stronger trust and engagement.
Prevents initiative overload: Trying to do too much at once dilutes effectiveness and confuses members.
Supports strategic alignment: Prioritisation connects daily work with big-picture community or business goals.
If everything is important, nothing is. Prioritisation brings structure to purpose.
What counts as a “resource” in community contexts?
The term “resource” can mean different things depending on the maturity and nature of your community. At its core, a resource is anything that supports member participation, connection or contribution.
Common community resources include:
Content: guides, templates, videos, FAQs, learning materials
People: moderators, ambassadors, guest speakers, mentors
Tools: platforms, plugins, automations, integrations
Programs: onboarding, events, campaigns, challenges
Time: planning hours, community manager bandwidth
Budget: paid tools, events, training, incentives
Prioritisation requires mapping these out clearly — and then deciding which to invest in more, maintain, improve, or pause.
Principles of effective resource prioritisation
Prioritising community resources isn’t about gut instinct alone. It involves thoughtful evaluation, collaboration and iteration. These principles can help guide the process:
1. Member needs first
Start by asking: What do our members need most right now to succeed, engage or grow?
Use surveys, interviews or analytics to identify friction points
Prioritise resources that remove barriers or unlock value quickly
Don’t confuse internal goals with external impact
If you’re not sure, prioritise listening.
2. Value vs effort
Use a simple value–effort framework to sort initiatives:
High value, low effort → prioritise immediately
High value, high effort → plan and resource
Low value, low effort → do if there's leftover capacity
Low value, high effort → defer or discard
This model keeps ambition grounded in reality.
3. Align with goals
Map resources against your community’s strategic goals. Ask:
Does this resource support retention, growth or activation?
Is it tied to a key moment in the member journey?
Will it improve quality, not just quantity, of participation?
Every resource should ladder up to something that matters.
4. Think in terms of lifecycle
Resources should support different phases of the member journey — from onboarding and discovery to contribution and leadership.
Are you over-investing in new member experiences, while neglecting veterans?
Is your content calendar balanced across member maturity levels?
Prioritisation is not static — it evolves with your community’s needs.
5. Build for reuse and scalability
Prioritise resources that create long-term value, not just one-time wins.
Evergreen templates, self-service knowledge bases, or scalable onboarding flows
Programmes that can be repeated or localised with minimal overhead
Tools that enable others to lead or contribute without your intervention
Build once, benefit often.
A step-by-step approach to resource prioritisation
Step 1: Inventory your resources
List all current and proposed resources across categories (content, people, tools, budget). Include ongoing tasks as well as one-off projects.
Step 2: Score based on criteria
Create a simple scoring matrix based on:
Member impact
Strategic alignment
Time/budget required
Urgency or time sensitivity
Ease of implementation
Existing momentum or dependencies
This helps remove bias and provides a shared lens for decision-making.
Step 3: Map and visualise
Use a prioritisation matrix (e.g. value vs effort) or roadmap format to categorise and visualise where each resource sits.
Step 4: Decide, document and communicate
Select your focus areas. Document what’s being prioritised and what’s not — and explain why. Communicate transparently with stakeholders and community members.
Clarity builds trust. Silence breeds assumption.
Step 5: Review regularly
Set a cadence — monthly, quarterly or biannually — to revisit your resource priorities. Communities change fast, and so should your focus.
Common traps to avoid
Even with a good process, resource prioritisation can go off track. Watch for:
Shiny object syndrome: Prioritising new tools or trends over existing foundational needs
Stakeholder bias: Bending prioritisation to the loudest internal voice, not the clearest community need
Over-commitment: Prioritising too many things at once, diluting progress
Neglecting maintenance: Only building new resources, while existing ones become outdated or broken
Lack of feedback loops: Making decisions without member input or post-launch reflection
Prioritisation is not just what you say yes to — it’s what you protect time for.
Final thoughts
Community work is human, creative and ever-evolving. That’s what makes it powerful — and also what makes prioritisation essential. Without a clear framework for deciding where to place your limited energy, even the best ideas struggle to land or scale.
Resource prioritisation doesn’t kill creativity — it enables it. It gives community teams the focus to go deeper, not just broader. It allows members to experience real value, not just more noise. And it ensures that as your community grows, your efforts stay intentional.
Because in community building, growth is not just about what you do — it's about what you choose to do first.
FAQs: Resource prioritisation
What is the difference between resource prioritisation and project prioritisation?
Resource prioritisation focuses on how time, budget and human capital are allocated across types of community resources (like content, tools, or programmes). Project prioritisation, on the other hand, is about choosing which specific initiatives or tasks should be executed first. Resource prioritisation often informs project-level decisions.
How do you prioritise resources with a limited community budget?
Start by mapping out high-impact, low-cost resources that directly improve member experience or engagement. Use a simple value-versus-effort matrix and align each resource with your most critical community goals. Leverage community contributions or free tools to extend capacity when budget is tight.
Can resource prioritisation be automated?
Parts of the process can be systematised — such as tagging resources by impact or using community analytics to track usage. However, the prioritisation itself requires human judgment, particularly when factoring in context, cultural dynamics or emerging member needs.
Who should be involved in resource prioritisation for a community?
Ideally, it should involve community managers, moderators, and relevant stakeholders (such as content creators or product teams). In mature communities, involving a small group of trusted members or ambassadors can provide valuable user insight and alignment with on-the-ground needs.
How often should communities revisit their resource priorities?
Communities should revisit resource prioritisation quarterly or biannually, depending on pace and scale. However, in fast-moving or early-stage communities, monthly check-ins or sprint-based reviews may be more appropriate to stay adaptive and member-led.
