Welcome to the idea box! Here, you’ll get all the information you need to understand this participation module and what you can do with it.
What is the idea box?
The idea box is a default module, already set up in every community. Here, you can collect your citizens’ needs, formulated in less than 250 characters.
In a citizen participation process, it’s important to learn about your community’s expectations. You can then confirm your intuitions thanks to the ideas shared by your community of supporters. This is why the idea box is the recommended first step.
Unlike other modules, the idea box doesn’t require a lot of research or involvement from the participants. This is why it’s the ideal participation mode to gather quick feedback from your community and understand what is important for them.
There are 2 types of idea box, that you select during your project setup:
- Open idea box: open to everyone, participants can support each other’s ideas, thus informing you about trends and consensus in your community
- Confidential idea box: ideas are sent only to the project admins and won’t be visible by the community members.
Upvoting of Ideas 👍
The number of upvotes for an idea acts as a filter: only the most popular ideas, representing a real challenge for your community will be brought up to you. When a certain number is reached, participants will be able to discuss it further.
While setting up your project, select the amount of upvotes needed for an idea to be opened for discussion (from 5 to 200). The amount will depend on the type of project, the size of your community and your capacity to answer ideas.
We advise you to look carefully at the most upvoted ideas (the ones having reached the selected amount) as it reached a consensus among your community members.
Answering ideas
You can choose to answer an idea or not. However, we strongly advise you to take the time to answer the ideas having reached the selected amount of support. It will show your community that you are actively listening and caring about their concerns.
How to answer?
When answering an idea, try to always use a positive vocabulary. You can thank the participant for taking the time to share their opinion and write that you have taken this idea into consideration.
Let’s give an example: a participant suggests something not feasible or that already has been done.
Avoid saying: “No, this idea cannot be implemented because it has already been decided otherwise.”
Instead say: “Thank you John for your idea! We also have been thinking about this, as you can see in the implementation of… If you like this topic, maybe you’ll also enjoy…”.
Filters
To help you get organized and manage the flow of ideas, use the filter options to sort ideas by theme, popularity or chronological order.
Feel like you need more help with the idea box? Our team of experts is here to help! Contact us at contact@civocracy.org
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