As an outgrowth of work to establish collaborative relations and to develop strategies for creating, monitoring, evaluating, and improving community programs, this planning guide has been developed to help Urban League chapters and others plan and implement programs for local needs. The guide is organized into the following nine steps: (1) build core support (the initiation); (2) develop your ideas; (3) build community interest in action; (4) reach consensus in action; (5) develop a blueprint for action; (6) sell the program to the larger community; (7) implement the plan; (8) monitor and evaluate the plan; and (9) determine the effectiveness of the plan for action. Steps 5 through 9 include examples from a prototype plan to reduce the dropout rate for black youth. Included with the text are a sample timeline and sample worksheets that show how to map planning and evaluation strategies and record progress. Appendix A contains questions to stimulate discussion, and Appendix B contains a list of possible community resources and the roles they might play in your plan for action. (SLD)