I applaud you for your optimism.
This is my last post tracking the progress of the "pay it forward" contest:
At that time, I made my best effort to help the community grow - by keeping existing "members" and invite new (member is one who submitted an entry to the contest).
However, what really makes you a member of something? An entry to the contest is a "passing thing" and many have done it once or twice and are gone. Since I have tracked the "members" and "nominees" in my post and previous posts (week 3 - 8), I remember the names that are just passing through - several hundred of them.
https://steemit.com/payitforward/@freedomshift/hat-trick-reward-to-the-pay-it-forward-contest-by-thedarkhorse-updated-list-for-determining-winner-week-8
In order to be a "real" community, it needs to be like corporations - recruit-train-reward-retain all members and prospects.
That's a daunting task and needs to be a team effort.
That is kind of the idea. Want to slowly build up knowledge and see if they stay active for a few weeks. If so then bring them into the discord room and try and find ways to reward activity and engagement. From there keep up the education to help members continue to grow.
Zero question this will take a serious team effort to help enough people to make a difference.