What do coalitions do

As long as everyone agrees on its structure and purpose, the name of the collaboration is not critical. However, if made up only of individuals and not groups, then it is probably an organization or network and not a coalition.

Why do coalitions form? Or they may be started because of a threat, such as the rising prevalence of bullying, autism or a campus outbreak of measles.

Organizations form or join coalitions to boost resources, maximize efficiency, reduce duplication, and give them expanded access to media coverage, marketing services, expertise and influence.

How do coalitions work? Unlike networks whose members act independently, coalitions bring organizations together to act jointly. Write up a simple , powerful, short coalition letter and sign your own organization on. Do not publish it yet. Decide whether you want to accept individual signatures or only organizations. Organizations generally look better, but you may need to include individuals that are thought-leaders or bring access to new communities.

You can also consider having a different petition for individuals to sign. Get signers! This step generally takes between 2 days to 2 weeks Make a list of all the possible organizations that might want to sign on. Use your professional contacts and Internet searches to seek out organizations that work on similar issues. Contact the appropriate decision maker at each organization.

Explain the issue and ask them to sign on. It is your duty to follow-up! Try sending emails and count on phone calls for crucial follow-ups. Always approach large organizations early. Large organizations may have bureaucracy in place that slows down decision-making. Once you get an organization to sign on, ask that organization who else you should contact. Ask for email introductions where possible.

Ask all your cosigners to help circulate an email to other possible signers. Announce your coalition. Use your social media channels!

Publish your press release, your guiding principles or letter, and a list of everyone in the coalition on a public website. Whoever it is, someone has to be responsible for keeping an eye on the larger picture and making sure that the jobs get done. Without some level of coordination from somewhere, it's very unlikely that a coalition will survive and succeed. There are a number of specific things - some of which you 've already started in that first meeting - that need to be done to make sure that the coalition keeps moving forward.

The author has been a member of several coalitions. One was governed by a formal Board of Directors, with officers and an Executive Committee that included the officers and committee chairs. Another was essentially run by a paid director, with a good deal of input from coalition members, but only nominal oversight. A third was coordinated by a steering committee whose membership was open to any member of the coalition. All of these coalitions worked reasonably well, accomplishing their goals largely through committees or task forces.

The first and third began without professional staff, and became successful enough that they were able to obtain funding for full -time directors. What all these coalitions had in common were strong leadership and a clear sense of where they were going at any given time.

The goals and purposes of all of them changed from time to time, in response to external conditions and the needs of their members and communities. The need for strong leadership - whether individual or collaborative - cannot be overstressed. The ideal, in many ways, is to have the leadership dispersed throughout the coalition so that the departure of an individual doesn't create a vacuum. But however it's distributed, leadership is the one thing a coalition can't do without.

In addition to the specifics above, there are some more general elements to starting a coalition:. By the same token, it's important that there be a mechanism for getting things done when there is a disagreement, whether it's a majority vote or something else. A long -term disagreement over strategy or tactics can hang up a coalition permanently, and make it totally ineffective.

In situations where issues are too large and complex for a single organization to address, a coalition of groups and individuals working together may be the solution. A coalition can develop a coordinated response to an issue, increase the efficiency of service delivery, pool community resources, create and launch community-wide initiatives, build and wield political clout to influence policy, and work effectively toward long-term social change.

Whatever the reason, coalitions can only form when the possibility - in the form of mutual trust and a perceived need - exists. They should encompass all stakeholders - those affected by the work of the coalition and by the issue it addresses - as well as community opinion leaders, policy makers, and community members at large.

To start a coalition, it's best to begin with a core group and work outward, pulling in the necessary members mentioned above, as well as a more general membership from the community and from other, more peripherally-involved organizations.

Even more important is following up before the second meeting to make sure that groups are doing the work they said they would do, that attendance won't fall off, and that new members will be added. Areas that must be addressed are. Finally, you have to continue to pay attention to some general rules for forming and running a coalition:. A coalition can be a powerful force for positive change in a community.

If you can form one that lasts and addresses the issues it was meant to, you've done a major piece of community building work.

Chapter Community Organizing, Partnerships, and Coalitions in the "Introduction to Community Psychology" describes how and why communities organize, bottom-up and top-down approaches to community organizing, and the cycle of organizing.

Coalition Building is a brief outline by Skipp Porteous, aimed specifically at forming coalitions to oppose the Religious Right.

Coalition Building. A brief but useful coalition-building outline from the Gay Straight Alliance. The Coalition Effectiveness Inventory CEI is a diagnostic checklist for coalition staff and key leaders to assess coalition effectiveness.

Coalition Leadership by Tom Wolff offers a series of tips on building coalitions. Community Partners, Inc. Links and publications. Tom Wolff. Enhancing Effective Partnerships for Health Equity from the Prevention Institute explores the power of partnerships for improving equity. It introduces the Eight Steps to Coalition Building, which can be used to develop a successful collaborative health equity effort. How Can We Build Partnerships that Perform - In this video from the Saigh Symposium: The Path to Powerful Partnerships, Pennie Foster-Fishman describes the complexity of community problems, and how we can more effectively address problems by understanding and addressing root causes.

Independent Sector provides an excellent example of creating partnerships - it is a national coalition of foundations, corporate giving programs, and nonprofit organizations that joined together to strengthen the nonprofit sector.

It sponsors initiatives and highlights research and policy news related to advancing the public good. Is a Coalition Right for You? Home page of the National Coalition Building Institute.

A series of fact sheets on coalitions and coalition building from Ohio State University. Office of Partnerships and Grant Services offers guidance on creating partnerships for grant purposes, with links to other materials on evaluating and improving collaborations.

Pan-Asian Coalition Building. An interesting essay pointing up the unresolved difficulties of a particular attempt at coalition. Project Report - Community Coalitions in Action - the research report includes examples of collaborative efforts in Michigan to address the needs of children and youth in the late s and early s.

Working Upstream: Skills for Social Change - a resource guide for developing a course on advocacy for public health. Kaye, G. Wolff, T. The Spirit of the Coalition. American Public Health Association. Skip to main content.

Toggle navigation Navigation. Chapter 5. Chapter 5 Sections Section 1. Community Locality Development Section 3. Social Planning and Policy Change Section 4.

Social Action Section 5. The Tool Box needs your help to remain available. Toggle navigation Chapter Sections. Section 1. Learn how to organize a group of individuals and professionals around a common cause, working together to achieve a unified goal. What is a coalition? Why start a coalition? When should you start a coalition? Who should be part of a coalition?