Building & Sustaining

Effective Coalitions &

Partnerships

Frances Dunn Butterfoss, PhD

Yorktown, Virginia

Joint Efforts – A word by any

other name...

• Network

• Consortium

• Federation

• Partnership

• Advisory Committee

• Alliance

• Coalition - a group of individuals

representing diverse organizations who

agree to work together to achieve a common goal (Feighery & Rogers, 1990)

Benefits

of

Collaborating

Strength in Numbers

Strength in Relationships

Strength in Diversity

Strength in Resources

Challenges of

Collaborating

'

• Risk losing autonomy, competitive edge, control

• Conflict over goals & methods

• Expend scarce resources (time, $, status, data)

• Delays in solving problems

Eight Steps

to Build &

Sustain

Effective

Coalitions

Clarify or Reaffirm

Vision & Mission

STEP 1

Engage Community in

the Coalition

STEP 2

Solidify

Collaborative

Infrastructure

& Processes

STEP 3

Recruit & Retain

Active, Diverse

Partners

STEP 4

STEP 5

Develop Leaders

Market your coalition

STEP 6

Focus on Action . . .

STEP 7

&

Advocacy

STEP 8

Evaluate &

Sustain

Your

Coalition

Steps to Coalitionip Success

1. Clarify/reaffirm vision & mission

2. Engage community in the coalition

3. Solidify coalition structure & function

4. Recruit & retain active, diverse partners

5. Develop transformational leaders

6. Market your coalition

7. Focus on action & advocacy

8. Evaluate & sustain your coalition

What I Know for Sure . . .

• Collaborative strategies more creative & achievable than any single organization can do alone

• Coalitions work best when they mobilize assets, respond to opportunities & develop integrated strategies

• As they mature, coalitions must shift from providing services to policy/advocacy activities

• Sustaining coalitions is harder than forming them – Find structure that works, recruit & engage active organizations, diversify funding & focus on outcomes

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Mahatma Gandhi

1869-1948

Resources

• Butterfoss, FD. Coalitions and Partnerships in Community Health. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2007.

• Coalitions Work – http://www.coalitionswork.com/tools

• The Community Toolbox - http://www.ctb.edu

• Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) – http://cadca.org/resources

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Healthy Communities Program -http://www.cdc.gov/healthycommunitiesprogram/