coalition management
TRANSCRIPT
April 2011
Building and Sustaining Effective Coalitions
Presented by Jonathan PoisnerFor the State Environment
Leadership Program
ABOUT JONATHAN POISNER STRATEGIC
CONSULTINGServices:
Strategic and Campaign Planning
Facilitation
Coalition Development
Fundraising
Communications
Organizational Development
Executive Transitions
Executive Coaching
WHAT WE’RE GOING TO COVER
Best practices for launching
Different types of coalitions
Best practices for sustaining
WHAT WE’RE NOT GOING TO COVER
Why coalitions
Details on governance
Differences between large and small coalitions
Many other topics that could turn this into an all-day webinar
WHAT IS A COALITION?
My plain english definition:
A coalition is a set of organizations that have chosen to work together for some shared purpose.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN A MEETING WHEN SOMEBODY
SAID:
“We should form a coalition!
BEST PRACTICES FOR LAUNCHING
DETERMINE THE CORE
This is the list of people who need to be in the launch meetings. It’s not your ultimate coalition
membership, but it’s the essential players
TAKE THE CORE’S TEMPERATURE
Series of 1 on 1 conversations to take the temperature Prefer 1 on 1 because you want
candor and no group-think and peer pressure
If there isn’t enthusiasm, be prepared to pull the plug
IF IT’S STILL A GO, MEET TO ANSWER 5 KEY QUESTIONS
Not a single meeting
Could be anywhere from 2-4 meetings
QUESTION 1:
WHAT’S THE PURPOSE OF THE COALITION?
Is the coalition about a specific piece of legislation, or an ongoing issue where the group wants to make progress over time?
Is the coalition about building the capacity of its members separate from any specific policy goal?
QUESTION 2:
WHAT TYPE OF COALITION MAKES SENSE GIVEN THE PURPOSE?
More on this in a minute
It can be good to put the answers to Questions 1 and 2 in writing.
QUESTION 3:
GIVEN THE PURPOSE AND TYPE OF COALITION, WHAT SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE MAKES SENSE?
QUESTION 4:
WHAT ARE THE INITIAL PRIORITY OR PRIORITIES FOR ACTION? Don’t come together if there isn’t at least
some initial action item for you to collectively take over the next 1-12 months
QUESTION 5:
WHERE DO YOU GET THE RESOURCES FOR COLLECTIVE WORK?
MORE ON QUESTION 2:
WHAT TYPE OF COALITION DO YOU WANT?
FIVE TYPES THAT ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY GROUPS TYPICALLY USE
Networks
Associations
Coordinated Project
Campaign Coalition
Ongoing Partnership/Strategic Alliance
Adapted from materials created by Institute for Conservation Leadership
NETWORKS
Groups coming together
Primary purpose is sharing information
Ad hoc help where interests overlap
Decrease duplication of effort
Very informal governance
ASSOCIATIONS
Membership-type alliance
Primary purpose is to serve the long-term interests of the membership
More focused on capacity building than policy goals
Tends to have formal governance and separate incorporation
Example: SELP
COORDINATED PROJECT
The primary purpose is a specific project.
Examples: passing legislation, stopping a bad “thing”, creating/publicizing a report
Coalition members tend to take on specific tasks within the project
Rarely involves formal governance or separate coalition finances
CAMPAIGN COALITION
Primary Purpose is a specific action you want some outside entity to take. Such as voters passing a ballot measure,
the legislature passing a bill, or a corporation to take some action.
Usually with an end-date (election day?)
Shared, written plan for what needs to happen e.g. the campaign
Usually a pooling of resources into single campaign budget
CAMPAIGN COALITION
Usually centralized staff or volunteer campaign leadership who’re accountable to the campaign, not individual member groups
Tends to have own governance, bank accounts, and campaign-specific fundraising
Continued
ONGOING PARTNERSHIP/ STRATEGIC ALLIANCE
Longer-term around an issue or goal
Example: Reduce use of toxic chemicals in Oregon over the next 5 years.
Shared “strategic” planning
Tends to develop Campaigns or Coordinated Projects as appropriate to meet long-term goals
HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHICH IS APPROPRIATE?
Identify the potential coalition parties Identify why the coalition is being
proposed Pick the most appropriate type of
coalition collectively; don’t prejudge before you talk to potential coalition partners
Be flexible – don’t feel you have to pick one of these; you can create your own model
WHY DO SOME COALITION LAUNCHES
FAIL?
Number one reason: Lack of individual leadership!
That’s why the temperature taking is so important.
I’ll give you two examples from my own experience.
GROW OREGON PARTNERSHIP
Started with a general meeting of folks interested in sustainable food systems after a series of 1 on 1s
Brought in outside facilitator to talk about whether to form an agenda to pursue a common legislative agenda
Did 2 more meetings that formalized the coalition governance and selected initial priorities
The Partnership is thriving.
SMART GROWTH COALITION IN A STATE
I WON’T NAME
Had me facilitate two meetings of a set of individuals/organizations who were interested
The participants agreed upon forming the coalition, its purpose of the coalition, its governance, and an initial policy priority
But then it fell apart.
WHY DID IT FAIL?
BECAUSE NOBODY WAS PREPARED TO STEP UP AND LEAD.
The group instigating the initial meeting wasn’t prepared to lead
They just hoped somebody would “step up.” Had not done 1 on 1s to take the temperature.
Nobody wanted to be chair of the coalition or make it a major focus
SUSTAINING COALITIONS
FOUR KEYS :
Communications
Power
Planning
Behavior
COMMUNICATIONS
Failure to communicate can lead to schisms
Insiders and outsiders
Systems to make sure that those not in the core know what’s happening
Enough meetings for all to feel engaged. But not so many that things bog down.
POWER
Coalition partners aren’t all equal
Especially if the coalition has groups of dramatically different size
Acknowledge and think about this openly when setting up the governance.
There is no one right solution to power imbalances.
PLANNING SYSTEMS
Failure to plan can lead to problems Just like with organizations
Really important to agree upon strategies Not all the organizations in the
coalition will have the same strategic thinking
You may have coalition partners who mostly pursue legal strategies in with partners who mostly pursue grassroots strategies.
PLANNING SYSTEMS
Need a conscious plan/strategy regarding coalition membership Before growing, ask why you want a
larger coalition membership The “why” should tell you who to invite,
if anybody Need to build in planning processes that
engage coalition members if you want them to invest in the coalition Can be long-term strategic plan Short-term campaign plans And everything in between
Continued
BEHAVIOR
Transparency
Share information broadly within the coalition
Don’t mask disagreements within the coalition
Confidentiality
Keep plans of individual groups confidential
Don’t air dirty laundry
BEHAVIOR
Taking and sharing credit
Dispute resolution procedures
Codes of Conduct as potential mechanism.
Continued
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS ARE
YOUR TRUMP CARD
TO CONTACT ME:
www.poisner.com – for email newsletter signup
Twitter.com/jpoisner
Via phone: 503-490-1234
Via email: [email protected]