1 Common Cause International “Successful Coalitions” Professional Fellows Conference May 3, 2011 US State Department Lauren Coletta, Director of International Programs at Common Cause

Types of Coalitions  Coalitions can be permanent or temporary. If a group of organizations share a long term goal or multiple issues they will likely form a permanent coalition and have more structured internal decision making systems to manage organizational objectives, raise and share resources, and hire professional staff to meet the needs of the campaign.  Temporary coalitions form to meet urgent needs and are more fluid in their decision making process. They generally form quickly and disband after the crisis or issue that brought the group together is resolved. Relationships cultivated during a temporary coalition can often be helpful in recognizing common interests in other shared issue areas.

Characteristics of Successful Coalitions  Coalitions who try to bring too many groups to the table or fail to identify unifying issues that are a high priority to coalition members often spend too much energy negotiating with one another about policy details and not enough energy focusing on potential partners that would more quickly and efficiently further coalition goals.  Policy discussions are crucial during the early stages of coalition development when leaders are learning about each other’s organizational goals and self interests but decisions need to be made in a reasonable amount of time as to whether the groups involved are sufficiently in agreement about the basic goals of the group.  If after a full discussion a consensus can not be reached, coalition leaders should agree on how they might complement each others efforts or at least not impair them as they continue their work separately.

Strong coalitions know how to share credit.  Every member of a coalition has it’s own self interest in being involved in a joint campaign.  All organizations want to raise the profile of their work, attract resources to their organization, and get the recognition for their group from the public and media.  Understanding and managing organizational self interest from the beginning helps to avoid problems as the campaign evolves.  Mature coalition partners know that there will be times they will have to put their organizational interests behind coalition goals and are willing to do so.

Successful coalitions know how to maximize the effectiveness of individual members.  The unification of a wide variety of groups can be effective in influencing policy makers and the public.  It is imperative that individual organizational members use their resources, members, and contacts to further the goals of the group. On occasion, it can be useful to have a few high profile groups join a coalition, even if they aren’t actively contributing their organizational energy to the campaign, but effective coalitions have a majority of members actively engaged in campaign activities.

Successful coalitions can act quickly and respond to opportunity and challenges..  Too much emphasis on consensus decision making and long discussions about process limit a group’s ability to capitalize on coalition priorities.  A rapid response decision making process needs to be put in place so that the group doesn’t get bogged down and miss opportunities to further their issue.

Successful coalitions are comprised of groups that can influence policy makers that need to be influenced.  Too often, like minded ideological groups reach out to familiar friends and allies and do not bring groups from other parts of the political spectrum.  A coalitions structure is in part determined by an analysis of who the coalition seeks to influence and what groups are likely to oppose the goals of the group. (see below).  Smart coalitions are comprised of groups that have the ability to influence those that are in a position of power to make the changes necessary to achieve the desired policy outcomes.

Reasons to Build a Coalition  Building a coalition can be a lot of work. It is important to approach the task strategically and to remember that the reason we build coalitions is to win policy outcomes we can’t win alone.  Be sure that the coalition we envision brings us closer to our goals. Below are some common challenges and advantages to coalition work.

Challenges  Groups have different agendas and it takes a significant investment of time to determine the details of shared policy outcomes and action items which coalition partners will be comfortable with.  Interacting with coalition partners can often take time and focus away from building your own organization’s ability to mobilize its members and resources to work on the issue.

More Challenges  Not all coalition partners will be equal. Larger organizations will expect a proportionate share of influence in relation to their size and resources, and smaller groups often resent this and want equal say.  Power struggles within the coalition can waste precious time and energy so it is important to have honest conversations and acknowledge these issues up front.  Coalitions engage in group think and it is natural to want to accommodate everyone’s input. An undesirable outcome of this process is that policy remedies are positioned in a way that is too detailed, or disparate, or so diluted that they will have little impact.  It is best to have a broad discussion on such issues and then task a small committee to come back with a document for group approval.

More Challenges  Sometimes coalitions are easier for policy makers and elected officials to dismiss as one entity instead of acknowledging the individual groups involved.  This is especially true if they come from a monolithic ideological perspective. For example, if they receive one letter concerning a policy issue with all the coalition groups signing on that can be powerful; it is also helpful for groups to send individual letters outlining the impact of the issue on their specific constituency.

Opportunities  There are few individual organizations at any time in any country that can single handedly influence elected officials to make important policy changes that diverge far from the status quo.  Coalitions make sense because they provide an opportunity to amass the influence necessary to make important changes to serve the public interest.

More Opportunities  Coalitions provide an opportunity for leaders and staff of participating organizations to learn from one another. The increased access to resources and information can significantly increase a group’s sophistication and abilities.  The ability to divide up tasks with competent partners enables members to work quickly.  Deep policy or media specialization skills within the coalition helps all member groups.  Policy groups benefit greatly from the ability to disseminate their education materials to grassroots partners and go beyond traditional academic audiences.

How to Determine the Right Coalition Partners (Power Analysis)  Bringing together a new coalition should be carefully thought through.  Just as we meticulously need to understand the political world of elected officials whom we seek influence it is also important to understand very early on who the most important groups are to bring to the table to form the initial core groups.  As previously mentioned a coalition isn’t necessarily a group of ideologically similar organizations, rather a group of organizations who share common interest and goals on a specific issue.

Determining the Right Partners  Timing is important, no one likes to feel like they are an after thought or came into the middle of the conversation.  Identifying potential allies: If you don’t already have a clear idea in mind of who you need on your side, it is often helpful to brainstorm with close allies about who might have an interest in your issue.

Determining Partners Who will be the groups with the large constituencies that will be necessary to help ground the campaign? Who are the unlikely partners that by association will attract interest in the coalition? For example, can we get groups with a variety of political orientations that will attract media and public interest? Which groups have the policy expertise necessary to sufficiently ground the campaign? Which groups have the relationships with or influence over policy makers important to the decision making process. Which groups do we need to bring on early because their participation is absolutely vital?

Identifying Opponents  Determining who will actively work against you on an issue can help you figure out who you need to have on your side to counter balance their efforts.  Conduct a brain storming session with coalition leadership just as we did to determine allies. Look at each group on the list and consider what other linkages and associations they have.  Consider their strengths and weakness. What kinds of activities will they engage in to oppose you on this issue? How big of a priority will it be for them?  These kinds of conversations can help you determine what additional allies you might want to bring on board as well as some of the tactics your coalition might consider as it maps its lobbying and advocacy strategies.

Tips for Managing Coalitions  Communication: Regular scheduled coalition communications like weekly calls are essential for keeping everyone on the same page. It pays to repeat things previously said and agreed to many times.  Taking good notes about group decisions and distributing them promptly keeps the coalition well organized and prevents the need to revisit topics already vetted.

More Tips  Setting up systems to manage coalition activities such as sign on letters to elected official or joint press statements with hard and fast deadlines helps coalition members understand the need to be prompt and the importance of getting into a news cycle.  Make sure to have at lease official representative from each organization who is empowered to make decisions for the group. It isn’t realistic for the coalition to have to wait as individual members work through their individual decision making processes as the coalition waits.

More Tips  Large issues or complex campaign documents and budgets are initially best talked about in large groups so that everyone can get a general sense of what the priorities of the group are.  Capturing and refining the conversation should be assigned to a small working group who will report back to the larger group. Although it is likely this might be a several step process before the document is voted on, writing a large or strategic document with dozens of people seldom has a good result.  Have a plan for what to do should you disagree. The Common Cause strategy has been that any one who chooses to “get off the bus,” meaning because of a policy negotiation they can no longer support the legislation may do so.  The compromise is they continue to advocate for the addition of the issues they care about but don’t try to kill the bill that others are still working to achieve.