1. Building & Sustaining
Effective Coalitions &
Partnerships
Frances Dunn Butterfoss, PhD
Yorktown, Virginia

2. 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)

3. Benefits
of
Collaborating

4. Strength in Numbers

5. Strength in Relationships

6. Strength in Diversity

7. Strength in Resources

8. Challenges of
Collaborating
'
• Risk losing autonomy, competitive edge, control
• Conflict over goals & methods
• Expend scarce resources (time, $, status, data)
• Delays in solving problems

9. Eight Steps
to Build &
Sustain
Effective
Coalitions

10. STEP 1
Clarify or Reaffirm
Vision & Mission

11. STEP 2
Engage Community in
the Coalition

12. STEP 3
Solidify
Collaborative
Infrastructure
& Processes

13. STEP 4
Recruit & Retain
Active, Diverse
Partners

14. STEP 5
Develop Leaders

15. STEP 6
Market your coalition

16. STEP 7
Focus on Action . . .

17. &
Advocacy

18. STEP 8
Evaluate &
Sustain
Your
Coalition

19. 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

20. 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

21. “Be the change
you want to see
in the world.”
Mahatma Gandhi
1869-1948

22. 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/