Building Coalitions That Actually Work
Practical guidance for organisations and community leaders who want to bring different people together and make real, lasting change. Plain-language tips, checks you can use straight away, and accessible practices to keep your coalition accountable.
Coalitions let different organisations, teams or community members work together toward a shared purpose. When well-built, coalitions multiply influence, share resources and create change that no single organisation could deliver alone. But weak structure, unclear decision making and mismatched expectations leave many coalitions frustrated and short-lived.
This guide breaks down what works — with practical steps, templates and accessibility checkpoints you can use today.
What is a coalition?
A coalition is a group of organisations, teams or community members who agree to work together on a shared goal. Coalitions vary in shape — from loose alliances that share advocacy messages to tightly-governed partnerships that pool funding and staff. The key is a clear shared purpose and ways to make decisions together.
Types of Coalitions You've Probably Seen
- Issue-based coalitions — groups formed to fix a single problem (e.g. campaign to change a law).
- Policy coalitions — organisations that coordinate research, briefings and advocacy to influence policy makers.
- Service delivery coalitions — partners that coordinate frontline services so people get connected support.
- Community coalitions — local groups, lived-experience advocates and NGOs working for place-based change.
- Campaign coalitions — short-term alliances built to win a specific campaign or ballot measure.
- Multi-stakeholder coalitions — include government, business, civil society and community leaders to tackle complex system problems.
Why Coalitions Fail (and how to avoid it)
Common reasons coalitions collapse are simple: unclear purpose, no decision rules, unfair workload, and lack of measurable outcomes. Below are practical fixes we use with organisations.
Unclear purpose
Agree a one-sentence aim. If people cannot say it in one line, it isn’t clear.
No decision rules
Set a simple decision rule (consensus, majority or delegated leads) and document it in a short MOU.
Unequal burden
Share tasks fairly and track contributions. Small, clear roles beat vague “help when you can” asks.
No measurement
Define 2–3 indicators of progress and review them regularly with members.
How to Build a Coalition That Actually Works
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Start with a short shared purpose.
Put it in one sentence. Use it to test every activity: “Does this move the purpose forward?”
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Agree roles and resourcing.
Who brings staff time, meeting resources, communications or funding? Make this visible in a simple table.
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Set clear governance.
Decide how decisions are made, who represents members, how new members join and how disagreements are handled.
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Build simple accountability tools.
Use a public progress dashboard, a meeting action tracker and short, accessible reports so everyone sees progress and gaps.
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Design inclusive participation.
Make meetings accessible (captions, plain language notes, multiple ways to input). Value lived experience with appropriate payment.
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Measure what matters.
Pick practical indicators (activity, influence, outcomes) and review them every 6–12 weeks with members.
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Plan for sustainability.
Agree a 12-month plan, identify ongoing funding and rotate leadership so the coalition can continue beyond the first campaign.
Governance & Decision Making
Strong coalitions make governance lightweight but reliable. Consider these building blocks:
- Memorandum of Understanding (MOU): 1–2 pages explaining purpose, membership expectations and decision rules.
- Steering group: Small group (3–7 people) that makes routine decisions and prepares meetings for the full coalition.
- Working groups: Time-limited teams with clear deliverables (communications, research, pilots).
- Conflict resolution: A short step-by-step process to resolve disputes quickly and fairly.
Accessibility, Lived Experience & Power
Coalitions that last centre equity. That means paying people with lived experience, running accessible meetings (Easy Read notes, captions, Auslan or interpretation), and actively balancing power between large institutions and smaller community organisations.
A quick checklist to keep on file:
- Are meeting notes available in Easy Read and plain text?
- Are captions and transcripts provided for recordings?
- Is there a budget line for lived experience payment?
- Do meeting times rotate to accommodate different work patterns?
Practical Checklist — First 30 Days
- Draft one-sentence purpose and share for feedback.
- Create a one-page MOU with purpose, roles and decision rules.
- Map member resources (people, cash, communications) in a simple table.
- Set 2–3 indicators of progress and a public place to report them.
- Agree on accessibility expectations.
- Plan your first pilot activity and who is responsible for delivery.
Tools & Templates
Practical items you can reuse:
MOU template (one page)
Purpose, membership, decision rule, resourcing and exit clause.
Meeting action tracker
Simple table of actions, owners and due dates.
Accessible meeting checklist
Captions, Easy Read notes, time, payment for lived experience.
Short Case: Community Health Coalition
A local coalition formed to reduce avoidable hospital visits started with a one-sentence purpose: “Reduce avoidable hospital admissions for people with complex care needs through better shared planning.” They set two indicators (referrals to community care and hospital readmission rate), created a small steering group with lived-experience representation, and ran a 6-month pilot in one clinic. The pilot showed decreased readmissions and produced a playbook other clinics could copy.
Why it worked: clear purpose, small pilot, measurement and paid lived-experience input.
Next Steps
Want the one-page MOU or a meeting action tracker we use with coalitions? We can adapt templates for your context and provide accessible copies. Email us with the word COALITION in the subject and tell us whether you need Easy Read, Auslan or phone support.
Final Note
Building a coalition is practical work: clear purpose, fair resourcing, inclusive practice and simple measurement. Focus on the smallest change that proves your idea, document what you learn, and keep paying attention to accessibility and power. Those are the ingredients of coalitions that actually work.