Building Coalitions That Actually Work
Even the strongest story needs people behind it. Hereâs how to form coalitions that move decisions â with shared risk, clear roles, and an escalation plan.
By Sarah Ailish McLoughlin â May 29, 2025
Even the strongest story needs people behind it.
A coalition is a group of individuals, organisations, or communities that pool voices, resources, relationships, and risk to pursue a shared advocacy goal. You donât have to agree on everything â just the change youâre driving and how youâll move toward it together.
What is a coalition?
Coalitions align diverse actors around a single target outcome. In a functioning coalition, everyone isnât doing the same thing â but everyone is moving in the same direction.
Types youâve probably seen
- Workplace coalitions: Staff across departments push for safety, anti-discrimination, or inclusion policies.
- Parent-led school coalitions: Families advocate for aides, inclusive classrooms, and accessible infrastructure.
- Sector coalitions: Providers/NGOs across disability, education, or housing coordinate on national reform.
- Community coalitions: Residents, youth, elders, faith groups protect public land or demand safer services.
- Online coalitions: Virtual networks combine storytelling, complaints, and media pressure to expose patterns.
Advocacy alone is powerful â but not enough
You can have the strongest story and a sharp strategy â but if youâre standing alone, the system can wait you out. Real coalitions are built on shared risk, shared strategy, and shared power.
Why many coalitions fail
- Shared identity, not shared action: Everyone agrees on the problem; no one agrees on the goal or path.
- No escalation plan: The group stalls when the first strategy doesnât land.
- Centralised power: One person/org holds the media, relationships, and decisions; others become spectators.
- Unnamed risk: Efforts collapse when public risk (speaking out, naming harm, challenging funders) isnât distributed.
What a functional coalition looks like
- Clear purpose: Not just âawarenessâ â define the decision you want changed.
- Defined roles: Who writes, who speaks, who works behind the scenes.
- Distributed risk: Itâs not the same person taking hits every time.
- Aligned messaging: Different voices, same goal and talking points.
- Agreed boundaries: We donât have to agree on everything; we donât derail the collective action.
Case study: restoring NDIS funding with collective pressure
Seeing a pattern beyond one familyâs funding cut, we formed a temporary coalition of lived experience:
- Mobilised Facebook community groups to send their own stories to a journalist on the same day.
- Framed the issue as a system-wide failure, not an isolated mistake.
- Coordinated multiple voices to speak to one problem through one channel.
Outcome snapshot
- Media engagement escalated pressure quickly.
- Over $500,000 in funding restored.
- Because a crowd shouted together â not because one person shouted louder.
Checklist: before you build or join a coalition
Target change
Do we agree on what weâre trying to change â not just what we oppose?
Real roles
Does everyone know their role â and hold real power in it?
Escalation plan
Whatâs the agreed next move if weâre ignored?
Share the mic & credit
Are we prepared to share visibility and recognition?
Risk distribution
What happens if one of us takes a public risk? How is that risk shared?
Final note: Stories open the door; coalitions walk through it together. Build for shared purpose, shared power, and shared protection.