Greater impact is often achieved by working in coalitions with other organizations to share resources, redesign a continuum of care, or innovate new delivery systems. GCN’s Nonprofit Consulting Group has worked with many types of coalitions and partnerships to design new services, create coordinated or shared services, and develop shared impact strategies that “move the needle” more effectively than any agency could working alone.
Below, find some of the areas where we can help.
Your blueprint for success depends on the goals you want to achieve over a particular time frame, and the criteria you’ll use to decide the best course of action to pursue those goals. With an impact statement and Theory of Change, you have a shared framework for understanding and accomplishing your long-term aims.
Implementing a strategy for greater impact takes leaders with the skills to form and manage teams, both externally and internally. We help teams by facilitating the process of writing charters (or MOU) that cover the coalition’s mission, core values, membership expectations, and policies for sharing information and data. We can also facilitate the project design process using techniques such as service sort, future search, and other practices that help each organization involved share information and build buy-in for working together.
Effective coalitions require adaptability, strong and clear metrics, and a process for monitoring performance to ensure that actions drive results. Using the Consulting Group’s Action Plan template, you’ll define impact/outcome metrics, apply them across your project, evaluate progress, and adjust accordingly. We facilitate the development of impact statements, metrics for program evaluation, and the first work plan, equipping the coalition and its members with a blueprint for moving forward.
To learn more about how we can help facilitate the work of forming a coalition, contact our team at consulting@gcn.org or 678-916-3082.
Coalitions take time, patience, and (most importantly) trust among members, which develops as members go through the process of articulating coalition mission, values, and mutual expectations.
Coalitions need a framework for planning, implementation, and evaluation – whether that’s collective impact, community systems solutions, or something else. A framework provides tools for how to proceed in the design and implementation of the project.
It is perfectly normal for coalitions to grow and shrink over time – especially for those with fewer members. It may turn out that not everyone is suited to every project, and as long as the coalition articulates a thoughtful process for members to join and exit, a coalition can successfully manage its growth.
