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Section Four
Growing the Coalition

"Please remove my name from your membership list.
I refuse to belong to any club that would have me as a member."
Groucho Marx

Overview of Section

For the coalition to grow and develop, a number of things need to happen. Initially, it must begin to show itself to the community as a force that is to be taken seriously. It must begin a marketing campaign that establishes its presence and its importance. In addition, it needs to identify potential members and recruit them as an essential resource for coalition growth and success. Finally, it must develop an ability to build additional capacity in both its members and in the coalition as a whole.

C. Capacity Building in a Coalition

What Is Capacity Building?

Not every organization is capable of really affecting the world outside the organization. Since the coalition is essentially designed to carry out a specified mission, it must have the capability of reaching and influencing others. Certain capacities must be present if the coalition is to be effective:

Resources—The resources are primarily money and people. The amounts of these that are necessary at any point in time will vary from coalition to coalition. Experience demonstrates that large amounts of money and an abundance of people do not guarantee success. However, in every case no real success is possible below some level of resources.
Influence—This capacity consists primarily of the power to influence others. No matter how accurate the knowledge the coalition has to convey and how beneficial that knowledge might be to others, the coalition must have the capability of being heard. To be heard an organization must be credible, visible, and convincing.
Operational Capability—This capability encompasses all those skills necessary to translate the action plan into a series of planned activities.
Training Capability—A coalition is organized to bring about change. No change is possible unless the coalition possesses the capacity to train its staff, its volunteers, and its clients in new ways of looking at reality.

What Can a Coalition Do for Capacity Building?

Capacity building consists in giving to the coalition the resources, influence, and training capability necessary to achieve its goals. Capacity building is an ongoing process that examines where the coalition is headed, what kinds of skills are required, and taking steps to ensure the coalition possesses them.

A coalition has a number of options for doing this type of capacity building.

1) Conduct training and development activities for existing leaders and members.

Advantages:	Has the potential for the most long term benefits; Is usually less expensive than other methods; Receipt of training is a strong factor in membership retention.
Disadvantages:	May be very time consuming; Certain specialized training may not be worth it to the coalition.

2) Recruit new members with the desired skills.

Advantages:	Brings the skill quickly to the coalition; Expense of recruitment is less than the expense of training.
Disadvantages:	Recruiting members with specialized skills may be time consuming; Specialized recruitment may be threatening to some members.

3) Institutionalize functions within existing agencies with resources.

Advantages:	Links coalition with member institutions; Provides for efficiency with minimal consumption of resources.
Disadvantages:	Coalition may lose control over the function; Identity of function may pass from the coalition to the agency.

4) Borrow individuals from other organizations.

Advantages:	Takes advantage of the inter-institutional nature of a coalition; Assures competence of the work done.
Disadvantages:	Does not provide the skill to the coalition long-term; Depending on the nature of the work to be done provides an issue of coordination.

5) Hire an external consultant.

Advantages:	Assures competence and experience in difficult areas; Can provide a quick start up in grant writing and fund acquisition.
Disadvantages:	Is a relatively expensive option; Does not provide the skill long-term to the coalition.

Doing a Capacity Building Inventory

Like any organization seeking to build necessary capacity, a coalition might determine to take inventory of where its capabilities really lie. A sample Capacity Building Inventory is included in Resources.