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Section Three
Organizing the Coalition

"I predict a bright future for complexity, Have you ever considered how
complicated things can get, what with one thing always leading to another."
E. B. White

Overview of Section

This section discusses at some length several factors crucial to organizing a successful coalition. The section deals with elements involved in the organizational structure of the coalition. It discusses the issue of resources and their connection to the developmental life of the coalition and finally it deals at some length with the structuring of an action plan for the coalition. The action plan becomes the core of the organizational structure and the focus of both internal and external activity.

B. Funding for the Coalition

Resources of the Coalition

As reviewed earlier, the problem of resources for new coalitions is a serious one. Most coalitions begin usually with little more than the desire of a few people to provide information to the public and service to those who are in need of help.

Priority for Funding

Obtaining funds for a coalition, particularly one that is just beginning, is a formidable task. Surveys indicate that most coalitions begin with a very small amount of seed money and a bare minimum of staffing, usually an in-kind contribution. It is not by chance that one coordinator of such a coalition listed the three major challenges of the coalition as 1) funding, 2) funding, and 3) funding.

Searching for Funds

A new coalition might adopt a number of strategies based upon its history, its current resources, and its short-term and long-term plan.

1. Local Economy Strategy

In this strategy, the coalition looks for some minimal seed money from a local organization and with that seeks to generate enough positive response that it will attract further local attention. In this approach, the coalition acknowledges that getting grants from foundations and other private donors is a strategy that requires both time and experience at grant proposal writing. Since often neither the time nor the experience is available, a coalition may choose to attempt to convince a wide assortment of organizations, such as hospitals, HMOs, state agencies, pharmaceutical companies and similar organizations to become part of the coalition and make a financial commitment. This is usually not a long-term solution, but it does allow the coalition to begin and have a track record before proceeding to the next funding level.

2. External Funding Source Strategy

In this strategy, the coalition conducts a search to identify a potential source for funding. There are four primary sources: 1) government programs, 2) foundations, 3) corporations, and 4) individual philanthropy. Each of these requires research but in every instance, the first step is an honest appraisal of the coalition and the development of a plan for funding.

Planning for Funding

For most funding opportunities, certain preliminary steps are essential.

1. The coalition must define the organization’s mission, purpose, and clients.
2. The coalition must determine whether it has the expertise and resources to develop a project and manage a grant.
3. The coalition must frankly assess the needs of those the coalition intends to serve. The coalition needs to document how it assessed these needs and must be able to present some quantifiable data to support the assessment results.
4. The coalition must be able to explain who will benefit from the proposed project and why this is a significant benefit.

Hints for Funding Searches

1. Opening Foundation Doors

• Each foundation has its own grant-making interests and priorities. There may be only a very small number of grants available for precisely what the coalition is doing. However, a coalition may be able to look at its activities from a number of perspectives to determine some compatibility with the foundation. For example, the foundation may not be specifically interested in asthma, but it may be interested in providing grants for improving environmental conditions in local schools.
• Foundations will not generally announce the availability of grants. However, they often have deadlines for submitting letters of inquiry or proposals before board meetings.
• The coalition should take time to learn about foundations so that they can apply only to those foundations that are most likely to give serious consideration.

2. Searching on the Internet

• Potential sources of funds can be located on the Internet at http://fdncenter.org/.
• At this Web site, a search can be done of funds available through foundations and corporations as well as through state and federal government sources.
• Specialized searches can be run there to narrow the focus of the search and limit the results to those most likely to provide support.
• If the funder has a Web site, you can go directly to that Web site and learn more about the specific requirements for funding and how to make further inquiry or application.

3. Corporate Giving

• Pharmaceutical companies, HMOs, and other for-profit business have contributed to the development of some coalitions.
• At a recent symposium on corporate giving, nonprofit organizations looking for funding were advised to help corporations understand the issues in a way that is relevant to business success. The keynoter stated that corporate giving must be tied in to the business because "business is the business of business, not the business of philanthropy."¹³

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