Selected Resources for ABE Community Planners and Coalitions

Prepared by Patricia Pelletier, ACLS Community Planning Consultant

Extensive research on effective community planning and coalitions was conducted during the development of the ACLSIndicators of Effective Community Planning for CALCsin 2013. Appendix A of the Indicators contains a list of resources that informed the development of the Indicators, including the characteristics and self-assessment. Some of the resources provided beloware included in Appendix A and some are newly researched for this mailing. The resources described below were chosen with the goal of helping the reader to gain a better understanding of the six Indicators of Effective Community Planningfor CALCs (Leadership, Membership, Structure, Operations and Processes, Vision and Mission and Contextual Factors) within the different stages of coalition development (formation, maintenance, institutionalization). Of particular interest is the Sustaining Your Coalition for the Long Haul presentation (see additional information below) which provides a succinct overview of the Community Coalition Action Theory (CCAT)(Butterfoss and Kegler, 2008),which was a primary framework for the creation of the ACLS Indicators.

Building Effective Community Partnerships is a toolkit developed by The Institute for Educational Leadership (with funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice), that provides ideas and resources that will increase the capacity to bring together organizations and individuals, develop shared goals, and implement strategies to achieve them. While the toolkit is geared toward juvenile programs, it is particularly useful for any coalition or partnership that is new or reforming, with topics such as:

  • Finding Partners, Finding Focus
  • Getting the Partnership Started
  • The First Meetings of the Partnership
  • Getting the Partnership Ready for Action
  • Action
  • Maintaining Momentum

The toolkit includes some case studies, one of which is from a Boston youth program.

Coalition-Building Tip Sheets are two page summaries of key points on many critical issues in seeking collaborative solutions. They were originally published as inserts in the Community Catalyst, the newsletter of Community Partners, published by Tom Wolff and Associates. Seasoned ABE community planners might remember a SABES workshop conducted byTom Wolff in 2009 entitled “Everyone Benefits from Community Planning.” Tom Wolff and Associates bring forty years of experience in coalition building, community development, collaborative solutions and collective impact. Tom’s website contains many free tools and resources including interesting and informative newsletter archives . Once you start clicking around Tom’s website, you’ll get lost in the many resources and links to explore.

Coalitions Work helps coalitions and partnerships reach their potential to be a force for positive change in the health of their communities through collaborative research, education and consultation with organizations, partnerships and coalitions. Their website provides many free tools and resources such as a coalition action plan template , coalition roles and job descriptions, chair or facilitator's meeting guidelines, a guide to what to do when things go wrong, and many more useful tools for coalitions.

Evidence-Based Practice for Coalition Buildingis a publication developed by Champions for Inclusive Communities, Utah State University, Center for Persons with Disabilities. This short publication succinctly outlines key ingredients to:

  • Build partnerships
  • Develop plans
  • Implement plans
  • Measure and monitor coalition effectiveness

Making Community Partnerships Work - A Toolkit is written for newcomers and seasoned organizers,community-based groups, public and private foundations, as well as local,

state and federal government agencies. Although it is written for thoseinterested in public health and human services, this toolkit can still beuseful to individuals and groups addressing other community issues. The toolkit focuses on three stages of community partnership work:

  • Getting Started - Are You Ready for Community-Based Participatory Partnerships?
  • Moving Forward - How to Approach and Involve Community Members
  • Putting it All Together - How to Formalize and Maintain a Community-Based Participatory Partnership

This toolkit gives some good ideas on ways to implement the ACLS Indicators of Effective Community Planning for CALCswith your ABE community planning coalition.

Sustaining Your Coalition for the Long Haulis a helpful PowerPoint presentation by Coalitions Work and presented by Frances Dunn Butterfoss, PhD, a leader in coalition theory. The presentation focuses on the Community Coalition Action Theory (CCAT) which is the basic framework from which the ACLS Indicators of Effective Communitywere developed. The presentation concludes that:

•Collaborative strategies are more creative and achievable than any single organization can do alone.

•Coalitions work best when they mobilize assets, respond to opportunities and develop integrated strategies.

•As coalitions mature, they must shift from providing services to policy/advocacy activities.

•Sustaining coalitions is harder than forming them – find structure that works, recruit and engage active organizations, diversify funding and focus on outcomes.

The Community Visioning and Strategic Planning Handbookpublished by the National Civic League Press in Denver, Colorado (2000) is an in depth look at how to reinvent democracy in a community (“community” can be identified as a city, town, program, etc.) and includes the following topics:

  • The Basis for Change - Creating a Healthy Democracy
  • Overview of the Visioning and Strategic Planning Process
  • How to Begin a Community Visioning Process
  • The Community Outreach Process
  • Defining the Current Realities of the Community
  • Civic Infrastructure: Assessing Community Capacity
  • Developing a Community Vision and Selecting Key Performance
  • Action Planning and Implementation

What Makes an Effective Coalition? Evidence-based Indicators of Successwas madepossiblethrough a grant from The California Endowment in 2010. The paper draws on a broad multi-disciplinary review of academic literature, both theory and applied research, regarding the “conclusive” components of effective coalitions, including:

  • Breakdown of Capacity
  • Leadership Capacity
  • Adaptive Capacity
  • Management Capacity
  • Technical Capacity
  • Cultural Capacity

In addition, the paper explores the pros and cons of different types of decision making, member breadth vs. strategic focus, and questions about funding a coalition.

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