Top takeaways on a coalition-building approach to community improvement 

A coalition-building approach to community engagement can help improve the health and well-being of youth and families significantly, the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State University and the Annie E. Casey Foundation finds. Finding Unity in Community: How Building Consensus Can Shift the Dynamics of Support offers strategies for coalitions of community groups—nonprofits, businesses, educators, neighborhood associations, youth groups, faith organizations, parent groups, and government agencies—to bring together diverse perspectives and resources to achieve a common goal. The guide was developed with six communities implementing Casey’s Evidence2Success™ framework for forming partnerships, collecting and analyzing data, selecting evidence-based programs, and evaluating their effectiveness. 

Based on evaluation data collected from interviews with coalition members and community members, here are three key benefits of and three best practices for coalition building for community improvement: 

Benefit 1. A coalition-building approach can enhance community engagement in multiple ways 

After two years of coalition building, the data showed improvements across all five dimensions of community engagement measured—in all six participating communities, across individuals of races/ethnicities, education levels, and jobs. The level of participation by community members from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds in planning and implementation improved the most (21%), followed by active collaboration among coalition member organizations (11.84%), community input with programs and service providers (11.28%), community voice in decision making (10.71%), and organizations networking and sharing information (5.18%).  

Benefit 2. Coalition building fosters inclusive, collaborative, productive environments for diverse stakeholders 

Interviews with coalition members suggested the coalitions themselves were functioning well, with positive results for all six indicators: site coordinator’s engagement, collaborative leadership, opportunities for participation, cohesion, productivity, and self-rated involvement. In addition, Black/African-American and Latinx coalition members gave slightly higher ratings on average for coordinator engagement and opportunities for participation than white coalition members. Both groups’ average ratings for these two indicators improved slightly from year two to year three of coalition building. 

Benefit 3. Early community engagement supports data use, funding, and program participation 

According to the data, enhanced levels of community engagement led to the continued use of data to make decisions about the health and well-being of youth and families, the belief that the coalition was advancing community improvement, and higher levels of caring about youth across race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. “Data use and community engagement appear to reinforce each other and build on each other,” the authors note. 

Longer-term data showed that many dimensions of community engagement were positively correlated to funding and participation levels six years into the effort. A high level of care for youth across race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status in year three was most closely linked to greater funding and program participation in year six. High scores for community voice, broad cross-sector engagement, networking and sharing information, and using data for decision making also were linked to future funding and participation. 

To maximize these benefits, the guide suggests three best practices for building effective community coalitions—with case summaries: 

Best practice 1. Study historical and current contexts for what may impact success of community engagement 

First, organizers should reflect on the community’s history and readiness to understand what situations, conditions, or trusted community members may motivate individuals and organizations to get involved in coalition building. Questions to ask include:  

• Is my community open to change right now due to an event or multiple factors? Who are the leaders who can coordinate the effort, and how can we support them? How can we  bring these community elements together to pursue a shared goal? 

• Is there an existing collaboration and civic infrastructure to support engagement? What strategies and which leaders and organizations helped get residents to commit to the effort and stay engaged? 

• Given that communities with higher poverty rates and/or higher percentages of families of color had lower levels of engagement (possibly due to levels of trust, access to services and resources, decision-making practices, and time constraints on attending activities), what activities and messengers promote trust? What times and activities enable greater participation? 

Best practice 2. Take a holistic approach to supporting continued community engagement

The guide recommends a holistic approach to coalition building that:  

• recognizes and addresses the multidimensional nature of community through broad outreach;  

• builds a culture of participation and accountability by ensuring all participants, especially those from historically disenfranchised groups, are listened to;  

• creates an environment where different ideas and voices are heard and that disagreements and differences of opinion can be addressed fairly and productively;  

• incentivizes coalition members and residents to continue offering their expertise; and  

• proactively prepares for turnover and transitions among coalition members.  

Best practice 3. Draw on and validate data from and with the community 

The evaluation suggests using data in decision making is essential to effective coalition building for community improvement. Questions to ask include: 

• What sources of relevant data exist in our community ?

• Are all relevant groups represented equally and fairly? 

• How can we ensure the data is validated by those surveyed and shared with and understood by a broad cross-section of community stakeholders? 

This article is part of a regular feature where Candid insights shares key takeaways from a new research report to encourage a more data-driven approach to the sector’s work. Leave a comment to recommend a report for an upcoming feature.  

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