Building And Utilizing Coalitions

By Craig Miyamoto, APR, Fellow PRSA

(This is an expanded version of the 1999 Second Quarter issue of Public Relations Strategies, a quarterly publication of Miyamoto Strategic Counsel)

Strategically aligning yourself with allies is an effective way to bolster your influence in matters of public affairs and issues. There are generally two ways to do this: Partnerships, and coalitions. Partnerships involve identifying one or more companies, industries or organizations that have an affinity with your products and/or services, approaching them, and working out an agreement to your mutual benefit.

Coalitions (sometimes called "alliances") are more intricate and involved, and are basically created for solidarity and mobilization. Most coalitions arise as the result of an issue (e.g., legislative, social, economic, health, scientific, religious).

In many ways, coalitions have much in common with partnerships. They allow more effective and efficient delivery of persuasive advocacy, improved communication, elimination of duplication, better needs assessment, consistency of information, and increased availability of resources. They also provide "one big voice" in matters of advocacy.

On the other hand, improperly managed coalitions can become ineffective if there is turf protection and mistrust, slow decision making, limited resources, diversion of resources to non-priority issues, positions adopted that are contrary to policy, and a low level of cooperation among collaborators during a crisis.

The key, therefore, is strong management. There must be a guiding force. Oftentimes it is a well-established corporation or national organization with the resources to fund an individual who coordinates activities (national, regional, state or local). This person is charged with identifying and recruiting potential allies, educating and updating them on the issue, encouraging and mobilizing their involvement when needed, serving as a resource, and managing the coalition's activities.

There are a number of arenas in which coalitions can be useful, but public affairs - the influencing of legislation and public policy - probably uses coalitions to the greatest extent. The task of the coordinator is to persuade coalition members to articulate their support or opposition to the proposed legislation in a persuasive manner, delivered on a timely basis to the legislators holding key positions. Initial contact with the legislator sometimes comes from the coordinator, but as a general rule, once the coalition is formed, the coordinator facilitates ally contacts instead of participating in the dialogue.

Who do you want in your coalition? Your friends. And maybe, your enemies. Put aside your emotional involvement in hot issues, and concentrate on the strategic goal of your effort. There is a saying among gamblers - "Bet smart, not your heart." The same applies here. Recruit anybody who can help you with this particular issue. You don't have to be their friends afterwards, just band together for the common cause. Essentially, you want coalition members who are not afraid to speak out on issues, who can look past emotion and focus on logic and practicality.

A good place to start is the Yellow Pages. Look under "Associations." Call your Chamber of Commerce and ask them for a directory (you may have to pay a fee if you are not a member). Put on your thinking cap and expand your frame of reference; practically every trade, professional or special interest group is a potential ally, but only if you can make your cause relevant to theirs in some way.

One very effective strategy is to recruit trade associations. A dozen allies can speak individually and as a coalition, but they bring with them a much greater resource - their own memberships. They can speak on behalf of the membership, or, hopefully, they can mobilize their members and deliver support by the hundreds or thousands . Associations are what are PR calls "special audiences," because they are organized and can communicate with their members more efficiently and faster than you can if you had to approach them individually.

Provide your allies with the information (ammunition) they need to articulate their view intelligently. Regular communication is very important, whether it be a quarterly gathering, a periodic newsletter, individual phonecalls and meetings, or attending your coalition allies' social and special interest functions. And it should go without saying that whenever possible, you must go out of your way to help them (e.g. drafting letters, doing basic research, answering questions, providing solutions for their problems, and options for intelligent decisions).

A final word: Generally speaking, coalition coordinators sometimes should not be lobbyists. Lobbyists are a specialized group who operate entirely within the legislative and political arenas. Coalition coordinators' work will cross party lines and involve a wide variety of allies with diverse political and economic interests. Therefore, remaining politically neutral might be of advantage.

But if an issue is important enough to your industry and you require the services of a lobbyist to protect your interests in municipal, state and federal government, then hire the best lobbyist you can find. This is another case where "as good as" does not justify anything less than "excellent," especially where thousands of jobs and millions of dollars are at stake. And don't forget to make the lobbyist part of your coalition team.

have accessed this page since June 17, 1999.