Four Tips for Making Your (Coalition) Garden Grow
I love my little garden. I have a few raised beds that sit outside my home office.
There isn’t a lot of room, but I usually plant tomatoes, green peppers, squash, cucumbers, jalapenos and maybe some lettuce.
When things get a little stressful, I like to go outside and check on the garden. Even a few minutes helps me reset.
But getting to the point where things grow takes some work. Maybe you like prep work. Me? Not so much.
Pulling the weeds, adding the mulch, applying the fertilizer…….. Fun chores, especially in the Georgia heat. 😊
Truth be told, I’d like to be able to shove things in the ground and hope they grow.
Growing a coalition is a lot like gardening. You can’t just hope your coalition grows. You must do all the prep work so that it will grow.
Here are 4 tips to help your coalition garden grow.
Create a Welcome Packet for new members. It should include your mission and vision statement; the history of the coalition; a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and bylaws.
MOUs - specify coalition members’ roles and responsibilities, data that will be shared, commitments and expectations, policies and procedures regarding confidentiality, meeting schedule, a description of how conflict will be handled, and how the agreement will be updated.
Bylaws – are the written rules that specify how your coalition will govern itself. Bylaws are important but should be written in a simple and straightforward manner so that they are easily understood. You will need them if your group decides to become a nonprofit (501c3). Examples are available in Fran Butterfoss’s book, Ignite! Getting Your Community Coalition “Fired Up” for Change” or the Community Toolbox.
Committees and workgroups – Committees are standing groups that work on an ongoing basis – like a membership committee or the data/evaluation committee. Workgroups, on the other hand, meet for a short period of time for a specific purpose. For example, a workgroup may be formed to host a community meeting or conduct regional listening sessions.
Steering Committee – The Steering Committee is responsible for setting the direction of the coalition, with input from the larger membership of course. There should be a representative of the larger group AND the community. The “officers” have specific duties. These duties, and governing details such as term limits, should be defined in the Bylaws.
Meetings that work are the fertilizer that really makes your coalition grow. Check out past blogs on tips for having creative meetings, but whatever you do, avoid the “Meet and Talk” meeting. If you are going to ask people to give up their most precious resource, time, make the meeting worth it. Each meeting should result in a decision or action that moves your work forward.
On the latest episode of Community Possibilities, Dr. Susan Wolfe and I talk about our work in communities. I hope you will give it a listen and share it with the community coalition and nonprofit leaders you know.
Let me know what questions you have. What has worked in your community?
Wishing you a healthy, productive coalition garden full of community possibilities.