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Keeping It All Together:
Ideas For Sustaining Your Initiative
Sustaining Collaborations
Collaborations established to address the issue of youth violence coexist with the program(s) they implement. Each depends on the viability and effectiveness of the other. Once established, a collaboration requires attention in order to maintain its place in the community. Likewise, the program needs attention to be sure that it is well managed and has adequate resources. It must be evaluated to see that it is implemented as the developers intended and realizes the anticipated outcomes. If the coalition is weak, or if it weakens as participants move on to other issues, it cannot speak with conviction about youth violence and cannot garner support for the program. If the program is disorganized and appears not to have an effect on the problem, partners have little incentive to advocate for its expansion, or even its continuation.
Practitioners and researchers agree that coalitions are fueled by the ongoing commitment of each partner to engage in strategies such as those discussed below:
- Take time, up front, to build a strong collaboration
A collaboration that has been hastily put together, that lacks leadership,
vision, clear goals and objectives, and operational policies and procedures,
is not likely to make it to the next phase. So, the vital first step
in sustaining your collaboration is to pay careful attention to building
its strength from the first day—even before it convenes.
- Nurture relationships
Establish and maintain personal relationships.
Being able to pick up the telephone or send an e-mail and elicit a prompt
and positive response helps make things happen. Relationships depend
on trust among partners. One practitioner reports that discussions at
the monthly alliance meeting often move beyond the group’s original purpose, yet are instrumental in building trust and in fostering community change.
A member spoke about bringing a Boys and Girls Club to the
community; this discussion was recorded in the minutes. The next
day, another alliance member, upon reading the minutes, called to
say that she, too, wanted to establish such a club and had already
done the research. These two individuals met, convened a series
of community meetings at the recreation center of a large apartment
complex, and opened the meetings to anyone who wanted to attend.
The meetings were advertised through door-to-door canvassing and
10,000 flyers.
During the meeting, alliance members asked community members for their
input, and evaluators asked attendees what they liked about the
meeting and what they wanted to see happen the next time. Demonstrating
trust in the community by soliciting their input helped increase
the trust of community members in the program.
- Encourage varying levels of participation
Clearly, not all members will be equally involved in coalition activities—nor should you expect them to be. For example, the superintendent of schools and chief of police may be coalition members, but they are not likely to attend all meetings and serve on subcommittees. You can facilitate their participation, nonetheless, by tailoring your expectations and their coalition responsibilities to fit the realities of their positions. One practitioner described a collaborative with three tiers:
- An advisory group that lends support publicly for your efforts and can facilitate funding, although, as individuals, they do not attend monthly meetings or serve on committees;
- A midlevel implementation group that meets regularly, sets policy, and oversees performance; and
- A front-line group that is responsible for carrying out the program.
These groups share their vision, passion, and commitment; know what is expected of them and each other; communicate regularly; and establish a sustainability plan that includes a strong buy-in from the community.
- Continue to add new members
Anyone who has attended a meeting of a several-year-old coalition, only to find that she/he is one of a handful of participants, even though the coalition roster lists 20 to 30 members, appreciates the need to continue to add new members to that list. This strategy in no way suggests that coalitions should continue to expand, becoming unmanageably large. It does mean, however, that coalitions depend on having a critical mass of discussants/decision makers and cannot overlook waning attendance and participation. Solicit input of current members about who else needs to be involved in the coalition. Identify individuals and organizations with whom you have already established relationships. Be sure to include the business and faith communities—which are often overlooked, yet are critical components of most, if not all, coalitions addressing community problems.
- Solve problems
All grants experience problems (as do all organizations). One way to help avoid some problems, though, is to be sure to have Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) in place that document partners’ commitments of time, people, talent, expertise, space, and so on. These MOUs assure clarity that helps when disagreements arise.
Experienced practitioners advise you not to paper over difficulties and paint an unrealistic picture, but to expect problems and be prepared to deal with them. They emphasize that collaborations are relationships and should be approached as such, with creativity, flexibility, and patience.
Deal with problems face to face, not via e-mail or telephone. One practitioner described a useful approach: The practitioner met with a partner who had expressed concerns and wrote down the concerns, which he then brought to the collaboration’s executive committee. The committee then addressed the problems to the satisfaction of the partner.
Resolve difficulties and conflicts as they occur by returning to common ground and focusing on mutual vision and goals.
One practitioner told of placing a picture of children in the
center of the table. Whenever discussions became too heated and members
began to retreat into their silos, the practitioner pointed to the
picture and reminded his colleagues why they had come together.
- Celebrate successes
Collaborations, like individuals, are
sustained in part by their successes—however small. Celebrate your group’s
accomplishments through public recognition.
One collaboration used a community meeting to celebrate
its progress. They served refreshments, read poetry, and elicited
from community members their perceptions of the progress made. Following
the meeting, the group published a ½-page ad listing attendees, businesses
that had contributed materials, and members of the alliance. This
ad gave public notice of the 98 people in the community who were participating
in the anti-violence efforts. The alliance also recognizes the youth
involved in the program, giving them rewards (such as coupons for
tacos).
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