Coalition Building Learning Group
Meeting 5: Recruiting Coalition
Members
January 15, 2014
Call Participants
Present:
Ashley James, Alameda County Community Asset Network; Donna Gallagher, North Carolina Assets
Alliance; Daniel Valdez, Crisis Assistance Ministry (NC); Amy Williamson, Mutual Housing California;
Michael Richardson, Coalition for the Advancement of Financial Education (MD); Anne Guthrie,
Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network; Dave Snyder, Minnesota Asset Building Coalition; Lisa Forti,
Alameda County Community Asset Network; Kaye Schmitz, Florida Prosperity Partnership; Jennifer
Brooks, CFED; Jennifer Medina, CFED; Fran Rosebush, CFED; Dara Duratinsky, CFED.
Not Present: Bill Mills, Florida Prosperity Partnership; Dave Norris, United Way of Greater Richmond; Raquel
Lynch, Crisis Assistance Ministry (NC); Faye Griffiths, University of Connecticut; Joyce Armstrong,
Connecticut; Claire Morduch; Connecticut Voices for Children; Karen Oates, La Casa De Esperanza
(WI); Ronald Jennings, CAFE Montgomery; Amy Casavina Hall, United Way of Greater New Haven;
Aubrey Mancuso, Voices for Children Nebraska; Brent Kakesako, Ho’owaiwai Network; Haidee Cabusora,
The Financial Clinic (NY); Kate Richey, Oklahoma Policy Matters; Cynthia Zwick, Arizona Assets
Alliance; Sue Rogan, Maryland CASH Campaign; Kathleen Taylor, Indiana Association for Community
Economic Development; Annie Harper, Yale; Joy Duva, Strategic Visions (CT); Tamika Edwards,
Southern Bancorp Community Partners (AR); Rosa Carrero, Liberty Bank (CT); Jan McCray Price,
United Way of Greater New Haven; Derek Thomas, Indiana Institute for Working Families; Roberta
Teeto, Penquis CAP Inc. (ME); Harriet Winokur, Montgomery County Asset Building Coaliton (PA);
Karen Heisler, Rural Dynamics, Inc. (MT); Nancy Brown, Financial Stability Partnership & Nevada
Asset Building Coalition; Kalitha Williams, Policy Matters Ohio; Dara Johnson, Arizona Assets Alliance;
Marie Hawe, Connecticut IDA Clearinghouse; Debbie Prescott, Florida Prosperity Partnership, Jayne
Giles, Penquis CAP Inc. (ME); Gina Esquivel, Crisis Assistance Ministry.
Agenda
I.
II.
III.
IV.
The WHO, WHY, HOW, WHAT and WHEN of coalition recruitment
Peer case study: Dave Snyder, Minnesota Asset Building Coalition
Group discussion
Wrap up
The WHO, WHY, HOW, WHAT and WHEN of coalition recruitment
Facilitator Kaye Schmitz walked us through the who, why, how, what and when of coalition recruitment.
 Kaye shared that the concept of “intentional alignment” has guided her recruitment strategy.
Intentional alignment is the act of being purposeful within your organization by creating a mission,
vision and purpose, setting up a strategic plan and recruiting partners and allies that will help you
accomplish your goals.
o The objective is to intentionally align with partners that already have your goal within their
missions.
o


For example, Real$ense Prosperity Campaign in Northeast Florida formed with the mission of
income maximization. With that in mind, they formed a partnership with organizations
focused on promoting the EITC.
o Florida Prosperity Partnership has intentionally aligned with organizations that share their
advocacy goals, such as financial education in schools, to have a stronger voice when meeting
with policymakers.
After you’ve identified organizations whose missions and goals align with yours, how will you
convince them to join you?
o To convince others to join you, Kaye suggested beginning with WHY they should join or align
with you. Don’t just talk to people about what you do, but WHY you do it. Talking about
what you believe in will attract those who have a similar vision, and those are the people and
organizations with whom you should align.
o When advocating to Florida legislators about financial education in schools, Florida Prosperity
Partnership begins with why they think financial education is important—so that the next
generation of Floridians can grow up debt free.
o Follow the WHY with HOW you will achieve your goal and then conclude with WHAT’s in it
for them.
When do you recruit new members?
o Kaye believes the answer is always. Make recruitment part of every conversation you have.
Peer Case Study
Dave Snyder of the Minnesota Asset Building Coalition talked to the group about the key lessons he has
drawn from community organizing and how they apply to recruiting coalition members. Below are Dave’s
top 3 principles of community organizing:
1. Truly effective, enduring coalitions are not built through emails.
o Take the time to meet people in-person because relationships are built off face-to-face
encounters as well as encounters that are transactional.
o Approach all your encounters in a spirit of openness to learning new things and altering your
own agenda.
o Approach communities of color, rural communities and Native American communities,
because these are the people whose lives you are attempting to change. It is never too early to
invite these leaders to the table, or rather, to build a table mutually.
2. Public space is finite; occupy it wisely and ethically.
o The attention of the public, press, funders and financial institutions is finite. Occupy this space
in a way that respects those that have been shut out of it.
3. Think carefully about systems of power in order to intervene effectively to change them.
o In any campaign it’s possible to do a power analysis. Ask, who has the power to make the
change we want to make?
After Dave’s presentation, the group asked him a few questions.
 Jennifer Brooks asked Dave to share his observations about the way people tend to build coalitions in
the asset-building field.
o Dave noted that the asset-building field is aspirational, positive and not just focused on antipoverty. He also noted that the field has concrete tools that will help the community, but it is
necessary to think about equity among stakeholders around funding streams, particularly
with regards to traditionally marginalized communities.
 Lisa Forti shared an idea about bridging the gap between coalitions and community organizers
through projects focused on neighborhood impact. She noted that a lot of community organizing
groups work on local issues at the neighborhood and city level. Her coalition, Alameda County
Community Asset Network (AC CAN), is also working in this space by producing toolkits that
calculate how much money predatory lending takes out of the neighborhood.
Discussion
Kaye facilitated a group discussion with the following questions.
1. What challenges or successes have you had recruiting coalition members?
o Michael Richardson of CAFE Montgomery shared a story about how he was able to recruit a
new member to the coalition through his primary job doing community relations outreach for
a local credit union. This new member went on to become the Chair of the coalition.
o Donna Gallagher of North Carolina Assets Alliance advises that even if you don’t personally
know a target coalition member, approach and recruit them anyway.
2. How might you incorporate principles of community organizing into your work?
o Kaye shared that she will use the idea of building the table together, especially when working
with faith-based groups, who she has had trouble recruiting in the past.
o Jennifer Medina of CFED noted that the idea of building coalitions through face-to-face
contact reinforces the importance of regular in-person convenings like the Assets &
Opportunity Leadership Convening.
o Ashley James of AC CAN shared the idea of hosting monthly brown bag lunches as an
informal way to get to know people.
o Michael Richardson shared that he attends Chamber of Commerce meetings as a way to meet
individuals engaged in local business, and thinks this is a way to find like-minded person to
recruit.
o Lisa Forti of AC CAN suggests not only hosting your own coalition meetings but attending
other coalition’s meetings as a way to meet people.
3. How have you demonstrated, or how might you demonstrate, the value of your coalition?
o Amy Williamson of Mutual Housing California noted that her collaborative developed an
“active referral system” to capture the outcomes of referrals between service providers in the
community, demonstrate impact and make the case for further investment in the
collaborative. This active referral system has resonated with members and reinforced the
community-building approach.
o Anne Guthrie of Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network changes her pitch depending on who
she is talking to. For example, when talking about financial literacy to employers she uses the
argument that when employees are financially secure they are more focused on work and thus
more productive.
Next Meeting: Promoting Engagement/Sustaining Momentum
February 19, 10:00 AM Hawaii/12:00 PM Pacific/1:00 Mountain/2:00 Central/3:00 Eastern
Facilitator: Lisa Forti, Alameda County Community Assets Network
Key topics to cover:
 Sharing leadership
 Engaging members in policy advocacy