How to Stop Herding Cats and Build Consensus Among Your Coalition

February, 2010

If you have ever been a part of a coalition, then you know what a unique and meaningful experience it can be. United by a common cause, coalitions can be remarkably effective advancing a particular issue.

However, uniting a broad spectrum of stakeholders can be hard work. Building consensus and creating strategic alignment among multiple organizations, often with only a small overlap in mission, has been compared by some to “herding cats.” So the question is, what can coalitions do differently that will bring internal consensus without watering down the messages so much that nothing substantive remains?

Here are four proven steps a coalition can take to develop clear, strong messages that its member organizations will stand behind.

1. Understand the Unmet Need: Field a survey to understand the organizations’ positions and diverse needs.
2. Build Consensus: Invite coalition members to a brainstorming session to identify message "buckets" and priority audiences.
3. Develop Messages: Using the results from step 2, write core messages that simplify the subject and involve emotion. Then drill it down to a few short sound bites.
4. Test Messages: Before distributing the messages broadly, test their effectiveness within a sample of your target audience.

These steps provide a clear roadmap to creating messages with an impact. In addition to securing meaningful messaging for diverse coalitions, the process can also be employed by organizations that have multiple stakeholders or opposing views.