At the end of August, CADCA convened community coalition leaders for the 14й installment of its 18-part webinar series on CADCA’s Coalition Competencies, a research-backed framework that outlines the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for effective coalition work.
The Planning competency is the bridge between vision to concrete goals and specific actions that coalitions can take. As the panelists emphasized, effective planning helps coalitions move from aspirational thinking into concrete, measurable objectives that are grounded in community data and assets.
Planning provides insight into coalition capacity and structure, clear planning processes help clarify partner roles and build support for initiatives, and well-planned coalitions can assess and monitor their context, then adjust strategies as needed.
Ananda Lennox, Director of the CLOSE Community Coalition in Longmeadow, MA walked us through a real planning challenge. Her coalition set out to strengthen their Safe Homes initiative, a parental pledge program where families commit to keeping their homes substance-free during youth gatherings.
The effort required more than a single meeting. Lennox’s team engaged in:
- Quarterly steering committee meetings with high-capacity volunteers (including a state legislative aide and a surgeon) who wanted focused and efficient engagement
- Weekly touchpoints with core implementation partners to coordinate logistics
- Multiple stakeholder outreach with parent advisory groups, select board members, board of health officials, and athletic league coordinators
- Brand repositioning to match the community’s values, emphasizing exclusivity and insider knowledge
The process taught Lennox that there’s no one-size-fits all approach or meeting cadence. Different people and roles require different levels of contact and engagement.
CADCA Trainer Kristina Clark emphasized the importance of tailoring communication strategies around strategy and people, rather than imposing rigid meeting schedules. As she noted, sometimes you meet monthly, sometimes quarterly, and sometimes weekly, depending on what makes sense for the people involved and the work at hand.
This organic, adaptive approach to planning builds stronger coalition capacity and deeper community integration. By the end of her work on this initiative, Lennox felt genuinely woven into her community’s fabric as a trusted collaborator.
If your coalition is working to strengthen its planning competency, several key practices emerged from this webinar:
- Start with data: Ground your planning in actual community needs and assets, not assumptions.
- Know your people: Understand who needs to be involved, what level of engagement makes sense for them, and how to reach them effectively
- Plan your planning: Before launching a major initiative, map out the stakeholder engagement strategy, communication cadence, and decision-making structures you’ll need
- Build in reflection: Regular assessment and monitoring allow coalitions to adapt as conditions change
The Competencies in Focus webinar series continues on September 30, focusing on the Resource Management competency.
Watch the full recording for more insights on the planning competency and strategies for bringing these practices into your coalition’s work.
