Coexisting Is Not the Same as a Coalition

I’m about to sound like I’m talking about advocacy from the Middle Ages, but bear with me.

One of the first big campaigns I ever led was around clean indoor air policies. Early in my career, when I was with the American Heart Association, I worked on a coalition called the Minnesota Freedom to Breathe campaign, and it permanently shaped how I think about coalition work.

We had structure. We had meetings. We actually knew who was doing what. We met in between sessions to plan. For real.

There were three coordinated teams: direct lobbying, media advocacy, and grassroots. I led the grassroots team. Each group met separately, and we had a clear process for sharing information so everyone stayed aligned. If someone said, “I want to get involved,” we could tell them exactly where to show up or how to call in. There was no mystery. No gatekeeping.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was real. It was intentional. And it built power.

The following year, in 2008, I helped support the clean indoor air effort in Iowa. Iowa was technically my territory, so I assumed I’d be able to plug in the same way.

I kept asking a simple question to our Iowa-based lobbyists (and anyone else who would listen): How do I get to a coalition meeting?

The answer I kept getting was some version of: You have to come to the Capitol and sit at the table with us.

I explained that I was based in Minnesota. Could I call in? Where did the grassroots folks meet? How were advocates outside the Capitol being coordinated?

The response was essentially: Oh, we don’t do it that way.

Everything happened at the Capitol table. If you weren’t physically there, you weren’t really part of it. And I remember thinking, shouldn’t grassroots advocacy, by definition, be happening outside the Capitol?

The bill passed, but not because we built durable power or a broad coalition. Iowa moved when national momentum moved. We rode the tide.

That distinction stuck with me.

Once You’ve Seen a Real Coalition, You Can’t Unsee the Difference

Once you’ve seen the difference between those models, you can’t unsee it.

That’s why, every legislative session, when I hear organizations say they’re “working in coalition,” I find myself asking a quiet follow-up question: Are you actually building power or are you just coexisting?

We often use the word “coalition” to describe proximity and politeness, not strategy.

When “Working in Coalition” Just Means Coexisting

Too often, “working in coalition” simply means organizations aren’t opposing one another’s bills. There’s no shared strategy. No regular coalition meeting. No visible way for new organizations to find the coalition, join it, or meaningfully engage.

Also known as Coalitions in Name Only (CINO).

I’ve technically “been” to a few of these coalition meetings, although that might be a generous description.

Sometimes it’s a loose gathering of familiar faces. Sometimes it’s people who already know each other circulating in the same rooms. What it usually isn’t is a space where anyone is asking the questions that actually build power.

Questions like:

• Who are our targets this week?

• What changed since last week that requires an adjustment?

• Who is leading direct lobbying, and who is responsible for grassroots action?

• What is our media strategy, and how does it support our legislative goals?

Without those conversations, we default to the same tactics, the same rhythms, and the same assumptions even when it’s obvious they’re not working.

When a Coalition Becomes the Problem

Here’s where things often go sideways.

When a coalition lacks structure, it doesn’t just stall progress, it actively narrows the narrative. The loudest or most obvious stakeholders become the story, whether or not that story reflects the actual purpose of the work. Or leads to success.

I ran into this head-on a few years later, still at the Heart Association, during a campaign to increase physical activity during the school day.

The coalition I inherited was made up almost entirely of PE teachers. They were deeply invested. And of course they were. Physical activity during the school day was their professional world.

But the bill stalled.

At one point, a legislator dismissed it as a “PE teachers’ jobs bill,” and it felt like a dagger to my heart. The Heart Association does not exist to protect jobs. We exist to keep kids healthy and prevent cardiovascular disease and stroke.

That moment was my wake-up call.

What Happens When You Stop Coexisting and Start Rebuilding

Instead of trying to tweak the existing coalition, I made a different decision.

We rebuilt it.

We created Minnesotans for Healthy Kids, intentionally bringing in physicians, youth advocates, insurers, hospitals, clinics, and others who cared about children’s health from different angles. The coalition had a name, a shared narrative, and a clear purpose that went well beyond any single profession.

It worked.

In fact, it worked so well that Minnesotans for Healthy Kids eventually spun off into its own 501(c)(3). Today, it’s still advancing children’s policy issues well beyond that original bill.

That experience reinforced something I already knew: coalitions don’t magically become effective over time. They become effective when someone is willing to step back, name the problem, and redesign the structure to match the goal.

Coalitions Are Supposed to Build Power

A coalition should be the place where innovation happens, not where momentum stalls.

It should create shared accountability, not just shared logos. Especially during legislative session, coalitions need clarity around leadership, targets, and tactics.

If a coalition isn’t meeting regularly, setting strategy together, assigning roles, and revisiting what’s working and what isn’t, then it’s not building power. It’s just coexisting.

And coexistence doesn’t pass bills, stop bad ones, or change the balance of power.

What It Looks Like to Actually Work in Coalition

Real coalition work doesn’t require perfection, but it does require intention. At a minimum, coalitions that build power tend to have a few things in common:

• A clear structure for how decisions are made and information is shared

• Regular meetings focused on strategy, not just updates

• Defined roles for lobbying, grassroots, and communications

• Clear targets and a willingness to adjust tactics when something isn’t working

• Visible entry points so new organizations and advocates know how to engage

Coalitions are not just about alignment. They are about coordination, accountability, and shared risk.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. I hear versions of this every legislative session: lots of activity, lots of meetings, and very little shared clarity about strategy, targets, or next steps.

Coalition work does not have to feel this murky or stagnant.

How I Can Help

At Snyder Strategies, I work with organizations and coalitions to design smarter advocacy structures, clarify roles, and build coalition strategies that actually build power and move policy, not just vague assumptions.

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