Step 3: Develop a comprehensive strategic plan

Developing a comprehensive strategic plan involves a few steps before any actual planning takes place.  Coalitions should have a vision and mission in place, as well as develop and commit to a logic model as preliminary strategic planning steps.  From there, development of a strategic plan will be grounded in a foundation for the coalition and its work.  Information on vision/mission and logic model development, along with strategic planning guidance, follows

Vision and Mission

As in any organizational development, creating vision and mission statements is essential to the long-term guidance and goals of the organization.  Coalitions are no different.  They need shared vision and a clear, agreed upon direction in order to act as a unified whole.

Creating a vision statement is the equivalent of describing the ideal for your community concerning the issue the coalition has coalesced around.  A vision statement describes the destination, not the journey, and the language is typically motivational.

As an example, the Drug Free Action Alliance vision is: “Ohioans, of all families and communities, raising children in safe and drug free environments.”

Since the vision is the destination, the mission is the basic roadmap.  The mission describes, in active language, how the coalition plans to get to the vision. Drug Free Action Alliance’s mission is to “provide leadership and foster networks to promote safe and drug-free communities throughout Ohio.

A good mission statement describes what the coalition does and how the coalition does it.

Logic Models

Another tool to maximize the efforts of the coalition is development of a logic model.  Logic models provide structure to a coalition’s efforts, connecting the problem, activities and expected outcomes, both short and long term.  Logic models provide the beginning of planning, but also the basis for evaluation of success.  See Logic Models for more information.

Strategic Planning

An essential – and, ideally, early – step in developing a plan is engaging in a strategic planning process.  Strategic planning establishes a short and/or long term plan for the activities of the community coalition, and facilitates the development of specific task planning for various strategies.

Prior to beginning a strategic planning process, coalition members participating in the planning process need education on environmental prevention strategies.  It is not enough for the coalition chair or a couple leadership figures to understand the approach the coalition will be using to address alcohol, tobacco, and other drug abuse within the community.  Also, the greater the depth of understanding about environment prevention, the stronger your strategic plan will be.

Click on strategic planning for more information.

The development of an environmental strategy plan will also dictate the evolution of a structure for the coalition.  Many community coalitions institute a structure that includes a primary committee or council that provides overall guidance and direction to the coalition and its staff or other leadership.  Separate committees often develop to focus on specific areas, whether strategy- or population-based.  For example, a community coalition might have a committee on changing formal and informal policies (one of the five strategies for environmental management) or a committee focused on senior citizens.

Sometimes ad hoc committees are created for time-limited or project-specific purposes – implementation of an activity like Red Ribbon Week or passage of a local ordinance.

Some of the tasks involved in the planning stage:

• Learn basic concepts and strategies known to actually prevent or reduce community substance abuse problems.
• Look at the research to see which prevention strategies research and demonstration programs have shown to be effective in similar settings.
• Find out what others are doing to address similar problems: What specific efforts in your state or region are working? What are the ‘lessons learned’ from others’ experiences?
• Select specific environmental prevention strategies to be applied.

No two community coalitions are alike, and this step is when we begin to see particular divergence in structure and activity.  Coalitions often like to network to share ideas and feedback on programs, initiatives, and other efforts.  Information on networking opportunities, education and training opportunities, and other resources is available by returning to the Ohio Center for Coalition Excellence main page.

Access the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) primer on planning.

Continue to Step 4: Implement prevention strategies and infrastructure development