What is a Coalition Developer?
A Coalition Developer in a Media to Disciple Making Movements (M2DMM) strategy is someone who is responsible for mobilizing and training a coalition or team for the face-to-face follow-up of media contacts
They could be the appropriate person to identify, approve, and train new Multiplier partners, both local and foreign. They might also facilitate coalition meetings, provide member care for the coalition, keep Multipliers accountable, and motivated toward the vision.
What are the Coalition Developer’s responsibilities?
Onboard New Coalition Members
As the number of seekers increase, so will your need for more Multipliers. To be a good steward of every media contact, each representing a precious soul, it is wise that you not make everyone a partner.
Potential partners need to have adequate language and cultural proficiency, vision alignment, commitment to each seeker, something to offer to the coalition as well as a personal need for it. A partnership only works when both parties need each other.
The onboarding process includes:
- vision casting
- an overview of the end-to-end media to movement strategy
- going over partnership documents
- making agreements for a mutual understanding so the coalition can collaborate toward the ultimate vision
Facilitate Coalition Meetings
The Coalition Developer makes sure coalition meetings are happening regularly and all coalition members are attending according to their partnership agreements. For a coalition that is spread out geographically, the developer would identify leaders in various regions to organize regional coalition meetings.
Coalition Meetings:
- help partners feel more connected to a cohesive group
- provide a mutual sense of ownership toward the vision
- build trust for Multipliers to share victories and carry one another’s burdens
- Multipliers meet quite a range of diverse contacts and can understand one another and what each other is going through.
- offer spiritual and emotional touch points
- are a place for additional training
- how to better connect with the media
- how to do better reporting
- how to bring on local partners
- how to use Disciple.Tools
- new best practices or innovations
- are opportunities to walk in the light and to ensure partners are on the same page with vision
- include group discussions to try to solve barriers that the coalition is commonly facing
- foster unity and group collaboration
Member Care
The Coalition Developer wants Multipliers to thrive and feel connected. Multipliers are not manufactured laborers but rather are breathing believers trying to make other believers and are fighting daily on the frontlines.
The Coalition Meetings help meet many member care needs, but the developer may need to get creative to meet one-on-one with Multipliers who work further away.
Consider creating a Signal or WhatsApp group for Multipliers to send encouragements and prayer requests.
Motivate
Being a Multiplier can get very discouraging. Some Multipliers have a natural apostolic gift and entrepreneurial spirit that is very much okay with “failing a bunch of times before succeeding.” However, there are those where this is extremely weight baring and exhausting. Multipliers need encouragement and reminded that “it will happen.”
Build Bridges
The Coalition Developer knows that not everyone can work together on everything. A coalition without mutual benefits for each member could be very damaging. The developer is often a facilitator of unity and ambassador of collaboration. Some potential partners may say no due to a lack of trust or communication. The developer is often a bridge builder between people and groups in a web of complicated and messy ministry dynamics. Multipliers are living at the tip of the spear in a spiritual war full of attack. Ugly conversations and feelings tend to poke their heads.
How does the Coalition Developer work with other roles?
Dispatcher: The Dispatcher informs the Coalition Developer about which coalition members are active or not active so they can be followed-up with. Also, they would share if Multipliers are handling the number of contacts well or are struggling with discouragement. They discuss together which Multipliers would be best matched with contacts, especially in field areas where there are fewer workers. Initially these two roles could easily be combined into one person, but as the coalition grows it might be good to bring on another person to specialize in one role or the other.
Visionary Leader: The Visionary Leader will help the Coalition Developer create a culture in which questions and answers are both welcomed because each can contribute to accelerating the work. The leader will also help the Coalition Developer realize that for the partnership to work, all parties involved have to feel a genuine need for others’ contributions.
Digital Filterer: Digital Filterers and the Coalition Developer would want to communicate regularly to consistently enhance the workflow of handing off contacts from online to offline.
Marketer: The Coalition Developer will want to stay up-to-date on current and upcoming media campaigns. These campaigns will affect the quality of contacts and their questions. The coalition meetings would be a great place to discuss this. Marketers will also need feedback about trends, roadblocks, and breakthroughs that are happening in the field.
Learn more about the roles needed to launch a Media to DMM strategy.
Who will make a good Coalition Developer?
Someone who:
- is trained in Disciple Making Movements strategy
- has bandwidth and discipline to handle several categories of relationships and keep close touch points with people
- not threatened by others’ success nor their questions and doubts
- is a coach, not the best at everything, but can help others be their best
- has the gift of encouragement
- is a networker and can identify people’s sweet spots
What questions do you have about the Coalition Developer role?
Very challenging role to play, developing coalition may face denominational / doctrinal barriers.