What+is+the+difference+between+coalitions+and+networks?


 * //What’s the difference between coalitions and networks? What’s the spectrum of network organizing structures?//**

In many cases, the term ‘network’ is used as a new frame for an old organizing structure, like a coalition or an alliance. Coalitions are a kind of network, as are a number of other organizing structures that cover a spectrum from more to less decentralized. What’s new is the application of what we know about the nature of healthy networks to old forms, like coalitions.

The spectrum of organizing structures includes:

//Networks inside organizations//. These could be informal relationships or formal ties, like connections between grantmakers working on the same program.

//Networks cultivated by an organization.// These could be informal networks, like a set of relationships with thought leaders and activists in a given field, or formal networks like a membership network such as the ACLU or Sierra Club.

//Coalitions and alliances//. These are tight networks in which most everyone is connected to everyone else This is a useful form for a group of people or organizations working closely together on a shared goal, like a community of practice, an artists’ collective or a tightly coordinated advocacy coalition.

//Multi-hub networks//. These networks are made up of multiple hubs connected together. This is the form of many affiliate models, like Habitat for Humanity. It’s also a good form for tapping into hard to access, localized knowledge, like Global Greengrants’ network of local advisors who share local knowledge and help them channel funds to small grantees they wouldn’t otherwise be able to access.

//Networks of networks//. Networks of networks are complex messy webs of relationships with dense relationships at the core and less density around the periphery, like the 2008 Obama campaign with its tightly orchestrated formal campaign at the center and local and self-organized action going on around the edges.