Coalitions help advocacy campaigns develop a stronger public image, bring together diverse resources and ideas, and avoid duplication of effort. They can link together groups working locally, statewide or nationally on an issue and give your opponents a way to negotiate with you. They also create exchanges between newer advocates and more experienced ones and provide moral support when things get tough. The most important decisions that a coalition makes are in the beginning. What goals will it set for itself? Who will it seek to include and who won't it include? What kind of structure will it create to facilitate its work? How the coalition answers these questions at the start will determine most of what will come later. MEANS can help with all of these, by framing the debate from how you pick leadership of a coalition to the kinds of organizations you partner with at the local and state levels.