Coalition and Collaboration Guidelines

COALITION and COLLABORATION GUIDELINES

(Adopted 01/12/2008, rev. 09/21/2024)

Mission: The League of Women Voters of New Mexico (LWVNM), a nonpartisan organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. As a membership organization, collaborating and sharing power to affect change is part of the foundation of what makes our vision of democracy work. In that spirit, the LWVNM shall seek to join and to participate actively in coalitions. So long as any advocacy or coalition partnerships are consistent with League principles, positions, and policies, the LWVNM shall consider its full participation in coalition-related activities according to the following guidelines.

Guidelines

1. Joining or withdrawing from a coalition shall be the decision of the LWVNM Board of Directors;

2. Participation is a temporary alliance that brings together organizations towards a limited and defined goal. The goal may be long- or short-term;

3. LWVNM shall join only coalitions that are nonpartisan;

4. The aims of any coalition LWVNM joins must be to educate the public, to share power, to give input and to hold decision makers accountable

5. The League shall join and participate in coalitions that are strictly limited to issue-related advocacy, education of the public, and/or facilitation;

6. A LWVNM member shall be approved by the full board as a designated representative to any coalition after the board has fully consented to join or participate in that coalition;

7. A board-designated coalition representative may serve in a leadership position in the coalition to which they have been approved;

8. The coalition designate, with the explicit consent of the President, shall be allowed to publicly speak only to the League-approved positions on the issue represented by coalition participation; and

9. To ensure the full effectiveness of LWVNM participation in any coalition, the coalition representative must be available to do the required work within a coalition, to report regularly to the Board on coalition activity and actively to engage LWVNM membership in that coalition-related activity;

10. Collaboration for LWVNM is a more informal way of participating in a specific project that will advance the League’s mission. A member wishing to use the League’s name in a collaboration with another group or groups must have written permission from at least two members of the Executive Committee.