If your CADCA member coalition has not participated in the 2016 Annual Survey of Coalitions, now is the time. Don’t miss the opportunity to be included in the largest survey of substance abuse prevention coalitions in the nation. The deadline to complete the survey is Friday.

And there are prizes — including 2017 National Leadership Forum Registration, and 1-year CADCA Coalition Memberships!

More than just another survey, the Annual Survey is a comprehensive web-based assessment conducted annually to learn more about coalitions across the country. CADCA uses data from the Annual Survey to advance the substance abuse prevention movement by bringing a national focus to the work of local coalitions, advocate for coalition funding in Congress and promote community coalitions as vehicles for comprehensive community change. Recently, CADCA wanted to examine how elements of a coalition’s organizational capacity impact a coalition’s ability to implement environmental strategies to create community change.

Using data from the 2015 Annual Survey, CADCA found that the most significant predictor of community changes is the degree to which a coalition engages in environmental strategies. Furthermore, the most important predictor of a coalition engaging in environmental strategies is their collaboration score, which takes into account both the number of active partners, and each partner’s level of involvement with the coalition. Other capacity indicators including total budget, number of paid staff, and number of community volunteers are also statistically significant, but at far lower levels. 

What does all this mean? CADCA concluded that the likelihood of coalition success in creating community-level changes in policy and practices increases as both the quantity and quality of coalition partnerships increase. Increased collaboration leads to strategies that produce positive outcomes. Coalitions hoping to achieve lower substance abuse rates will find greater success by expanding both the number of collaborators and deepening their involvement in implementing environmental strategies.

Your participation is vitally important to help CADCA continue to find and share important “lessons learned” like these! Results from our survey can mobilize our forces for collective action. Help us and increase your chances to win a prize! For more information on the Annual Survey, please visit https://cadca.org/annual-survey.

To receive your personalized link or ask any questions about the Annual Survey, please contact Survey@cadca.org or 1-800-54-CADCA, Ext. 262.