Resources for Building, Maintaining, and Sustaining Immunization Coalitions
Explore AIM’s Immunization Coalition Toolkit, a comprehensive resource that details the structure and scope of current immunization coalitions and provides tools and strategies to build, improve, or support immunization coalitions.
The toolkit is organized into the following sections:
- Reports: A short overview of the background of the project, then below is a landscape analysis and survey report that provide an overview of current immunization coalitions, highlighting their structures, strategies, and impact
- Steps to Success: A quick start guide to creating and maintaining an immunization coalition
- Tip Sheets: Informational tools on common coalition-building topics, such as funding, relationship-building, and coalition activities
- Case Studies: Stories from four successful coalitions (California, South Dakota, Kansas, and Pennsylvania) that summarize their roles, activities, funding sources, successes, and challenges
- Operational Examples: Operational documents from existing coalitions, including a sample memorandum of understanding, scope of work, and bylaws
- Coalition Map: An interactive map that allows you to sort and explore existing immunization coalitions
Click through the tabs below to learn more about each topic.
Background
Immunization programs and immunization coalitions have a long history of working together. The COVID-19 pandemic response truly highlighted the importance of these partnerships, especially in increasing vaccine confidence and uptake. Immunization program managers have worked with coalitions to achieve common goals such as identifying immunization challenges, prioritizing community needs, building trust, coordinating outreach, implementing strategies, and engaging efforts to bring about system and policy changes.
Immunization coalitions are not governed by the same regulations, policies, structure, and leadership as health departments. Therefore, they have greater reach and flexibility in terms of membership, funding, social media efforts, and community engagement. Moreover, coalitions can drive immunization advocacy initiatives and mobilize their members, partners, and the wider community to either support or oppose local or state policies, legislation, and system changes.
In 2024, the Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) sought to identify key standards and best practices for immunization program/coalition relationships by understanding the landscape of existing collaboration between immunization programs and coalitions and how those relationships are structured and leveraged. To accomplish this, AIM contracted Karna, LLC to conduct formative research, which included:
- A landscape analysis of existing coalition resources
- A listening session with immunization coalitions and program managers
- A needs assessment survey with immunization coalitions and program managers
Based on the results of this research, AIM developed resources and tools for immunization program managers and coalitions that support building, maintaining, and sustaining strong immunization coalitions.
Survey Results and Landscape Analysis
These resources provide a comprehensive overview of immunization coalitions, highlighting their structures, strategies, and impact .
Starting and Sustaining Immunization Coalitions: Essential steps for establishing and maintaining coalitions
Steps to Success: Starting and Sustaining Immunization Coalitions
A quick start guide that is intended to support immunization programs (IPs), vaccine champions, or any group or individual who wants to start an immunization coalition. Immunization programs or other champions may use these ideas as a jumping off point when establishing or reestablishing their coalition.
These resources contain helpful information on common coalition-building topics such as funding, relationship-building, and coalition activities.
Stories from four successful coalitions (California, South Dakota, Kansas, and Pennsylvania) that summarize their roles, activities, funding sources, successes, and challenges.
Sample operational documents from existing coalitions, including a memorandum of understanding, scope of work, and bylaws. These resources are shared with permission from both the coalition and the immunization program.
Below is an interactive map of current National Network of Immunization Coalitions member coalitions. Identify and filter coalitions by jurisdiction or focus area. Hover over a coalition member dot for quick facts, then click on the dot to visit the coalition’s website and learn more.
Funding Acknowledgement
This toolkit was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $2,067,500.00 with 100 percent funded by CDC. The contents of this report reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC, or the U.S. Government.