I am interested in starting a non- profit one that would be targeted at professionals who are looking for work and have been laid off but are not having success with outplacement firms. I want to incorporate a “transformation approach” that looks to prepare the professional candidate with the tools necessary to achieve in our current climate. Can you guide me in the right direction and perhaps forward me information that might be of assistance?
My organization, Volunteer Memphis, approached the local Hands On affiliate and merged 1/1/07. A few months later, our national partners Points of Light and Hands On announced merger talks. We are now the “one stop shop” for volunteerism in the Memphis area and will change our name to Volunteer Mid-South in January of 2009. The merger was not without difficulty, but was supported by the local foundations and corporate funders. The funding came after we announced the merger and helped us with the things we needed to do to become one, more effective, organization - which included a move to new quarters. I know now that I seriously underestimated the time that would take. We’re finally in new space and poised to announce the new name, but still have some board members from the merged board who are still attached to projects that are not paying their way. They can’t seem to understand that now the community has more choices when they support us financially so they may not choose projects they formerly supported. We did see a drop in funding from people who formerly supported both organizations - they did not stay at the combined level but dropped to a lower level of funding - even though costs when up for the merged organization - despite the economies of combining forces.
Definitely, this issue about how much time it takes to consolidate organizations is way under-estimated; that is very common in mergers and I think can be addressed by incorporating strategic planning directly into the merger planning process which is something that LaPiana and Associates advocates and which makes a lot of sense to me. Nonprofits are still learning how to do this merger process and there has been very little documentation of the mergers that happen which is something that I’m hoping will be somewhat rectified by the Lodestar Foundation database when it is up and running next spring. In terms of donors and board members, I would say that in the case of my own organization’s merger (see my blog http://www.missionplusstrategy.com for that story), it takes at least two years for the board members from the consolidating entity to fully get on board and for donors to get back to where they were prior to the merger so in your case it’s a problem of the merger process still being somewhat early for them which is why they are not fully on board. Have some patience and I predict that if they loved the former entities, they will come to view the new entity with respect, too.
COMMENTS
BY Troy Green
ON December 19, 2008 12:52 PM
I am interested in starting a non- profit one that would be targeted at professionals who are looking for work and have been laid off but are not having success with outplacement firms. I want to incorporate a “transformation approach” that looks to prepare the professional candidate with the tools necessary to achieve in our current climate. Can you guide me in the right direction and perhaps forward me information that might be of assistance?
BY Jean Butzen
ON December 19, 2008 03:23 PM
Hi Troy,
I really can’t help you with that question. Perhaps other readers could make suggestions?
BY Mark Dean
ON December 22, 2008 03:28 PM
My organization, Volunteer Memphis, approached the local Hands On affiliate and merged 1/1/07. A few months later, our national partners Points of Light and Hands On announced merger talks. We are now the “one stop shop” for volunteerism in the Memphis area and will change our name to Volunteer Mid-South in January of 2009. The merger was not without difficulty, but was supported by the local foundations and corporate funders. The funding came after we announced the merger and helped us with the things we needed to do to become one, more effective, organization - which included a move to new quarters. I know now that I seriously underestimated the time that would take. We’re finally in new space and poised to announce the new name, but still have some board members from the merged board who are still attached to projects that are not paying their way. They can’t seem to understand that now the community has more choices when they support us financially so they may not choose projects they formerly supported. We did see a drop in funding from people who formerly supported both organizations - they did not stay at the combined level but dropped to a lower level of funding - even though costs when up for the merged organization - despite the economies of combining forces.
BY Jean Butzen
ON December 31, 2008 02:18 PM
Definitely, this issue about how much time it takes to consolidate organizations is way under-estimated; that is very common in mergers and I think can be addressed by incorporating strategic planning directly into the merger planning process which is something that LaPiana and Associates advocates and which makes a lot of sense to me. Nonprofits are still learning how to do this merger process and there has been very little documentation of the mergers that happen which is something that I’m hoping will be somewhat rectified by the Lodestar Foundation database when it is up and running next spring. In terms of donors and board members, I would say that in the case of my own organization’s merger (see my blog http://www.missionplusstrategy.com for that story), it takes at least two years for the board members from the consolidating entity to fully get on board and for donors to get back to where they were prior to the merger so in your case it’s a problem of the merger process still being somewhat early for them which is why they are not fully on board. Have some patience and I predict that if they loved the former entities, they will come to view the new entity with respect, too.