I collect lots of stories from the web about nonprofits that have successfully completed mergers, but only rarely do I find stories about two nonprofits that fail so miserably at a merger attempt that it makes the news. One such case came to my attention last month and makes for a great opportunity to talk about all the reasons people leave their merger partner.
Hello! It is snowing quite heavily here in the Midwest as I write this to you the morning after Super-Duper Tuesday. The trees outside my window are sagging with the weight of the wet snow...
As you know, I like to share poems that help restore the spirit for people who are doing the difficult work in the nonprofit sector. Here is a favorite writing that was given to me by a former board chair when I left a leadership position. I hope it brings you the same joy as it has brought me.
One of the best ways to learn about nonprofit mergers is to read about other people's experiences. One very thoughtful piece I have recently read is called From Corner Cafe to Corporation: The Inspiration Corporation Merger Experience, which highlights the benefits of a merger as a strategy for growth.
"Let's go for two, Clara Miller," I said to myself, paraphrasing the famous words of legendary Cubs first baseman Ernie Banks. Ms. Miller, CEO of the Nonprofit Finance Fund and featured speaker at a luncheon sponsored by the Donors' Forum of Illinois, was advocating for one change: foundations should stop funding line items on nonprofit budgets and start funding results. I agreed with Ms. Miller but that one change wasn't enough. A second change she could have added was: foundations should start funding alternative strategies to increase results.
After leading a wonderful nonprofit
organization for almost 19 years, I concluded that in order to grow, we would
need to merge with a larger nonprofit. That merger between Lakefront Supportive
Housing and Mercy Housing, Inc., was completed in December 2005. A press release about the merger is found here (in Microsoft Word format).
I made the
decision to leave Lakefront and the merged entity before we concluded the
