“Strategic restructuring” brings to mind the old adage, “together we stand, divided we fall,” offering nonprofits the opportunity to leverage the talents of their own and other organizations by working together in an increasingly competitive environment.

		For more information about Partnership Options for Nonprofits, please visit our Strategic Restructuring Website, which includes an extensive collection of FAQs, case studies, articles, and other resources. Click here

Strategic restructuring refers to a continuum of partnerships - including but not limited to mergers, joint ventures, administrative consolidations, and joint programming - through which nonprofits strive to anticipate or respond to environmental threats and opportunities. La Piana Associates, through its foundation-sponsored Strategic Solutions project, is the nation's leading resource on all aspects of nonprofit strategic restructuring.

We have developed unique consultation services for organizations interested in considering a merger or other form of strategic alliance. We can provide:

• Informational presentations to nonprofit boards and staff regarding strategic restructuring options and the negotiation process
• Facilitation of the negotiation process, and assistance with specific tasks such as due diligence, financial analysis, and human resources analysis
• Marketing, public relations, and communications planning

After negotiations are complete, we can help you to fully implement your new partnership and lead you through the integration process. Such services include:

• Design of an overall integration plan and leadership structure
• Design of and/or training for the senior management team
• Board integration and development
• Cultural integration
• Integration of existing departments
• Financial and information systems integration
• Determination of benefits and salaries
• Facilitation of staff meetings
• Conflict resolution
• Web-based application design and integration of websites
• Implementation of marketing, public relations, and communications plans
• Business planning

La Piana Associates can also help foundations and public funders to understand the basics of strategic restructuring, and provide a framework to use in evaluating partnership options. We can suggest appropriate and helpful ways to encourage closer working relationships among grantees and/or contract agencies, promoting collaborative relationships and less duplication (an area where funder intervention often backfires).

Other ways we can be of assistance to funders include:

• helping groups of funders to develop joint ventures or other collaborative relationships;
• helping small foundations to gain administrative efficiencies through consolidation of services, freeing up trustees and staff to focus on grantmaking; and
• conducting research and making presentations at funder gatherings on topics ranging from organizational change to strategic restructuring.