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The Nonprofit Mergers Workbook, Part I: The Leader's Guide to Considering, Negotiating, and Executing a Merger

http://www.fieldstonealliance.org/

Nonprofit mergers are on the rise as executive directors and board members discover the advantages: comprehensive service delivery, better finances, more powerful fundraising, and increased market share, to name but a few. Bottom line: mergers make more mission possible. But nonprofit leaders often dread the thought.

David La Piana’s first book — The Nonprofit Mergers Workbook Part I: The Leader's Guide to Considering, Negotiating, and Executing a Merger — shows that merger is not a last ditch survival move but an important strategic tool for organizations focused on doing their best for their community. From assessing reasons and readiness, to finding a partner, to negotiating the best path, to budgeting and implementation, The Workbook Part I guides you through the maze of options with a steady hand. Based on experience with more than sixty mergers, this handbook is the perfect starting point for any nonprofit exploring a possible merger—and a basic resource for all nonprofit managers. You’ll find:

How to decide what kind of structure — from collaboration to merger — meets your goals
How to know your own motivation and keep your mission forefront
What kind of merger best fits your goals, structure, and financial situation
How to seek merger partners and objectively assess the pros and cons of each
How to manage the board’s essential role in merger considerations
How to exercise due diligence and write the merger agreement
How to deal with the rumor mill
What you can do yourself, when to call in attorneys and consultants, and how to select them
Typical roadblocks and how to beat them
How to move past old history and build new traditions as you integrate staff, management, boards, systems, and corporate cultures
How to budget for and raise funds to implement the merger
And much more!

Full merger case studies, decision trees, twenty-two worksheets, checklists, tips, milestones, an extensive resource section and many samples — including the minutes of a completed merger negotiation — give you concrete assistance with your own merger plans and implementation. A special chapter written for nonprofit organizational consultants explains their roles and responsibilities in assisting clients interested in merger.

Due Diligence Done Well: A Guide for Grantmakers

Article: Strategic Restructuring for Community Clinics: Options and Examples

Models of Strategic Restructuring Case Study: Crittenton Women's Union Merger

Reports and Monographs

Home » Research + Publications » Publications » Reports and Monographs » The Human Services Strategic Restructuring Pilot: Transforming Nonprofits in Cuyahoga County, Ohio

img_pub_cvr_humanservices_ohio Funded by the Deaconess Community Foundation and St. Luke's Foundation, this summary report, by Heather Gowdy, Jo DeBolt, and Melissa Mendes Campos, describes the Human Services Strategic Restructuring Pilot Project in Cuyahoga County. The pilot project brought together a group of 18 grantmaker organizations that were motivated by a common desire to offer struggling nonprofit with support "beyond a grant check." Their initiative attracted leaders from 76 nonprofits throughout the county. The year-long pilot project provided 17 organizations with readiness assessments and helped 8 organizations develop restructuring plans, culminating in four nonprofit restructurings (including a program transfer, two parent-subsidiary relationships, and a common board and management structure). This summary describes the powerful scalable impact of collaboration and how a funder initiative can serve to transform the social sector. Download the PDF.

More Reports and Monographs

Strategic Restructuring for Nonprofit Organizations: Mergers, Integrations, and Alliances

In 1999, La Piana Associates, in collaboration with the Chapin Hall Center for Children (a policy research institution at the University of Chicago ), conducted the largest ever national study on strategic restructuring in the nonprofit sector. The study was funded by the Nonprofit Sector Research Fund of the Aspen Institute and the Lilly Endowment.

Phase II of the national study was completed in 2002. It involves in-depth case studies of six strategic restructuring partnerships, as well as a survey of a random sample of nonprofits in two different cities to look at the prevalence of strategic restructuring in those areas. In addition, the research team conducted interviews with 20 national leaders in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector, asking them to share their reflections on the implications of the preliminary results for the future of the sector.

The findings of this research are included in a book — Strategic Restructuring for Nonprofit Organizations: Mergers, Integrations, and Alliances — by Amelia Kohm and David La Piana, published by Praeger Publishers in November 2003. The book provides nonprofit managers, board members, consultants, and foundation executives with research-based information to use in making tough decisions about whether and how to pursue a range of organizational partnerships — from jointly managed programs and consolidated administrative functions, to full-scale mergers.

Strategic Restructuring for Nonprofit Organizations is available for purchase at Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com

Download a PDF copy of the Phase 1 report from the Chapin Hall Center for Children website http://www.chapinhall.org

In Search of Strategic Solutions: A Funders Briefing on Nonprofit Strategic Restructuring

After five years of research, training, and consulting in the area of strategic restructuring, Strategic Solutions and Chapin Hall Center for Children, a policy research center at the University of Chicago, offer In Search of Strategic Solutions: A Funders Briefing on Nonprofit Strategic Restructuring, written by David La Piana and Amelia Kohm, and published by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) in January 2003.

This report revisits the questions first posed in Beyond Collaboration, and addresses them by drawing on findings from our recent national study on strategic restructuring, as well as learnings from other Strategic Solutions research and consulting activities.

Tool for Assessing Startup Nonprofits: A due diligence supplement for grantmakers

Written by David La Piana, Liza Culick, Kristen Godard, and Bill Coy and published by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations in June 2003 this tool is designed for use by funders assessing a grant application from a startup nonprofit. It includes suggested interview questions and worksheets to supplement funders’ regular due diligence of startup organizations.

This case study is one in a series of snapshots about The Collaboration Prize 2009 Finalists. Written by Melissa Mendes Campos, with Jo DeBolt and Robert Harrington, this resource describes the merger of Crittenton, Inc. and The Women's Union, into Crittenton Women's Union. The Collaboration Prize is designed to inspire cooperation among nonprofit organizations. La Piana Consulting managed the design and implementation of the 2009 Collaboration Prize for the Lodestar Foundation.

Research and Publications

"I applaud La Piana's recognition that it is time for nonprofits to bring the notion of competition out of the closet."
- Pat Jones, Senior Vice President, Easter Seals

Strong organizational capacity can’t be imported or taught; it has to be built over time by nurturing and encouraging the organization’s strengths over its weaknesses....

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