Once-Robust Charity Sector Hit With Mergers, Closings (WSJ)

Article from the Wall Street Journal describing how nonprofits across the nation are closing and merging... 

"We've had funding cut after funding cut, and we never know when the next shoe is going to drop," says May Shields, Hearth's chief operating officer.

The story is the same across the country. The once-booming nonprofit sector is in the midst of a shakeout, leaving many Americans without services and culling weak groups from the strong. Hit by a drop in donations and government funding in the wake of a deep recession, nonprofits—from arts councils to food banks—are undergoing a painful restructuring, including mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, cutbacks and closings.

"Like in the animal kingdom, at some point, the weaker organizations will not be able to survive," says Diana Aviv, chief executive of Independent Sector, a coalition of 600 nonprofits.