A new article in Stanford Social Innovation Review by consultant David LaPiana reads in part:
"Mergers are risky business. They sometimes fail, although not so frequently as in the corporate world. They usually cost more than anticipated. They sometimes create more problems than they solve. And the problems that they allegedly solve—too many nonprofits, too small in size—may not be problems after all.Instead of reflexively pulling out the biggest gun in the partnership arsenal, nonprofits should consider a variety of ways of working together. After facilitating some 200 nonprofit restructurings (including mergers, administrative consolidations, and other partnerships), my colleagues and I have developed a few rules of thumb for when nonprofits should merge, when they should remain fully independent, and when they should undertake unions that lie between these two poles. We've also identified how funders can help—or hurt—the formation of nonprofit partnerships."
Read the fiull piece here
