Nonprofit GPS: Nonprofit Collaborations & Mergers

If merging is the answer, what is the question? Join Nonprofit GPS for a clear-headed look at the uses and effectiveness of this strategic option.

Most nonprofits live and work within rich ecosystems of peer organizations in which opportunities for collaboration regularly present themselves. Mergers are just one among many relationships that can be explored in the course of investigating solutions for a business model that may no longer be working. However, because the language of mergers often looms large in public forums, conversations at the board level and with funders can tend to revert to this one solution amongst many available options. In this session, we will explore research on the costs/benefits of nonprofit mergers, key elements for successful completion, and highlight alternative options in cases where a merger was initially considered but ultimately determined not to be the optimal course of action.  Among other things, participants will learn:

• What collaborative relationships nonprofits are most commonly exploring in 2026—and why
• Frameworks for matching collaborative arrangements to challenges common during this period of retrenchment
• The most common deal breakers for longer-term collaborations of various kinds

This session will present several cases that illustrate our central points and will include tools that you can use to think through the question of merging withing your own organization. It will also explore why the advice to merge continues to resurface during economic downturns, and how to avoid being drawn in by inflated promises.

This webinar is Free – Register Here.