Non-Profit Mergers

Building Capacity and Ensuring Delivery of the Mission

Just as mergers have been the recent defining business strategy for for-profit organizations, mergers of non-profit corporations and charities is becoming an ever increasing organizational option. Several major charities have implemented mergers to renew their focus, better position themselves to secure resources, and leverage operational assets. The American Cancer Society, Girl Scouts of the United States of America, The American Heart Association, and The American Red Cross have successfully completed or are actively engaged in merger initiatives.

Some mergers involve multiple geographical operations centers within a NPO.  These charities are finding that the organizational structures established in the early days of their existence, before the advent of our current level of communication and information systems, no longer efficiently serve their needs. Other mergers are between independent NPOss - organizations of like mission or similar constituencies – who merge to rapidly increase capacity.

There are a number of considerations including the technical aspects of merger, the human and cultural issues of volunteers and staff, and the structural reorganization that must be addressed in the planning of any merger. The McCormick Group has helped numerous organizations through every phase of the merger process including planning, strategy, implementation, technical management, volunteer preparedness, staff development, and best practice modeling.