Nonprofit Mergers: An Implementation Plan

Abstract

This article delineates the lessons from four human service organizations that merged into two reconfigured nonprofit organizations. It incorporates experiences in which merger efforts were ineffective as well as successful. We endeavor to offer steps that can assist nonprofits in the merger process after the decision has been made to investigate and consider a merger. The findings offer a road map from a due diligence standpoint, a process of assessment, design, and strategy execution for the establishment of a merger process. It is designed to complement Gulati's (1998) social network theory, which delineates the identification of partners and the building alliances.

Keywords:

• alliance
• human service
• leadership
• merger
• nonprofit