This Meeting of the Committee to Form a Committee Is Hereby Called to Order
Buried in a contradictory* New York Times story yesterday on mergers among charities was a great nugget that reflects the uniqueness of nonprofits:
“Unlike mergers among corporations, which are normally negotiated among a few people who keep it quiet until all details are worked out, nonprofit mergers require any and all stakeholders — and there are many — to be involved, which is much more likely to make them go off the rails,” said Jeffrey D. Solomon, president of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies Inc.
Wow, is that exactly right. The drive to attain consensus and not step on toes is at once a blessing and a curse for nonprofits. It helps to create the collegial atmosphere that makes them such terrific places to work, but can hinder swift and decisive action that the organization needs to thrive. Keep that in mind the next time someone wants your favorite government/charity/university/foundation to be run “more like a business.”
*Actual sentences from the first quarter of the story:
- “This is a trend that is going to accelerate,” said Walt Shill, managing director of North American management consulting at Accenture.
- But experts in the field are not predicting a rash of mergers.
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POSTED IN: For-profit, Management, Strategy
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