Philanthropy Front and Center-San Francisco

What Arts Organizations Need to Know about Partnerships, Collaborations, and Mergers

During Funding for Arts Month, Bob Harrington of La Piana Consulting, presented Popping the Partnership Question: What Arts Organizations Need to Know about Partnerships, Collaborations, and Mergers.  His session was so informative that we asked him to write a guest blog for us for the benefit of those who were not able to attend.

At a recent Foundation Center workshop, I described La Piana Consulting’s landmark research on nonprofit strategic restructuring and reminded nonprofit leaders that mergers are only one option of the spectrum of partnerships available to the sector.   For example, some organizations may find that an Administrative Consolidation might be a better fit. 

This case study is one in a series of snapshots about The Collaboration Prize 2009 Finalists and describes the Administrative Consolidation of the Hunter Museum of American Art, the Creative Discovery Museum, and the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Collaboration Prize is designed to inspire cooperation among nonprofit organizations. La Piana Consulting managed the design and implementation of the 2009 Collaboration Prize for the Lodestar Foundation.

“In 2000, two of Chattanooga’s most prominent museums, the Creative Discovery Museum (CDM) and the Hunter Museum of American Art, found themselves struggling to effectively serve their constituents while maximizing limited resources….For the museums, the solution came in the form of an administrative consolidation with the Tennessee Aquarium, which has saved the CDM and the Hunter nearly $4 million and generated over $1 million in revenues for the Aquarium since the consolidation was formalized in 2001.”  Read the case study. 

Listen! Funding for Arts Month: Frances Phillips of the Creative Work Fund

Frances Phillips, director of the Creative Work Fund and also senior program officer at the Walter & Elise Haas Fund, discusses the Creative Work Fund's current grantmaking programs, and provides tips for artists and arts organization representatives who plan to approach the Creative Work Fund for support.

Listen>>

Listen! David La Piana Discusses How Nonprofits Should Approach Strategic Restructuring

David La Piana, author of Strategic Restructuring: Mergers, Integrations and Alliances, recently sat down with Janet Camarena, Director, Foundation Center-San Francisco, to talk about best practices in how nonprofits should approach collaborations, mergers, and other types of partnerships. Listen>>

David La Piana, author of Strategic Restructuring: Mergers, Integrations and Alliances, recently sat down with Janet Camarena, Director, Foundation Center-San Francisco, to talk about best practices in how nonprofits should approach collaborations, mergers, and other types of partnerships. Listen>>

Two Special Events for Arts Organizations: On Partnerships and Real Estate Acquisition

We would like to draw your attention to two unique upcoming events for art organizations in celebration of Funding for Arts Month at the Foundation Center - San Francisco:

Thursday, October 8, 10am-12pm: Popping the Partnership Question: What Arts Organizations Need to Know about Partnerships, Collaborations, and Mergers  Bob Harrington of La Piana Consulting will describe the various partnership options available to nonprofit arts organizations, discuss the benefits and challenges of restructuring, and provide examples of arts organization partnerships. Register>>

Thursday, October 15, 3-5pm: The Upside of a Down Economy: Real Estate Acquisition for Arts Organizations Learn from the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, which has been taking advantage of the real estate market to expand. We will also feature advice from the Nonprofit Finance Fund, who will discuss best practices in planning your facility project and the impact this can have on an organization's mission, programs, structure, operations, fundraising and financial health. Register>>

Both of these programs will take place at The Foundation Center-San Francisco, 312 Sutter Street, San Francisco. Directions>>

Be sure to check out our October Funding for Arts Month Calendar for a complete list of upcoming free programs.

Thanks to Our Funding for Arts Month Sponsors: James Irvine Foundation and Walter & Elise Haas Fund.

Thursday, October 15, 3-5pm: The Upside of a Down Economy: Real Estate Acquisition for Arts Organizations Learn from the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, which has been taking advantage of the real estate market to expand. We will also feature advice from the Nonprofit Finance Fund, who will discuss best practices in planning your facility project and the impact this can have on an organization's mission, programs, structure, operations, fundraising and financial health. Register>>

Listen! Brad Whitehead Discusses Philanthropy's Role in Economic Competitiveness

Brad Whitehead discusses economic development grantmaking and shares information about Cleveland's Fund For Our Economic Future, where Mr. Whitehead serves as president. A philanthropic collaboration of more than 70 foundations and agencies, the Fund has taken on activities aimed at increasing economic competitiveness across a 16-county area. Mr. Whitehead provides insights from the Northeast Ohio experience that may be useful to other philanthropic communities that may be grappling with how to leverage finite resources in response to significantly altered economic landscapes. Listen>>

Find other Foundation Center podcasts here. You can also subscribe to Foundation Center podcasts on iTunes or get the RSS feed here.

Your Techie Skills Can Help Nonprofits

Idealist.org is partnering with Mozilla (the organization behind Firefox browser) on their first annual Mozilla Service Week, which will match thousands of techie volunteers around the globe with nonprofits in need of IT help, web or graphic design, network configuration, social media & online marketing, database management and much more.

Mozilla Service Week is happening September 14-21 and nonprofit organizations have already posted volunteer opportunities and there are nearly 9,000 volunteer hours donated so far! 

To volunteer or to register a nonprofit organization that could use some tech help, visit: http://mozillaservice.org/

Everyone can help by spreading the word.

SOCAP Recap

If you have been navigating the Social Capital Markets (SOCAP09) waters, then you know social impact assessment and developing metrics has been at the heart of many discussions at this year's conference. Everyone has an interest in this topic: social entrepreneurs, foundations, nonprofit organizations, policymakers, researchers, investors, financial strategists, media--everyone. And for many reasons, social impact assessment is difficult.

There are 2 impact measurement resources the Foundation Center and McKinsey & Company have been exhibiting at the SOCAP conference, respectively:

• Philanthropy IN/Sight: an interactive mapping that enables users to visualize data in ways that reveal patterns and relationships. Essentially it's a mash-up of our Grantmaker data, our Grants data, and Google Maps, which allows users to assess impact, funding needs, and effectiveness with layered demographic and other thematic data.
• Learning for Social Impact: a to-be-launched-later-this-fall web portal is part of McKinsey & Company's Social Sector's Office approach and commitment to sharing insights and innovations that can help advance social change. One of the deliverables included in the Learning for Social Impact portal will be a repository of 150+ social impact assessment tools available to the public for free. To find out when this database, white paper and e-learning handbook will be available, sign up here.

If you want to learn more about how to prove your organizational impact and increase your understanding of outcome thinking and management, then register for our upcoming class,Friday, September 25th.

 

Call for Entries: Oakland Open Proposals 2009-2010

Attention Oakland-based artists, in collaboration with local communities: Oakland Open Proposals 2009-2010 program will commission multiple public art works for Oakland's neighborhoods. Through Open Proposals, the City of Oakland Public Art Program seeks projects that relate specifically to Oakland and to the history and natural environment of Oakland's neighborhoods.

Total funding available: $100,000. (Applicants may request up to $10,000 for temporary projects and up to $14,000 for permanent projects.)

Application deadline: June 29, 2009.

Orientation meetings to be held on Thursday, May 28th and Tuesday, June 2nd, 6-7pm, at Oakland City Hall (Reservations required--to RSVP please call 510.238.4949).

For full details, including workshops and the application process, please visit Oakland Open Proposals official Call for Entries [PDF].

From the Answer Desk: What do I need to know about collaboration and other kinds of strategic alliances?

A: In the current economic climate, nonprofit organizations are being urged now more than ever to work together in new and creative ways. Why?

• Demand for services is up along with competition for financial resources, making the drive towards efficiency increasingly important.
• Duplication of services is viewed as wasteful.
• Strategic alliances, like collaboration, are equated with cost-savings.  
• The complex issues that nonprofits address are presenting themselves on a grand scale, calling for scaled-up solutions.  

Gaining a basic understanding of the types of strategic alliances is a good first step in determining the fit for your organization. There’s general agreement that the types of strategic alliances follow a continuum, from those at one end that are informal to those at the other end that require high levels of intensity, complexity, and formality. The following types are based loosely on the work of Dr. John Yankey, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor, Case Western Reserve University:

• Endorsement: Providing approval or support of a concept or action already conceptualized or completed by another organization (letters of support).
• Co-sponsorship: When two or more organizations share (although not always equally) in the offering of a particular program or service. 
• Affiliation: A loosely connected system of two or more organizations with a similar interest(s).
• Federation/Association: An membership alliance of organizations established to centralize common functions. 
• Coalition: An alliance of independent organizations that usually share a political or social change goal. 
• Consortium: An alliance of organizations and individuals representing customers, service providers, and other agencies who identify themselves with a specific community, neighborhood or domain. 
• Network: An alliance of organizations that share resources for mutual benefit such as service provision. 
• Joint Venture: A legally formed alliance in which member organizations maintain joint ownership – (generally through a joint governance board) to carry out specific tasks or provide specific services. 
• Acquisition: An alliance in which an organization acquires a program or service previously administered by another organization.
• Divestiture: When one organization "spins off" a program or service to another organization.
• Merger: When one organization is totally absorbed by another.
• Consolidation: When two organizations combine to form an entirely new organization.

The Fieldstone Nonprofit Guide to Forming Alliances uses these categories, based on the work of Michael Winer and Karen Ray (Collaboration Handbook) and David LaPiana (Nonprofit Mergers Workbook).

• Cooperation: Informal arrangements and relationships with no change in organizational structure of participating entities.
• Coordination: More formal arrangements and relationships that focus on specific programs or projects and are accompanied by plans and a shared mission.
• Collaboration: Longer-term, formal arrangements and relationships where separate organizations are brought into a new structure with a shared mission.
• Merger: Arrangement in which two organizations become one.

The selected resources below will help you to learn more and understand the costs and benefits of strategic alliances.

Collaboration- Fieldstone Alliance
Provides free access to useful articles about and tools for planning nonprofit collaborations.

Collaboration Strategies for Nonprofit Organizations- curtishaxter.com
This article briefly examines the preliminary questions that all nonprofit organizations should address before any collaborative effort, then outlines combination strategies available to nonprofits.

Managing Collaboration Risks - Nonprofits’ Insurance Alliance of California
Explores typical collaborative relationships that nonprofits engage in and how to manage or avoid the risks associated with them. Published in 2002. [PDF]

The Reality Underneath the Buzz of Partnerships - Stanford Social Innovation Review
Article shares findings from a study of nonprofit partnerships and examines why most did not fulfill participants' expectations. Published in Spring 2005.

The following print publications can be found at the Foundation Center's library:

Forming Alliances: Working Together to Achieve Mutual Goals by Linda Hoskins and Emil Angelica.
Uniting for Survival by Don Haider.
Time to Merge? Fundraising and Financial Implications by Priscilla Hung.

Do you still have questions? Ask us.

(This post is from Katie Artzner, the Foundation Center's Online Librarian.) 

The Power of Partnership featuring David La Piana

Last night as part of the Power of Partnership series, the Foundation Center, in partnership with the Craigslist Foundation, Northern California Grantmakers, and CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, featured David La Piana presenting on the spectrum of possibilities and considerations involved in partnerships between nonprofit organizations. 

For those who were not able to attend, I thought I'd share some of the highlights of the session.  First, La Piana reviewed the many types of partnership that move on a continuum from simple program collaboration to full "strategic restructuring," such as mergers.  Before considering any of them, he suggested that it is important to first clarify what would be the added value to your constituency and/or to how you do business.  Clarity there will help to shape what kinds of partnership you actually pursue.  It may be that all you need to do is "merge all the boring stuff" like the human resources or it may be that a full integration is what will help the organization to grow.  Either way, La Piana recommends that none of this wait until you are in a financial crisis.  Partnership should be about expanding and growing.

Obviously, none of this can happen unless your organization is clear about its mission. That said, La Piana pointed out that when thinking about your mission in the context of partnership it is important not to get bogged down in WHAT you do, but to be more flexible about WHY you do it. 

 

When exploring the possibility of partnership, La Piana reiterated several times that it all hinges on *trust*.  No one has to like each other but the process must be transparent so that no one feels threatened.  

 

If strategic restructuring is the goal, it is important to also consider what the integration of two organizations will look like on a systematic level.  While foundations are often interested in supporting this type of work, it is important that you account for the system upgrades that are likely to be necessary, such as new computers or an accounting system that contain both organization's data.  These are laborious endeavors and must be factored into the planning for a smooth transition to take place.

 

One final thought to quell the nerves of staff members who may be involved in a merger.  La Piana said after hundreds of mergers in which he has been involved, unlike the for profit sector, generally speaking, in the nonprofit sector often the only person to lose their job is the Executive Director.  Now that is something to chew on...

(Posted by C. Davis Fischer, Training Coordinator, Foundation Center-San Francisco)