By visualphotos.com

In the nonprofit world, collaboration is more than just a kumbayah, let’s all hold hands and get along concept. It is critical to business success, a logical way to fill gaps in organizational capability, and sometimes even a long-term survival strategy. As such, we believe in a robust, well-defined, and analytical approach to collaboration, and even a differentiation between regular-old collaboration and “strategic collaboration.”

The Greenlights Team recently had the privilege of leading a group of 48 Applied Materials Foundation grantee nonprofits in a full-day “Advancement Academy” focused on collaborative learning and problem-solving, and centered around the concept of strategic collaboration and nonprofit mergers. As a foundation that is on the cutting edge of engaging their grantees in more than just a grantor-grantee relationship, Applied Materials now regularly convenes their Austin-based nonprofit partners to encourage learning, collaboration, and networking, even though their grantees work in fields as broad as education, basic needs, and the arts.

To begin the day, Greenlights laid out a central definition of “strategic collaboration” to distinguish the concept from a more common view of the term. We defined a collaboration to be truly strategic when it involves…

• Two or more organizations…
• working together in a meaningful, well-defined, and deliberate manner…
• by investing time, energy, and resources…
• to accomplish a set of shared objectives…
• that are mutually beneficial to advancing the missions of the organizations involved, and…
• that are more likely to be achieved together than alone.

We further laid out the Greenlights Collaboration Continuum, a construct that allows nonprofits to plot existing or potential collaborations on a scale ranging from less intensive collaborations to the most intensive form of collaboration, outright merger.

We have found at Greenlights, having been contracted by nonprofits to lead many nonprofit merger and strategic collaboration initiatives, that meaningful collaboration takes not just a more analytical approach than is typically afforded but also a different form of organizational leadership. Nonprofit executive leaders and boards who are leading their organizations in long-term sustainable ways are often able to embrace strategic collaboration as a core business practice, to promote it on the organization’s regular discussion and evaluation agenda, and to see it not as a distraction or something that signals weakness, but rather as a source of strength for the organization.

Greenlights was thrilled to be able to partner with Applied Materials in this way and, even more so, we were very encouraged by the high level of engagement by and very positive feedback from the many nonprofit leaders who attended this year’s Advancement Academy and who are now even better equipped to lead their organizations in a more strategic, more collaborative manner.

Greenlights Advancement Academy for Applied Materials Foundation Grantees

Each year, Greenlights shines a bright spotlight on model nonprofits and programs at the Nonprofit Excellence Awards, but this year we’ll also give a shout out to the amazing people who work tirelessly behind the scenes of nonprofit success!  We’re shaking things up with new organizational categories and a chance to nominate a rock star nonprofit staffer!  Check out the nomination guidelines and nominate today or by May 29, 2012 at 5PM!

Nonprofit Excellence Award honorees receive a $1,000 grant award and will be recognized the evening of September 20, 2012 at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center in Austin, Texas at the Texas Nonprofit Awards alongside OneStar Foundation’s Governor’s Volunteer Awards.  The event takes place on the evening of the first day of the Texas Nonprofit Summit, the premier nonprofit management conference for the state of Texas.

Nonprofit Excellence Awards celebrate Central Texas nonprofit organizations and individuals driving social change through exemplary achievements in the categories of:

Collaboration
The Collaboration Award highlights a successful partnership that a nonprofit has made with another nonprofit, business, foundation, or other entity that has resulted in improved impact and has achieved greater outcomes for both organizations because of their unique association. 

NEW!  Impact
The Impact Award honors a nonprofit organization, or one of its programs, whose notable performance and delivery to the community sets a high standard of quality and impact.  This organization can demonstrate ways in which it continually seeks to measure and improve impact.

NEW!  Innovation & Learning
The Innovation & Learning Award honors a nonprofit organization whose creation and application of new approaches or learning (from a workshop, conference, consulting engagement, book, etc.) to its work has advanced the organization and serves as a model for other nonprofits.  This new practice or approach is being, or has been, incorporated into the fabric of the organization and makes an affirmative enhancement to the operation or core activities of its mission.

NEW!  Board Excellence
The Board Excellence Award recognizes an organization for its success in fostering an engaged and effective board.  This organization can demonstrate the board’s direct linkage to the overall success of the organization, or in areas such as fundraising, advocacy, strategic planning, successful leadership transitions, etc.

NEW!  Nonprofit Leader of the Year
The Nonprofit Leader of the Year Award celebrates a nonprofit staff member whose masterful achievements in their role have directly benefited the organization’s operating capacity and impact in the community.  Individuals from all levels of employment are considered.

2011 Winners:

(pictured left to right)

Collaboration
CLEAN Air Force of Central Texas

Innovation
Capital Area Food Bank of Texas

Learning in Action
Austin Disaster Relief Network

Service Excellence
People’s Community Clinic

Special Recognition
Austin Classical Guitar Society

Check out the nomination guidelines and nominate today or by May 29, 2012 at 5PM!  Questions?  Contact Kate Smallwood at kates@greenlights.org.

Guest post by Jack Nokes, Member of Greenlights’ Interim Executive Director Pool

AMOA-Arthouse at Laguna Gloria, where Jack Nokes is currently Interim Executive Director

Boards can be at their best (and worst) when hiring a new Executive Director.  Typically, this is the most important decision a board will make. It requires discernment, judgment, patience, and big-picture vision. If a board makes the right decision, the new leader can transform the nonprofit into an effective sustainable force in the community. A wrong decision can be a setback for the organization, continuing a cycle of struggle and (possibly) resulting in another search in the next few years.

The decision to consider merging with another nonprofit with a similar and/or overlapping mission is another momentous board decision. Get it right, and it could mean organizational efficiencies, rejuvenation, and a path to sustainability. On the other hand, a wrong decision could damage the effectiveness—and even existence—of both entities considering merger.

I recently went through a merger process as an Interim Executive Director for one of the merging parties, and I would like to relate some of my experiences and lessons learned from the vantage point of an Interim ED.

Board Leadership Matters

Perhaps the most important key to the merger I experienced was that both board presidents saw the potential benefits of a merger, were committed to the process, and stayed in constant communication. Despite setbacks and fundamental disagreements between the parties, these leaders were dedicated to doing the process right, and they kept “their eyes on the prize” throughout the process. Without their vision and commitment of an enormous amount of time, it might not have happened. However, they did not ramrod the merger through, but instead were both very careful to let the process work, keep their boards informed in a transparent manner, and include every member of their respective boards in the important decisions.

Mergers are Not for Beginners

Typically, key staff and board members will not have had any experience with mergers. Therefore, bringing in experienced consultants can play a key, possibly determinative role. As an Interim ED without merger experience, I had to respect the preferences of the leaders of my board, but I also was there to provide my best advice. In this case, my advice was to meet with Greenlights President and Executive Director Matt Kouri, who has substantial merger experience. Matt’s initial advice on how to proceed was spot on, and I was convinced that not only did we need a skilled facilitator for our merger exploration process, but also Greenlights was the right facilitator to use. Matt will be the first to say that having a facilitator does not ensure that a merger will succeed (and he has facilitated an unsuccessful one), but not having a facilitator may make failure more likely. Early in the process, I called a few colleagues who had been through mergers and I found that the most likely predictor of an unsuccessful attempt at merger was the lack of a facilitator.

Mergers are Complex and Cannot be Rushed

In our initial talks with Matt, this merger appeared to be such a “no-brainer” that our board and staff leaders (including me) felt that a merger could be accomplished in four months. Matt cautioned us that our timeframe was unrealistic, and that six or more months would be required. In our agreement with Matt, we compromised on five months, but Matt was right … it took about seven. Why does it take so long? After all, corporate mergers can be done in six weeks or less. Whereas corporate mergers are typically straightforward takeovers (i.e., the corporation with the most money or leverage does the taking over), nonprofit mergers are more complicated and time-consuming. While financial issues are one important aspect of a nonprofit merger, there are a number of other key issues involving mission, staff leadership, audience, programs, funders, events, etc. Whereas corporate boards normally delegate much of the responsibility and authority to a CEO, nonprofit boards are much more involved. Since these are not financial takeover situations, the nonprofit board has the final say on a merger. In short, the decisions and the decision-making process are more complicated in a nonprofit situation.

Due Diligence Matters; Trust But Verify

The “due diligence” phase of the merger process usually takes place after the groups have decided to merge but before the formal documents are signed. While most of the fundamental reasons to merge are fairly easy to discern early on, the details can be devilish. The due diligence process involves opening up the respective organizations’ financial books as well as legal and operational documents, a good old fashioned Ross Perot “look under the hood.” You hope that everything is as it appears to be, but sometimes you can find surprises. For instance, in a merger of two established visual arts organizations, one would think that there would be a reasonable amount of overlap in their memberships. However, when we merged and purged the mailing lists, we discovered that 4.25% of the members belonged to each group. This surprising fact was not anywhere near a “deal-killer,” but it certainly gave us a sense of what a challenge (and opportunity) it would be to develop programming for a merged institution that would attract two very different audiences.

The above are just a few of the lessons learned from going through a six month merger process.  It was a lot of work, but in the end, the operational efficiencies, addressing the critical needs of both institutions, and the ultimate benefits to the community made the process all worthwhile.

View all the blog posts from our Interim ED series. If you have any questions or would like more information about Greenlights’ Interim Executive Director Program or succession planning, please contact Tara Levy.

Today, on Valentine’s Day, heart-shaped chocolates, bundles of pink tulips and singing telegrams abound, but Greenlights’ Business Partners have something sweet to share all year-round…  deals for our members!

Last year, Greenlights launched its Business Partner Program in an effort to help lower costs and increase access to the products and services nonprofits need. We’re happy to report that the list of partners and services keeps growing! Before you make your next purchase, be sure to check out the special deals and discounts offered by our partners as they often have just what you need, for less!

No matter what’s on your shopping list, our Business Partners have you covered:

Event Services

Benefit auctioneer (FUNauctions)

Financial Services

Financial planning, audit and tax expertise (Allman & Associates, Maxwell Locke & Ritter, Padgett Stratemann & Co., PMB Helin Donovan LLP, and Raymond James & Associates)

Online credit card and ACH payment processing (AffiniPay)

Fund accounting software (Sage)

Bookkeeping and back-office support (Easy Office)

Banking (University Federal Credit Union)

HR, Insurance & Legal

HR systems, payroll processing and background checks (ADP)

Talent recruitment (campus2careers)

Retirement and cafeteria plans (Benefit Systems, Inc.)

Health benefits plan (TexHealth Central Texas)

Directors and Officers Liability Insurance (Wortham Insurance & Risk Management)

Legal advise (Texas Legal Protection Plan)

Information Technology

Technology consultant (IT Freedom, KELL Partners, and Nonprofit R+D)

Database and web application expertise (Prelude Interactive)

Marketing & Communications

Email marketing software (Emma)

Marketing/PR services (Morris Ink Advertising Agency)

Video production (One Story Productions)

Professional Development

Professional Seminars (UT Austin’s Program in the Human Dimensions of Organizations)

Special discounts and deals offered by our Business Partners are just some of the great benefits organizations and individuals gain access to when they become a Greenlights member. Check out all the benefits of membership and join or renew membership in the month of February and we’ll enter you for a chance to win a free ticket to the Texas Nonprofit Summit (scheduled for September 20-21, 2012)!

Could your organization benefit from other special deals? Tell us what you’re shopping for in the comments below!

The way people learn is definitely changing. Schools are shifting to iPad-based curricula. Colleges, universities and companies are relying much more heavily on web-based classes and training, taking advantage of both the affordability of such learning channels and of students’ interest in learning at their own pace, on their own time, and at their preferred location. It seems that good ole’ live, classroom-based, instructor-led training may be going the way of the buggy whip and the wire-line home telephone.

Well, call us old fashioned, but Greenlights still believes in real-time, in-person learning, and we experienced an example of why at an amazing event just this week.

On January 25, Greenlights had the privilege of partnering with the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation to design and lead a day-long collaborative learning event for all of their Central Texas grantee nonprofits. Some 90 nonprofit professionals representing 30 different health-, human services-, and education-focused nonprofits gave up their full days to participate in this specially-designed event. The results and feedback were wonderful, as evidenced by:

• End-of-day feedback scores averaging 8.5 on a scale of 10.
• Wonderful comments such as “Social Return on Investment (SROI) rocked my world!” and “Great organization and opportunity to network and plan!”
• And even a series of live tweets throughout the day that highlighted the value of the event.

Here’s why we believe the event was so successful, and why we believe nonprofits should continue to, where most appropriate, invest in and deliver in-person, real-time, collaborative training whenever they can to advance their missions:

• Custom-designed learning objectives and curriculum.
  Greenlights took the time to survey the training participants several months ago, and we asked them what they and their organizations needed most from training. They told us they needed help with securing sustainable, diverse funding, implementing a sustainable business model, and measuring and demonstrating impact. So, Greenlights designed a custom curriculum focused on integrating logic models, value propositions and value chain analysis across the organization to raise more money and better measure and communicate impact.
• Get the right people in the room.
  Based on the survey results, we also determined there was a need to get a cross-section of leaders in the room, including the chief program leader, development leader and marketing/communications leader. We invited staff filling all three of these roles to attend the training, as well as Executive Directors, both to attend the full day if possible or to join the training at the end of the day to see and augment their team’s work during the day.
• Focus on real, implementable solutions.
  Many trainings leave you full of new knowledge but without a real action plan for doing something with it. We designed the day to allow for significant collaborative work to be done right there in the training. Participants completed worksheets and templates, like our Logic Model Development Guide and a Simplified Social Return on Investment Analysis. We also ended the day by having each participant complete a specific action plan to how they would take the learning back to their peers, ED and board members and implement it in meaningful ways.
• Make space for collaboration.
  Sometimes participants learn as much from other training participants than from the actual instructor (or even more than him or her!). And most nonprofit staff have little opportunity to get time away from the office and from the daily grind to think strategically and collaborate with their peers. We designed the event to incorporate both a good amount of collaboration time for peers from the same organization and additional time for collaborating with and learning from peers from other similarly-focused organizations.

I can’t express enough how wonderful a sight it was to see more than 90 nonprofit leaders from some of Austin’s top nonprofits hard at work learning new concepts, adapting them for their organizations’ use, and sharing ideas and encouragement with their peers. There is no question that Austin is better off today because of the investment made by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and by their grantee organizations in the power of collaborative learning to advance mission achievement!