Live Together or Die Alone: Thoughts about Consolidation

We know times are tough. The attacks and lunacy are unrelenting. The destruction is tangible. The complicity and cowardice are heartbreaking. The word “unprecedented” has been exhausted.

We find solace in helping social justice organizations put the pieces in place to defend against the attacks. We find inspiration by the countless dedicated and brilliant advocates, movement leaders, organizers, civil servants, and policymakers who are in the fight with us. And we find deep meaning in helping movements align on strategy, map resources, and move assets to support one another.

Now we are looking at the next front in the work to protect progressive civil society: consolidation. 

Simply put, civil society cannot withstand the hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to federal funding. Whether or not an organization receives government funding, those cuts will leave a gap that foundations, major donors, and corporate giving cannot fill. 

With few exceptions, those organizations that are still standing in three years will have developed some kind of consolidation strategy.

Consolidation can mean a lot of things, from entering into non-binding MOUs to sharing volunteers, to signing formal resource-sharing agreements and sharing office space and staff, to joint venture agreements that combine major programmatic activities, all the way to full mergers.  

The timeline for a full merger can span anywhere from 12 to 24 months, but there are ways to expedite that process. Not every organization needs to merge, and other models of resource sharing are worth considering along that wide spectrum. 

However – and we can’t stress this enough – these topics should not be considered from a place of panic. Do not wait until you only have a month’s cash on hand to begin these discussions. Instead, start considering options and exploring possibilities now. 

We have decades of experience helping organizations navigate these arrangements, and we know that every one of these unfolds differently based on organizational needs, existing relationships, the partnership's scope, and the broader funding environment. 

Regardless of the scope of your resource sharing ambitions, each path requires careful thought and navigation. We’ve written more on the topic here.

We know this is a difficult topic – another in a series of unanticipated steps we’ve needed to take to respond to the times – but we are here to help you.

To quote the TV show Lost, which feels relevant given the climate, we must choose to live together or die alone. Let’s live – indeed, let’s thrive – together.