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June 23, 2010
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Stepping Ahead
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| Our first Maryland Schmoozarama! Two hours of gourmet tastings, wine, beer, and networking. The new Againn Restaurant, Rockville, Monday, June 28. More info. |
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| Anne Mahlum began running as a way to clear her head of negative emotions and stay focused. Today, the 29-year-old runs Back on My Feet, a quickly-growing non-profit which helps the homeless build confidence and self-discipline by putting their feet to the pavement. |
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| Three years ago, Anne was living in Philadelphia and about to start a corporate gig at Comcast. Every morning, she went for a run past a homeless shelter and began waving to and joking with the guys standing out front. Then, she thought, why just pass them by? She called the shelter and convinced them to let her start a running club. Nine men agreed, and Anne reached out to friends and family for shoes and running gear. Runners had to commit to showing up at 6 am three days a week, and now if they maintain 90% attendance, Back on My Feet helps them find jobs and housing. In less than three years, the group has grown into an organization with 21 staff and a $3.5 million budget. There are four chapters, including one in DC which opened in March, and plans to expand to Chicago this fall and five more cities in 2011. Anne has even been approached about a movie deal. |
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| People cautioned that it was too soon when Anne opened a second office in Baltimore just a year after the non-profit's creation. But she tells us the best way to figure it out is to jump right in and not be afraid to make mistakes. She credits the growth, in part, to the fact that the non-profit isn't burdened by a history of doing things a certain way or reliance on one or two revenue streams. In fact, its biggest gift to date was the $50,000 prize from Pepsi's Refresh Project. Back on My Feet also partners with major races and creates fun campaigns like "Sneakers Day," where employees donate $5 each and get to wear sneakers to work. Anne's advice to other young non-profit leaders: Always be thinking ahead and make sure everyone around you knows the goals. Her goal? To be in every major US city. |
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| On the Verge of a Merge |
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| While last year saw an uptick in merger interest and discussion, many of the actual merger announcements will happen this year and next, says Nonprofit Finance Fund's Tom McLaughlin. Tom has facilitated over 200 association and non-profit mergers and recently released a book, Nonprofit Mergers & Alliances. According to an NFF "State of the Sector" survey, 53% of non-profits collaborated on programs last year, and 4% intend to merge in 2010. Tom tells us that too often mergers are driven by financial need. "The best time to consider a merger is when you don't feel like you have to," he says. He tells clients to focus on function before form. That means asking themselves what they want to get out of a merger, before talking about what structure it will take on. |
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| Two main reasons mergers fail: culture clash and inability to decide who should be the CEO. Perhaps it's no surprise that Tom has found that one of the best times to consider merging is when one of the organizations is missing a CEO. He also tells us that the process for non-profit mergers takes much more time than for-profit mergers. A feasibility assessment to determine whether the merger would even work usually takes up to 6-8 months. That's followed by implementation, which can take 4-5 months, and integration, which can take years. He says it's a myth that mergers are often accompanied by massive layoffs—as long as one of the organizations isn't failing. In his entire career, he says, he can count on one hand the number of nonprofit mergers that resulted in major job loss. Ultimately, he says a successful merger boils down to three major ingredients: "Trust, trust, and trust." (Aren't those also directions to Andrew Carnegie Jr.'s inheritance?) |
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| Non-Profits and the Media |
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| The media industry and the non-profit sector may not be so different, after all. At Nonprofit Roundtable's Media Summit yesterday, Washington Post local editor Emilio Garcia-Ruiz gave some tips for navigating major organizational changes (which we hear the Post has learned a thing or two about). First, you need to separate the leaders from the managers, Emilio told the non-profit crowd. He says a leader will be someone with good ideas who is ready to be fired standing up for those good ideas. He also emphasized the need to have as many ideas thrown out there as possible. "If you stifle innovation in your organizations, you're never going to get any change." He concluded with a motto from a friend: "When there's no wind, row." |
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| Send story ideas to Jessica Sidman, jessica@bisnow.com. |
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This newsletter is a journalistic news source which accepts no payment for featured interviews. It is supported by conventional advertisers clearly identified in the right hand column. You have been selected to receive it either through prior contact or professional association. If you have received it in error, please accept our apologies and unsubscribe at bottom of the newsletter. © 2010, Bisnow on Business, Inc., 1323 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036. All rights reserved.
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