M&A Success: Keeping It Local While Taking It Global

2022 is here and it has brought with it the on-going organizational strategy of nonprofit mergers and affiliations (M&A) as a means of growth, competitive positioning, and increasing resources to retain staff.  While some organizations are considering this strategy for the new year, many others are just now beginning to experience the success that is a result of their efforts. 

What is the the secret to their success?

Well, as nonprofit merger and affiliation consultants, we’d tell you it’s not much of a secret at all. 

Whether it be during conversations with our clients or those just seeking our advice or initial guidance, we would tell anyone that success almost always is the result of designing an organization that can deliver high-quality services while maintaining status as a locally-based program.

Keep It Local

Direct service happens at a local level and it is where an organization’s mission is most experienced. As an organization grows through M&A, it can become a challenge to maintain strong high quality relationships and to operate autonomously at a local level.

Operating at a local level requires management structure, talent, process, and systems. These factors create the roadmap for staff to be aligned with operational expectations and accountabilities. Identifying what things should remain decentralized and localized improves decision making, ownership, and autonomy for those in direct service positions.

Take It Global

Typically, the global level is where centralized services such as  IT, HR, Finance, Marketing, and Quality, are structured. These centralized services allow an organization to be managed at a larger scale while supporting the work at a local level.

M&A expands an organizations capabilities and provides access to the resources needed to unite the global operating infrastructure of the consolidated organization.

One way to build economies and increase capabilities to operate at scale is through a unified IT infrastructure. This strategy helps to standardize data, reporting, outcomes, and general operational procedures. Even more importantly, it creates a common language and platform to improve communication. The systems of an organization helps to shape behaviors, processes, and language to ensure consistent means of management and operations.

While operating at the global level requires more advanced planning, it is necessary given that it requires the capabilities, resources, and systems of any consolidated organization’s to serve at a higher level of scale. 

The process for integration may vary greatly depending upon whether the relationship is a merger or affiliation, but the strategy of operating globally while serving locally should be the goal regardless of the type of transaction. Anticipating and planning for the future today will be what leads an organization to success tomorrow.