Our Opinion: Mergers help save costs in crowded nonprofit field
by Tucson Citizen on Jun. 04, 2008, under OpinionTucson is an exceptionally caring and giving community when it comes to supporting nonprofits.
But the sheer number of nonprofits is staggering: 3,732 are registered in Pima County, according to 2008 statistics from the National Center for Charitable Statistics, a part of The Urban Institute.
That’s why it is good to hear that even more are taking the step toward merger and eliminating duplication.
Otherwise, what is a kindhearted person to do if he or she wants to contribute? How can one judge which groups provide the best services and are most efficient with the dollars?
Most do a credible job of providing specific services. But clearly there is overlap and duplication, with layers of administration siphoning money that should go to providing services.
Redundancy is a national issue, as nonprofits with similar missions compete for the shrinking pools of private and government funding.
So it is encouraging to see that local nonprofits are merging to reduce duplication when possible. The latest merger is between the Arizona’s Children Association and the Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault.
SACASA has been providing services to survivors of sexual assault and their families since 1973.
It now is part of the 96-year-old Arizona’s Children Association family of agencies, which have the common goal of providing a variety of services to children, families and individuals.
Fred Chaffee, president and CEO of the Children’s Association, said the merger “will allow both agencies to focus less on administrative issues and more on . . . programs and services.”
And that’s the goal of all nonprofits – to provide programs and services in the most efficient manner.
Other local agencies have merged recently to improve the delivery of services at lower administrative costs.
Three months ago, Tucson’s only two nonprofit providers of shelter beds for domestic-violence victims announced they will merge. Brewster Center Domestic Violence Services and Tucson Centers for Women and Children expect to be one agency by July 1. It will be named Emerge!
In 2005, Family Counseling Agency and Our Town social service agencies merged to become Our Family.
The largest and most successful merger of local nonprofits came more than a decade ago, when the Tucson AIDS Project and the Shanti Foundation united to become the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation, a large organization that has provided services neither agency could afford to offer if left on its own.
SACASA and the Children’s Association are highly respected organizations with lengthy track records of success.
Their merger should make both even stronger and better able to serve the Tucson community.
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