United Way of Greater Battle Creek and Greater Kalamazoo United Way Partnership Information

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United Ways of Battle Creek, Kalamazoo consider merger
Written by Sarah Lambert  The Enquirer In the future, two local United Ways could unite. The Battle Creek and Kalamazoo United Ways announced Tuesday that they plan to form a task force to consider a possible partnership or merger. The Greater Kalamazoo United Way and United Way of Greater Battle Creek will work with a consultant over the next six months to explore potential benefits and challenges that could accompany the merging of the two organizations, said Chris Sargent, Battle Creek United Way president and chief professional officer.		Please click here for a fact sheet If you would like to share a question or comment, please direct it to: liveunited@uwgbc.org
"This isn't a takeover situation," Sargent said. "This is two mutually-strong organizations looking at how we can work better together." A merger isn't certain at this point, Sargent said. The consultant, La Piana Consulting from Emeryville, Calif., will review a possible merger and meet monthly with a team of task force members from the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo boards, he said. At the end of the approximate six-month review, the consultant could recommend a yes or no on the merger or suggest an alternative partnership, Sargent said. The resolution the boards adopted includes an option to extend the review period. The two United Ways have been working on joint initiatives since 2009, said Frank Hardgrove, chairman of the task force and a member of the Battle Creek United Way's governing board. The idea of a merger was born from those talks. "As we looked at ways we could partner and work together, the decision was made, well, let's be intentional about the time frame," Sargent said. "Let's be intentional about the investigation of this, and let's explore this." Sargent said reducing expenses isn't motivating the study, but rather the potential to better utilize financial resources. For example, both United Ways lack staffing to pursue endowments, he said, which is something that combining resources may allow the organizations to accomplish. "We recognize that the issues that we face are not drawn by county lines," Sargent said. The Kalamazoo United Way is the third-largest in the state, while Battle Creek is the fourth. Both have been financially successful, Hardgrove said. In their 2010 donation campaigns, Battle Creek and Kalamazoo raised about $6 million and $9 million, respectively. Although donations have continually increased over the years in Battle Creek, the number of donors has decreased, mirroring a national trend, Hardgrove said. Although the implications of this are still unknown, he said, it behooves United Way boards to anticipate how fundraising may need to change. Nationally, many United Way organizations are studying consolidation, Sargent said. The top five corporate donors in each community have been notified of the task force's formation and have been supportive of the process, Sargent said. If the two were merged, physical locations would be maintained in both cities and donors would be able to specify where they wanted their money to go, he said. Sarah Lambert can be reached at 966-0589 or slambert@ battlecreekenquirer.com.
United Way officials in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek say they are exploring a possible merger
Published: Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 3:05 PM     Updated: Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 3:19 PM KALAMAZOO - The directors of the Greater Kalamazoo United Way are exploring the possibility of merging operations with the United Way of Greater Battle Creek. Four GKUW leaders said today the organizations operate across both communities, sometimes provide support to the same nonprofit institutions and face many of the same challenges and issues. Saying the boards of directors in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek approved exploring a merger — on April 20 and 14, respectively — they say they are looking forward to trying to find ways to meet the growing needs that each community faces. "We have two extremely solid organizations and it's an opportunity to take both of those organizations and look at how we can make our organizations better in serving our communities," said Michael Larson, president and CEO of the GKUW. Larson was joined in a conversation with editors at the Kalamazoo Gazette by Paul Spaude, a GKUW board member and the president and CEO of Borgess Health; Christopher Riker, marketing and communications director for the GKUW; and James Stephanak, 2011 chairman of the GKUW board and publisher of the Kalamazoo Gazette. "Fundamentally, it boils down to improving the human condition," Spaude said of the potential merger. "It really is that simple and complex."		(Photo Caption) Christopher Riker, marketing and communications director of the Greater Kalamazoo United Way, left, and Michael Larson, president and CEO of the GKUW, say Tuesday that combining with the United Way ofGreater Battle Creek may provide more effective ways of serving both communities.     (Photo Caption) James Stephanak, left, 2011 chairman of the GKUW board and publisher of the Kalamazoo Gazette, and Paul Spaude, a GKUW board member and the president and CEO of Borgess Health, say considering a merger with the United Way of Greater Battle Creek is a decision to be good stewards of "the responsibility that people entrust in us to make a material difference in that human condition."  (Photos by Al Jones - Gazette)
He said that if a combined organization can use its administrative resources more efficiently, it can perform more effectively in the communities that need to be served, eliminate duplicative efforts and combine expertise to address problems that are on the horizon for many United Way organizations. Those problems include growing the administrative expertise to learn how to handle contributions that could be left to the United Way in trusts and wills of longtime donors, and corralling donors who have been lost to the organizations as businesses have closed and former contributors left to start work as entrepreneurs or with smaller companies that are more difficult to track. Spaude and Stephanak said considering a merger is also a decision to be good stewards of "the responsibility that people entrust in us to make a material difference in that human condition." "It's going to help us further define and refine the strengths of both organizations," Stephanak said, "and the communities are going to be the winners." They said the three big areas of growing need that United Way is trying to address for area people are education, health and income/self-sustainability. Riker said, "Both organizations have a responsibility to their community and communities to best address current and emerging needs, and this is just one of those ways that we can look at possibly doing that better. I think it's the right work to be doing. It's our responsibility to look at how to better address current and emerging needs." The men said the organizations have formed a 12-person task force to officially begin exploring such things as whether a combined organization will have a combined campaign and how a board of directors would be organized. They said many questions need to be answered but they promised transparency throughout the decision-making process. They said the potential for a merger has been aired with businesses that support the United Way. They said large company donations account for about half the annual contributions to the GKUW and up to 90 percent of those gleaned by the United Way of Greater Battle Creek. Chris Sargent, president and chief professional officer of the United Way of Greater Battle Creek, and members of its board were explaining the potential merger to the news media in the Cereal City today. Spaude said the organizations are not looking to reduce staff. The GKUW currently has the equivalent of 18.5 full-time workers. The United Way of Battle Creek has the equivalent of 12. Talk of a possible merger evolved after Larson left the United way in Battle Creek in 2009 to join the GKUW. The men said the transition was very respectful and led to many collaborations that have benefited both organizations. Among those was collaborating on billboards to mutually advertise the fall fund-raising campaigns. The GKUW raised more than $9 million in its last fall campaign. Battle Creek raised more than $6 million. Larson said the talk of a merger may be unique in that it involves two large, strong organizations rather than one large and one small, or one strong and one that is troubled. — Al Jones can be contacted at ajones@kalamazoogazette.com or 269-388-8556.