Federated Nonprofits

Combining Local Commitment with National Strength

Federated nonprofits — organizations with a national office and geographically dispersed affiliates — are receiving increased attention in the sector, due in large part to their potential to serve as national distribution networks for delivering programs and interventions at scale. Our colleagues in the field have contributed much to this understanding in recent years through studies of scaling within and among federated organizations, and this work has been conscientious in surfacing both the strengths of these large nonprofit networks and the challenges they face. In our own experience consulting with several of these national organizations and individual affiliates, we have observed many of the same attributes.

In this series of articles, we will explore federated organizations and their perhaps unexpected dynamism, their struggles and successes in responding to major social and demographic trends, lessons in intra-network collaboration and restructuring, and financial model implications.

• Federated Nonprofit Structures: Fixed or in Flux?
• Federations and the Five Convergence Trends
• Internal Collaboration and Restructuring in Federated Nonprofits

Other Resources:

• Leading Federated Nonprofits and Networks – an interview with three CEOs about their experiences leading large national networks and making change in today’s social and political climate
• A Revamped ACLU Takes on Today’s Fights – a Summer 2017 feature article in Stanford Social Innovation Review on the civil rights organization’s engagement of affiliates for maximum impact
• Renovation Nation – a July 2017 Special Report from The Chronicle of Philanthropy on how some federations and other large, “legacy” nonprofits have reinvented themselves
• Building Resilience with Strategic Restructuring: An Interview with HI USA’s Russ Hedge PART 1 – a La Piana Consulting blog post by Makiyah Moody
• Strategic Restructuring and Culture Change: An Interview with HI USA’s Russ Hedge PART 2 – a La Piana Consulting blog post by Makiyah Moody
• Consolidation in National Networks Takes Heat – a La Piana Consulting blog post by Melissa Mendes Campos
• Creating Nonprofit Chapters and Affiliates – a Charity Lawyer article for nonprofits considering spinning off chapters or affiliates on the importance of selecting the right structural option
• Bridgespan Group – resources for national networks
• BoardSource – services for nonprofit networks
• Game Changers Win by Embracing Bold Strategy – Stanford Social Innovation Review, November 8, 2013 and companion piece with interview summaries
• Strategic Restructuring Self-Assessment Tool – developed by La Piana Consulting for funders or federated nonprofits who want to provide it to their networks
• Client stories from Habitat for Humanity, NAACP, and Y-USA

More readings will be added over time. Contact us if you would like to suggest a relevant resource.