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Delta, British Columbia
Delta Boys and Girls Club and Delta Youth Services have been merged for over a year now. Technically, there are still two legal entities. However, for all practical purposes, there is now one organization. But, why did this all happen?
Several years ago, Gary Hamblin, the Executive Director of Delta Youth Services, announced his impending retirement. Being wise and well aware of the changing landscapes, his advice to his Board went something like this. “Think about merging with another organization in Delta rather than replacing me with a new Executive Director. We are too small and too vulnerable in this environment. Think about starting a conversation with Delta Boys and Girls Club.”
The choice of Delta Boys and Girls Club was obvious. The two organizations shared overlapping mandates in working with children and young people, aged 6 – 16. Delta Boys and Girls Club had strengths in after school programming and community fund raising. Delta Youth Services had strengths in counseling, employment services, and working with older teenagers. Relationships had already been built up between the two organizations. Board members from each organization were personally connected. The two Executive Directors, Gary Hamblin and Sandra Gebhardt, had come to know, trust, and respect each other. Some staff from each agency worked together, referring children, young people, and families. Several joint projects had been successfully carried out together.
And so, the conversation began, starting with creating a joint steering committee, and hiring an external consultant.
The first phase of the conversation, which took close to six months, was designed to allow Board members and managers from each organization to come to know the other organization in much more depth, to clear away misperceptions, and to begin to identify the opportunities and challenges. Separate meetings were held with each Board. Outside community stakeholders were interviewed to test their perspectives on, and supports for, a merger. Joint management and Board meetings were facilitated. The outcome of this first phase was a tentative “Yes”, or “Lets move ahead in principle.”
But, despite the relationships that had been built up beforehand, it was not easy. On both sides, there were misperceptions of the other organization. Some differences that people thought existed did not. Other differences were more surprising. Concerns about identity, brand name, the reactions of donors and volunteers, and organizational style and culture were raised. What made the difference was the consistent leadership and courage from both Executive Directors and Board chairpersons, the overwhelming positive support from the community stakeholders, the external facilitation, and the obvious opportunities that could be achieved in enhancing services for children, young people, and families in Delta. Nevertheless, along the way, many people seriously wondered whether the process was worth the effort.
The second phase of the conversation, which took close to another six months, was designed to find ways to overcome the challenges that had been identified. Would, for example, United Way agree to provide funding for a merged organization equal to the sum of its supports to the two separate organizations? The same external consultant was used to guide the process, and an external community advisory committee met to provide feedback on the merger challenges and the ways of overcoming them.
This second phase was also an opportunity to build the momentum for change. Technical consultants were hired to begin to look at the issues of merging different financial management and human resource management systems. The opportunities of merging were widely communicated to staff, volunteers, and key supporters.
The outcome of the second phase of the conversation was formal approval of the merger by the memberships of both organizations. The two annual general meetings were held on the same day and in the same place. A joint resolution was made to, and passed by, each organization’s membership.
The formal decision to move forward with a merger lead to the tough work of beginning to bring the two organizations together: creating a unified senior management team; blending operating systems, policies, and procedures; developing a new mission, set of core values, and strategic vision; and communicating constantly with staff, volunteers, and the broader community.
Has it worked? Yes! However, the end result may not look like the original vision. The competencies of Delta Youth Services in the area of employment services has led to a major new contract to deliver employment services in Richmond, a neighbouring community. Contractual relationships with the Ministry of Children and Family Development have been uncertain, largely because of the current turbulent Provincial environment. However, this is being resolved with Delta Boys and Girls Club and Delta Youth Services becoming the primary youth serving agency for the community.
Structurally, what is emerging is more of a federated or umbrella model, where there are separate legal entities running different types of programs under different names. There are two Boards, two sets of financial statements, …. The official message is: “We are partners involved in a joint venture.” These separations have been kept in place for funding reasons. They will be reviewed in 2005. However, from an operating perspective, there is one agency, with a strong senior management team, space sharing across programs, and integrated youth services.
Sandra Gebhardt, now the Executive Director of a much larger organization, comments: “I am very grateful that we did our homework, and had a solid plan to begin with. This has kept us on track when the day to day challenges of bringing two organizations together could easily have sent us off in many different directions.”
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