It’s been 13 months since the merger of the two Girl Scout Councils in central and western Oklahoma was complete. “Strongly suggested” merger talks began sometime in April of 07 and the two member organizations voted on February 2 of 08 to merge on March 1, 2008.

My daughters were discussing my job in the car one day a couple months ago. The topic of merger came up. “What is a merger, mom?” said my oldest. Before I could answer, Mae, who is 10 said, “it is when two organizations are fighting and then they become one.” I guess I didn’t realize how much they were over hearing, the struggle, the clash really of cultures and ideas.

In the March 26th issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Peter Goldberg, CEO of Families International and the Alliance for Children and Families (two merged organizations), writes that with more challenging economic times, mergers may be on the horizon for more organizations. He points out that: “nonprofit mergers usually arise from a delicate and shifting blend of strategic and opportunistic components. Let’s remember that mergers are art, not science. Mergers need to be grounded in organizational strategy, but, without some appreciation for unanticipated opportunity, one might be left standing at the strategic starting gate for a very long time.”

Appreciating “unanticipated opportunity” was really all we had. While on any given day prior to April of 2007, if pressed, I would probably be able to list some values of merging the Girl Scout councils in Oklahoma – and probably all over the country. However, that wasn’t an idea whose time had arrived in the hearts and minds of many connected with a Girl Scout council here or anywhere else. Like children who didn’t want to go to bed, we dug in our collective heels and then realized we had no choice. Boards, staff and volunteers eventually made the journey.

Right away, it seemed clear that as Goldberg says “Risks are the same in nonprofit mergers as in business, but the rewards are much smaller and less tangible. Executives who lead successful for profit mergers or acquisitions are handsomely rewarded with compensation and stock benefits. Nonprofit executives who lead successful mergers or acquisitions are told ‘nice going.’”

The financial “attagirl’s” for the merged council really haven’t come yet, 13 months and a few days later. The transition from two to one council continues to slog on. As Goldberg points out “Foundations have talked about the value of mergers for a long time without making many grants to support them.” With a small deficit and a good cookie sale this year, we may be able to absorb our shifts sooner rather than later, making up the deficit in two years. We are fortunate to have enough reserves to address the shifts. We’re also grateful for a strong group of supporters in one of the two previous Councils, which have laid the groundwork for our continued success.

The work load is more than anyone anticipated. Because of the economic times and the deficit we didn’t add a lot of staff and we are shifting priorities as we practice a little post merger triage. (The squeaky wheels do get the grease!). We’re learning about each other – volunteers from either of the two legacy Councils who have always done it this way. In the metropolitan area of Oklahoma City, that is not much of a shift, primarily because there was sharing already occurring. For example: a woman who grew up as a girl in Sooner Council and then was a volunteer in Red Lands.

We still have a lot of issues to address, to transform ourselves into a high capacity Council. With a growing staff and a building in Oklahoma City that we grew out of several years ago as only one council, we face the daunting challenge of finding a suitable workspace. We also need to address the fact that we have four resident camp properties which challenge our budget disproportionately to the number of girls who camp. With the Girl Scout promise and the Law (be a sister to every Girl Scout), tucked safely under our arms, we will continue to muddle through, for girls in our state, for ourselves, for each other.