mobilize.org

This week Mobilize.org announced it would acquire the assets, staff and programs of Generation Engage. In some ways, it’s surprising to see this merger because it’s not something done every day. In other ways, it’s not surprising at all.

Generation Engage has worked since 2004 to encourage youth civic engagement and to fight the political isolation of youth, particularly those in community college systems. Mobilize.org was founded in 2002 to get the youth of America engaged in the political process and empower them to influence public policy. Their missions are basically identical. They were both founded and are run by Millennials. They are both based in Washington, D.C. The organizations have worked together on a number of projects, including the 80 Million Strong coalition last year. Their similarities might make you wonder why they didn’t merge before now. This merger will save thousands of dollars every year and, if all goes as planned, truly make the resulting organization “more powerful than the sum of its parts,” as Maya Enista says in her announcement letter.

They are doing what many organizations are unwilling to do – recognizing their many commonalities and merging to form a more powerful organization. While there will undoubtedly be growing pains, I’m interested to see where they are six months or a year from now and how they are able to leverage each other’s strengths to move the dial on youth civic engagement. I’m especially glad to see this move from two Millennial-driven and Millennial-focused organizations. One of our strengths as a generation is our collaborative way of working toward change. And this collaboration is not without sacrifice. Generation Engage chairman Justin Rockefeller put the values and mission of the organization he has spent five years building ahead of his personal ego and his organization’s legacy. Much like I have asked Millennials to consider whether starting a new nonprofit is the best use of their resources and passion, Justin seems to have recognized that his team could better serve its mission and have greater impact as part of Mobilize.

Since the economic crisis, financial necessity has driven more organizations to consider and discuss mergers like the one announced this week between Mobilize and Generation Engage. Twenty percent of nonprofits polled by Bridgespan last year said mergers could play a role in how they respond to the economic downturn. But as Bridgespan points out, tight budgets are not the only reason for considering a merger. Just as hardship and necessity often push people to innovations and inventions they would benefit from under ordinary circumstances, mergers can be a smart strategy for healthy organizations as well. Just because two groups of people can afford to run extremely similar organizations does not mean they should.

While for-profit mergers and acquisitions are often incentivized and orchestrated by strategic planners and financial backers, nonprofits cannot always find the same type of support. This may be changing a bit (for example, The Knight Foundation is helping in the Mobilize and Generation Engage partnership), but nonprofits interested in the possibility of a merger may have to get creative as well. In the Stanford Social Innovation Review last year, consultant Jean Butzen suggested nonprofits look to current donors, capacity-building grant programs in your community, national funding opportunities, and pro bono services. For additional resources on nonprofit mergers, check out the Lodestar Foundation and LaPiana Consulting. For now, I tip my hat to Mobilize and to Generation Engage, wish them the best of luck and will be looking forward to reporting on their progress later this year.

Guest blogger Maya Enista is Chief Executive Officer of Mobilize.org, an all-partisan network dedicated to educating, empowering and energizing young people to increase civic engagement and political participation.

The current economic state for young Americans, and all Americans, is a frightening one. It tells the story of growing national debt; increasing personal debt; many instances of irresponsible spending and lending practices on college campuses and in low-income communities; inadequate health care coverage; and rapidly disappearing safety nets for our generation. These factors, coupled with the fact that we are living in a time of innovation and growth in our country, mandates that we find sustainable and creative ways to solve the problems of our society and ensure that in defining these solutions – we are not bankrupting our futures.

There are many approaches with which one might begin to attack the problems laid out above, but as the Case Foundation believes, most would fail without ensuring that citizens are at the center of solving their own problems. It is this belief, and the support of the Case Foundation, that has enabled us to create the Democracy 2.0 process, where members of the millennial generation work collaboratively to build the democracy that we will inherit.

Given the severity of this national crisis paired with the innovation, collaboration and technological savvy of the millennial generation – it’s imperative that we take immediate and collaborative action to put our economic future on a sustainable and improving path. Mobilize.org has heard this clear call for action from our membership. To respond to the growing concern among all generations, Mobilize.org and the Peter G. Peterson Foundation are hosting a millennial convening to explore the barriers preventing our generation from achieving financial health. It will take place November 18th – 20th in and it will be titled, Exploring the Millennial Generation’s ROI where we will bring together 150 millennials for discussion, debate and action on this important question.

As loyal Social Citizens readers know, the theory of change of Mobilize.org, entitled Democracy 2.0, prescribes that it’s not enough for millennials to identify their most pressing individual issues, but that the millenials must take the lead and work collaboratively to propose solutions to these issues and then obtain the resources needed to implement and institutionalize those solutions. To that end, Mobilize.org anticipates that it will award grants up to $25,000 for selected projects and proposals that rise to the top during our time together, through the use of interactive keypad voting technology. Additionally, funded ideas will become 12-month projects of Mobilize.org, whose partner network and funders are committed to further building their success. Mobilize.org is a millennial built, millennial led organization that understands that the economic well-being of this generation is the key to our success, both today and tomorrow. However, we also know that we cannot do it alone and we see the value in working in true intergenerational partnerships to solve society’s most pressing problems.

To apply to attend the Summit (travel + accommodations are covered by Mobilize.org) or for more information, please visit www.mobilize.org . Our application window is open for just eight more days, and we encourage you to share this announcement with your network of friends and colleagues. Please join us in Chicago for this important conversation, and more importantly – as we seed the action steps that will highlight the leadership, perseverance, innovation and creativity of the Millennial generation.

Today’s guest blogger is Maya Enista, CEO of Mobilize.org.

I’ve come up with one definition for my generation, the infamous Millennials: we don’t like being defined. We especially don’t like being defined by people who don’t have Facebook accounts, don’t know that RSS feeds are a legitimate way to get your news, have never used Twitter, don’t understand that we can text and listen and jokingly tell us that we must be “itching to go to the bar” after a well-delivered power point presentation at a conference at which I’m the youngest one, by years … so, please stop talking about me. Read more »