Giving Compass' Take:

• Nonprofit Quarterly discusses the merger of two high-profile social justice organizations — Race Foward and Center for Social Inclusion — and what it means for the sector.

• What are the advantages and disadvantages to combining resources in this way? This article discusses the intricacies of the merger, which may serve as a model for other orgs in a similar position.

• Here are four suggestions for social justice funders looking to make an impact.

Two leading racial justice organizations in the U.S., Race Forward and Center for Social Inclusion (CSI), are merging. While there are many reasons for the two organizations to join forces, Rinku Sen, Senior Strategist of Race Forward, told NPQ in an interview this week about the transition, "The urgency of the moment is real, and it overshadows everything else. We’re facing the worst attack on our people in 50-60 years. I don’t think we’ve gotten to the worst of it. We’re going to have to put everything we’ve got to use to face the threat that is coming — not a dollar, not a brain cell, not a unit of human energy should be wasted."

CSI President Glenn Harris agreed. The two started exploring the idea of a merger two years ago, in the middle of 2015, while having drinks at the last Kellogg Foundation American Healing conference in North Carolina. Rinku had been preparing to transition from Race Forward and thought Glenn Harris a very capable leader. However, at the time, he had only been at CSI for one year, and it didn’t make sense for him to leave CSI.

Reflecting on the merger process to date, Glenn concluded that it was a very valuable experience. “Even if we had decided to not go forward with the merger, it made sense to have a conversation to explore that.” He also learned that the field needs more resources to explore mergers as a strategic option.

Read the full article about the Race Forward-CSI merger in social justice by Cyndi Suarez at nonprofitquarterly.org.