Photos courtesy of Kisharon Langdon
Kisharon and Langdon were two charities that specialise in supporting individuals with learning disabilities and autism to thrive and realise their ambitions and aspirations. They provide education, supported living, employment support and social activities to service users in the Jewish community. They were of comparative sizes, areas of specialism, geographical distribution, and diverse supporter networks.
The analysis delivered a full, service case options appraisal, a financial, fundraising and cost benefit analysis and a legal options appraisal.
The Project
Kisharon and Langdon shared an objective to identify the optimum model that would allow them to respond to the needs of their communities in a person-centred and collaborative way to achieve better outcomes. They recognised a potential for collaboration and commissioned Mobilise together with Natalie Grazin Consulting to undertake a significant options appraisal study that would “enable the agreement of a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the participating charities”.
Our Approach
Mobilise provided two forms of support. The first was a project management role, facilitating and enabling the conversations that would drive towards the signing of an MOU. The second was scrutiny of the headline conclusion of the Steering Group of the ‘New Entity’ option, comparing that to other options including joint working, a shared back office, a subsidiary model, or a shared infrastructure body.
The work was supported by a twin-track approach including rigorous analysis and people-to-people encounters from across both organisations that included 10 workstreams, 3 participative inquiry events, organisational health index assessing managerial cultures, Senior Leadership Team and board conversations. The analysis delivered a full, service case options appraisal, a financial, fundraising and cost benefit analysis and a legal options appraisal. Work was also undertaken on a Vision, Mission and Offer for a new entity which gave the charities a clear sense of what could be achieved by coming together.
Impact
It was concluded by the trustees of each of the charities that despite some risks involved, the merger could bring undeniable benefits: increased donor funding and economies of scale as well as shared expertise and elevation of the quality of services for the benefit of their communities. Kisharon and Langdon announced their merger in August 2023.