As the Alzheimer’s Association experiences simultaneous disaffiliation and consolidation of its chapter network, I recall the months long process which created the association’s State of Relationship. This agreement guided the relationship between the chapters and the national Alzheimer’s Association for more than 15 years.
Through a process which included communication, transparency, feedback, discussion, and compromise, our task force created a consensus agreement which was adopted without modification and approved after a majority vote by the national board and a majority of the more than 220 chapters in existence at the time. The majority vote approving the Statement of Relationship is in sharp contrast to the evenly split vote when the issue of consolidation was considered by the chapters last fall. As a result many chapters are withdrawing from the national association and long term impact of this split yet to be determined.
Here is a link to my recent Nonprofit Quarterly article “Alzheimer’s Association – Cooperation, Competition, or Consolidation?” reflecting on our task force’s efforts.
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About Marty Martin, JD MPA
Marty Martin, JD MPA, Martin Law Firm, Raleigh, North Carolina, provides legal, tax, and training services related to nonprofit, tax-exempt, and social enterprise organizations serving local, regional, state, national, and international constituencies. He works with them throughout their lifecycle including start up, operations and management, board governance, merger, and closing down.
He is an instructor with the Duke Nonprofit Management, Intensive, and Advanced Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership programs. He is a BoardSource Certified Governance Trainer. Martin is affiliated with North Carolina State University's Institute for Nonprofits.
Martin served for three years on the IRS Advisory Committee for Tax Exempt and Government Entities ("ACT"). He was awarded the IRS TEGE Commissioner's Award which "is the highest honor of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division, and the highest honor we can personally bestow" for his service.
He received a Master in Public Administration (MPA) degree with a concentration in managing nonprofit and public sector organizations from the Harvard Kennedy School and Juris Doctorate (JD) degree from Western New England University School of Law.
He completed advanced training in nonprofit organizations from: Harvard Business School's Initiative on Social Enterprise; Harvard Kennedy School's Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations; Duke University's Nonprofit Management Program; University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business; Center for Creative Leadership; BoardSource; and the TCC Group.
The Nonprofit Mentor 