Statewide AIDS groups joining forces
The Southern Colorado AIDS Project and three sister agencies are merging to form the Colorado AIDS Project, an umbrella organization created to provide more efficient operations and boost funding opportunities without affecting day-to-day decisions at the local level.
S-CAP, the Northern Colorado AIDS Project, the Western Colorado AIDS Project and the Denver Colorado AIDS Project will continue as “regional councils,” retaining their staffs, boards of directors, programs and pots of money raised through their own fundraisers.
But their executive directors will answer to a yet-to-be-named CEO, and funds procured through the new organization will be disbursed by the central office, said Bill Mead, board president of both the S-CAP and the Colorado AIDS Project.
The idea is to centralize basic administrative operations, such as bookkeeping, accounting and computer networking, create “best practices” statewide and tap into funding that tends to be available only to larger organizations.
“Really, the large foundations are more likely to work with certain minimum budgets. Each of us, we’re kind of small. Collectively, we become that organization that can access those kinds of grants we might not be able to access individually,” said Mead, a Colorado Springs financial consultant.
The merger takes effect Oct. 1. The seeds were planted several years ago, when representatives of the regional organizations were confronted with the question: What would you do if your funding — particularly federal funding — were to end?
“It wasn’t that ‘the sky is falling,” said Richard Blair, executive director of S-CAP. “It’s looking at the future and being progressive.”
Together, the groups serve about 3,500 clients with HIV or AIDS. The Boulder County AIDS Project declined to join, saying it didn’t want to give up its autonomy, according to a story in the Boulder Daily Camera.
None of the 70 or so employees in the four regional organizations will be laid off, Mead said. Instead, the merger will help eliminate duplication of administrative services and put them in the hands of the central office, freeing up the local organizations to focus on client services.
“What we’re trying to do on a larger level is access things that we can’t do at a smaller level,” Mead said. “It’s just simple economies of scale, like health plans and retirement plans. These are areas where we can not only save money, but standardize to the point of providing better services for our clients.”
For example, Mead said, a centralized computer system will make it easier for clients to access services if they move from one part of the state to another.
Organizers also hope to have a fund development officer at the umbrella organization to pursue grants and other income.
Blair said AIDS/HIV groups in other states have merged as well, and he believes it’s prudent for nonprofits in all fields to look into it, especially in a rocky economy.
“It’s an opportunity to look at yourself and provide better services,” Blair said.
