Mass. Charities Urged to Merge and Pool Resources

A struggling economy has endangered the ability of nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts to provide charitable services to the needy, and that, according to a new study, should prompt many of the state’s nonprofit groups to merge, or at least to consider pooling their resources, The Boston Globe reports.

The study, which will be released today, was conducted by the Boston Foundation, the largest grant maker in the state, and surveyed the more than 36,000 nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts.

Its findings follow what officials at the foundation have been saying less formally in the past several years: that some of the state’s nonprofit groups should merge or pool resources to reduce overhead and offset cuts in state money and waning private donations.

The study found that while the state’s population has not increased in recent years, the number of charities has almost doubled. As a result, many of those groups have too few resources and not enough focus, a report on the study said.

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