Giving Compass' Take:

• The Bridgespan Group talks about ways we can collaborate as funders and philanthropists, despite some of the risks involved.

• Are you willing to make the leap? The rewards are scale and impact — and, when done thoughtfully, collaboration with multiple stakeholders is a rewarding experience.

• One major obstacle many funders have when it comes to collaboration: the hesitation over advocacy.

In a panel at the Clinton Global Initiative University, Chelsea Clinton asked 1,100 college-aged social entrepreneurs if they had the courage to "come second." In other words, instead of founding an organization, could they create social, economic, or environmental impact by collaborating — plugging into another founder's proven approach and taking it to scale?

It's a question that social innovators, whatever their organization's legal structure or stage of development, should be asking. The Mergers That Make a Difference series co-curated by Bridgespan, LaPiana Consulting, The Lodestar Foundation, and The Catalyst Fund for Nonprofits converged on four lessons:

1. Think mission vs. organization

Rachel Haag, who stepped down as CEO of Boston's AIDS Action Committee (AAC), completed three mergers on behalf of AAC in four years. She said the key in each was for leaders to check egos at the door and focus on future missions, not current organizations or even their own jobs.

2. Pay attention to culture

In a 2009 Bridgespan survey of 433 nonprofit leaders, three-quarters ranked cultural fit as a make-or-break quality for incoming nonprofit leaders. It stands to reason that the stakes are much higher when a merger brings in multiple leaders.

3. Involve staff as architects of integration

Elisabeth Babcock, executive director of Crittenton Women's Union (CWU), agrees that board and staff egos can be the greatest barriers to strategic unions. But she credits the legacy boards of CWU with avoiding these pitfalls by deputizing senior staff to create a blueprint for the merger.

Tap your senior staff and trust their ability to provide valuable analysis on the potential upsides and roadblocks of this type of transition. In the case of Crittenton Women's Union, it was staff at both legacy organizations who were able to envision a more streamlined and strategic organization that could propel a greater number of low-income women to economic independence.

4. Count costs carefully, and align funders

The series opened with a story of a planned merger that fell apart once the organizations surfaced the true costs of blending back offices. When tying a knot, investing in strong, financial due diligence that aligns funders with true costs becomes essential housekeeping.

Read the full article about the courage to collaborate by Katie Smith Milway at The Bridgespan Group.