Between NCNA & SNPO.

Discussions about a potential merger between the National Council of Nonprofit Associations (NCNA) and the Society of Nonprofit Organizations (SNPO) ended without a deal.

Audrey Alvarado, executive director of Washington, D.C.-based NCNA, said the two sides could not come to agreement on terms of employment as far as leadership of a merged organization. "It was clear that both parties had different expectations of what a merged organization would look like," Alvarado said.

NCNA was eyeing SNPO's Nonprofit World, a bi-monthly magazine for its 3,500 members, as a resource for members but instead will pursue another "communication tool as a joint venture between state associations," Alvarado said." We still knew members wanted us to go forward on that idea."

NCNA has approximately seven full-time employees and a budget of more than $1 million, while SNPO is about a quarter of the size, with two full-time employees and a less than $300,000 budget, Alvarado said. Founded in 1989, NCNA is an umbrella organization that represents state and regional associations of nonprofits serving 22,000 charities in 45 states. The Canton-Mich.-based SNPO was founded in 1983.

There also was difficulty in merging a membership-driven organization like NCNA, Alvarado said, with one that does not have the same structure, like SNPO.