Hands On Network and the Points of Light Foundation today announced mutual board approval to merge their two organizations.

The announcement transforms the landscape of the volunteer sector, creating a network of 370 affiliate organizations covering 83% of the US market.  

Michelle Nunn, co-founder and CEO of Hands On Network, will lead the new organization.  Nunn, daughter of former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, has been a visionary leader in the nonprofit sector for 17 years—leading a growing a network of 73 affiliate organizations in the U.S. and in eight countries. 

Ray Chambers, philanthropist, will serve as the new organization’s chairman of the board during the integration period, with Neil Bush, CEO of Houston-based Ignite Learning, and son of former President George Bush, Sr., serving as vice-chair.

Nunn will assume leadership on July 31, 2007 and the new organization will officially launch on October 1, 2007. 

In a letter to the network of volunteer centers and affiliate organizations, Terry Williams, Interim CEO of the Points of Light Foundation and Michelle Nunn shared the belief that this new organization will create an improved and more powerful network and support a scaled and more effective civic movement.    

“The time is ripe for us to re-imagine how we can create exponential versus incremental change in volunteerism and civic participation,” says Nunn.

“Combining the unique strengths and assets of both our organizations gives us the opportunity to truly realize our vision of a world in which all individuals discover their power to make a difference and are equipped as active, engaged citizens.” Over the next 100 days, the new organization will be working as a combined staff and in partnership with affiliates to create an annual plan, network support plan, budget and new staffing structures in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.   

Affiliates have been the backbone of innovation and leadership for Hands On Network and the Points of Light Foundation. According to Nunn and Williams, this essential approach will continue to be honored in the new organization.  Affiliate leadership will be engaged across all areas of the new organization, from the national board to a variety of task forces and sub committees to get to solutions on critical integration elements.  By combining the existing infrastructures of Hands On Network and the Points of Light Foundation will create a far more robust civic network than has been previously possible. This means:

•  An increased ability to direct one of our nation’s most powerful and underutilized resources – volunteers – towards addressing some of our most intractable problems: literacy, homelessness, civic engagement.

•  Providing everyday citizens with the resource they need to “get hands on” in their community.  Most American’s say they would like to be more involved in their communities, but don’t know where or how to begin.

Moving forward, Hands On Network and the Points of Light Foundation hope to incorporate the ideas and suggestions of our affiliate and volunteer centers, other nonprofit and corporate voices, and the greater nonprofit sector.  If you are interested in being part of ongoing discussions about the merger, please leave a comment below.

You can also view the merger FAQ’s here