I have a few thoughts on the Jumo acquisition.
First, kudos to Chris Hughes for having the courage to fold Jumo into GOOD. From all public accounts, Jumo wasn’t doing all that well, with declining web traffic and nonprofit participation and an uncertain funding future. The usual course in the nonprofit sector is to hold on and slowly fade into mediocrity. I’m often asked by reporters if we have too many nonprofits. I actually think that the low barrier to entry for starting a new nonprofit is a good thing, as it can encourage creativity, diversity and passion. The problem comes when a once brilliant idea doesn’t catch on. When that happens in the for-profit world, small start-ups go out of business or are sold. In the nonprofit world, start-ups tend to find just enough grant money to stay in business but not enough to do anything meaningful. One of the implications of chosing to send more money to high-performing organizations is that more nonprofit organizations will close up shop. So, thanks Chris Hughes for giving us a good model of what more nonprofit leaders need to have the courage to do.