Nonprofit Mergers & Acquisitions Attorney

Educate. Radiate. Elevate. (E.R.E.) is a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to providing free high-quality tutoring to students from under-resourced communities in Illinois and Texas since 2020. E.R.E. has been highly successful in opening educational pathways for the students it serves. E.R.E.’s small size and lack of significant external funding, however, have prevented the organization from expanding its reach and have placed a significant strain on existing operations, at a time when E.R.E.’s services will be needed more than ever.

To address these concerns, E.R.E. is pursuing an affiliation with another organization aligned with the E.R.E. mission. If successful, this effort would result in E.R.E.’s being acquired by or merged into this larger, financially stronger organization, while protecting E.R.E.’s mission and tutoring programs, as well as creating opportunities for the expansion of E.R.E.’s services.

Over the past 1.5 years, E.R.E. has already consulted volunteer legal and professional counsel to address concerns related to the viability of staff contracts, protection of intellectual property, and the like. E.R.E. is now in a more confident position to proceed with this M & A.

As this process continues, E.R.E. will need the assistance of a pro bono attorney to advise on a transaction’s structure, identify and address regulatory requirements, assist in due diligence, and help E.R.E. create and negotiate agreements. Ideally, this would be a legal team including two or more attorneys. The attorney(s) should have experience in non-profit transactions, sufficient bandwidth to take on the tasks described above, and access as needed to subject-matter experts in fields such as employment, benefits, and intellectual property.

Most immediately, as discussions have already begun, E.R.E. needs assistance with:

1. Creating an agreement restricting the disclosure or use of information received by either party through your discussions (applying both retroactively to the date of our initial contacts as well as going forward)
2. Creating a Memorandum of Understanding
3. Reviewing the other organization's audited financial documents
4. Advising on the next steps in future negotiations

All interactions, meetings, etc will be held online remotely.