Every charity should have a plan to stop existing.
Most nonprofits are built to grow forever — never to finish. We're pushing every charity and nonprofit in North America to publish a clear, detailed Dissolution Strategy: the plan for what happens once the mission is actually accomplished.
Organizations built for a purpose, end up staying forever.
A nonprofit forms to solve a problem. But once the money, the staff, and the mission start paying salaries and building institutions, "solving the problem" stops being the incentive — surviving does.
Have a dissolution plan
The overwhelming majority of registered charities have no documented plan for winding down once their stated objectives are met.
No definition of "done"
Most charter documents describe a mission to pursue, but almost never describe what success looks like or when the organization should close.
Incentives point the wrong way
Staff, boards, and vendors all depend on the organization continuing — creating quiet pressure to redefine the mission rather than complete it.
“Every great cause starts as a movement, becomes a business, and devolves into a racket.”Eric Hoffer
One goal: a Dissolution Strategy for every charity.
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1
Define the standard
Establish what a clear, detailed Dissolution Strategy actually looks like — measurable success criteria and a real wind-down plan.
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2
Build public pressure
Make the absence of a Dissolution Strategy a visible, uncomfortable gap — for donors, watchdogs, and boards alike.
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3
Push for adoption
Rally supporters, funders, and regulators across North America until publishing a Dissolution Strategy is the expected norm, not the exception.
We hold ourselves to the same standard.
This organization exists for exactly one purpose: to create enough pressure that every charity and nonprofit in North America adopts a clear, detailed Dissolution Strategy. When that's true, our job is finished.
So — when should we dissolve?
The day a clear Dissolution Strategy is the norm, not the exception, across North American nonprofits. Not one day later.
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