What If Dissolution Wasn’t the End of the Mission… but the Strategy for Continuing It?
by Rumbidzai Mufuka, Ph.D.
Most Tangelo Tree business model engagements end with a plan. This one ended with a ceremony.
When the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN) came to Tangelo Tree Consulting, they weren't looking for a growth strategy. They were facing a harder question: after years of building the forensic nursing profession, could the organization be redesigned to continue its mission — and if not, what came next?
That question required us to do many things at once.
First, it required rigor. Before any pathway could be evaluated, we needed a clear picture of financial reality — revenue trends, reserve runway, the cost of various transition scenarios. A business model without financial grounding is just storytelling. We built the analysis that supported the board to make decisions rather than defer them.
"We needed to know we had explored every option before we could close any door. The financial analysis, the partner screening, and the criteria we built together—that process gave the board the confidence to act, not just react." — Karin Wickwire, DNP, CRNP, SANE-A, SANE-P, IAFN Board President
Then, it required a process the board could trust. IAFN's board was navigating real tension — between hope and realism, between loyalty to the organization and responsibility to the profession. Our job was not to resolve that tension for them, but to give it structure. We opened and closed every meeting with a reminder about the mission. At times, we asked board members to share a “mission moment” - an experience that demonstrated impact lived with the members not in its tax status. These steps were designed to help the board prioritize the mission over the organization when faced with the full landscape of options: restructuring, partnership, merger, dissolution.
“Having the support of the Tangelo Tree team meant we weren't navigating dissolution alone — every negotiation, town hall, press release, and FAQ was anchored by people who understood both the legal stakes and the human ones.” — Jennifer Pierce-Weeks, BSN, RN, SANE-A, SANE-P former IAFN CEO
We built a clear set of criteria for weighing each option. We held space for disagreement while moving toward a decision. For potential partners, we adapted our partner screening tool so organizations could be considered across values and factors most important to IAFN: mission alignment as well as capacity to continue a program.
That process led to a conclusion: IAFN was no longer sustainable as an organization, but the education, credentials, and community could find new homes that continue to support the forensic nursing profession.
“Boards are built to govern, grow, and safeguard organizations—they’re not typically equipped with the specialized training or mandate to navigate situations like this. Tangelo Tree provided a framework for a conversation most boards never have, and did so in a way that kept us steady, effective, and focused when it mattered most.” — Karin Wickwire, DNP, CRNP, SANE-A, SANE-P, IAFN Board President
On a very short timeline, TTC facilitated the transfer of IAFN's membership and education programs to the Emergency Nurses Association, its journal to Wolters Kluwer, and its certification programs to the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Three organizations. One coherent outcome. Every pillar of the forensic nursing profession with a trusted institutional home.
But the work didn't end with the decision. It rarely does.
We supported the legal negotiation as advisors who have been through enough nonprofit mergers to know what questions to ask, what terms matter, and where mission protection requires more than goodwill. We drafted the communications: the member town hall agendas, the joint press release, the board talking points, and revised the FAQs from a member’s point of view. We thought carefully about the sequence — who needed to hear what, in what order, and in what voice.
And then, because organizations are made of people, we helped the board mark the ending. Not just administratively, but humanly. Grief is a legitimate part of dissolution. A board that spent years building something deserves more than a signature page. We designed a closing ceremony — a homegoing, in the tradition of celebrating a life fully lived — to help them release with intention what they had built with love. (Thanks to Stewarding Loss for the template.)
“Closing with intention — through a ceremony that honored what we built and the people who built it — meant the organization's end carried the same care as its beginning. It was a collective exhale, a chance to acknowledge our grief and celebrate in the same breath, and a reminder that how we close matters as much as how we open.” — Jennifer Pierce-Weeks, BSN, RN, SANE-A, SANE-P former IAFN CEO
This is what full-cycle organizational transition support looks like. It moves from spreadsheets to strategy to legal scaffolding to communications to staffing transitions to grief. It asks consultants to hold both the analytical and the emotional, sometimes in the same meeting.
At Tangelo Tree, we believe that how an organization ends is part of its legacy. IAFN didn't disappear. It found stewards for its work that will continue the mission and provide a new community for forensic nurses.
Is your organization seeking clarity on hard decisions? Let's talk. Our team at Tangelo Tree specializes in guiding nonprofits to navigate uncertainty with purpose—where exploration matters as much as the destination.