What We Learn When a Nonprofit Closes Its Doors

A year after the largest human services provider in New York City suddenly collapsed and closed its doors after 80 years, we can learn valuable lessons through two “post-mortem” reports.

The first report, by the Human Services Council, performs a detailed autopsy specific to the organization that closed its doors: the Federal Employment & Guidance Service (FEGS). The second report, that focuses on financial risk management, provides an analysis of the broader context of why such an important provider of services ranging from mental health and disability services, to housing, home care, and employment services, for more than 120,000 households and individuals, was unable to survive.