Sunsetting an Organization: Why, When, and How

Sunsetting was not part of the Software Preservation Network’s founding conversation. Organizations are built to last — or at least that's the implicit assumption baked into most strategic plans, member recruitment pitches, and grant applications. But what happens when an organization has done what it set out to do? Or when the ecosystem has shifted in ways that make continuation less meaningful than closure? Or when the honest answer is that the energy, resources, and community trust carried by an organization would do more good somewhere else?

This is the account of an organization at the end of its lifecycle, and how we’re embracing this final act and working to preserve everything worth keeping. Through this presentation, we hope to communicate the importance of developing a sunsetting strategy, share strategies for composting resources to bring new life to the work in the future, and how we're still working towards community development as we close down operations.

Join Chelle Sanders and their work to facilitate a graceful transition.