Nonprofit User Manual: Getting the Most out of your Consultants
I’ve been on all the sides of working with a consultant. I’ve been the staff liaison, the one hiring the consultant, the one helping the Board hire a consultant, and, for the past few years, I’ve been the consultant herself. I know, on a deep level, how difficult it can sometimes be to convince leadership that external help is necessary or would be highly beneficial. And I know how frustrating it is when that hard-earned, tight budget is spent on a consultant that doesn’t actually give you what you need. My whole mission in my business is to partner with, support, and bolster nonprofits in a way that intuitively works for them. I have no desire to get paid a bunch of money to drop off a deliverable that looks flashy at first but ends up collecting virtual dust in the cloud.
So, speaking as a former ED and now a consultant, from my experience, here’s what will help your nonprofit get the most that it can out of working with a consultant. And it really took me becoming a consultant myself to understand how much more I could have gotten out of the relationship when I was on the hiring side. i.e. Learn from my mistakes.
Can’t we just do it in-house and save the money?
Every single nonprofit (even the big ones) ask themselves this question. It’s part of stewarding donations and public trust. You can almost always find a way to do it (whatever “it” is) in-house.
The main benefits to in-house are:
lower cash outlay (but not necessarily lower cost when you factor in staff salary time), and
the internal team knows the organization inside-and-out.
The benefits to getting external help are, of course:
an external perspective that brings you out of your bubble;
a third-party voice that can gently address elephants in rooms without expending the ED’s or board members’ relationship capital;
direct expertise in the topic at hand and in stewarding a team toward desired outcomes;
direct expertise in facilitating conversations and workshops and in providing training;
the ability to answer questions from the broader perspective of having worked with a number of different organizations and from having broad nonprofit management and leadership expertise; and
much smaller staff and board time investment.
Sometimes, though, the budget simply doesn’t allow it. Another time, we’ll talk about how to get training, coaching, strategic planning, etc. when your budget for it ranges from $0 to $verylow. But, for now, check out our services for small nonprofits.
Everything from here on out assumes that, even if the budget is tight, you’ve decided that you do want to hire a consultant.
Be transparent with your budget.
I’m starting with budget because, rightly or wrongly, that is always where the conversation starts or gets stuck inside the nonprofit. For context, I have worked with or for nonprofits whose budgets range from literally $0 to over $100M, so I am aware of what “small nonprofit” and “large nonprofit” actually mean.
When you’ve decided that you’d like to find a consultant (see below on how to find one), you’ll need to be honest with yourself and with them about how much you can spend on the project.
There is a tendency not to tell the consultant the budget at all or to give them a much lower number than reality to see if you can get a “cheaper” price. This will always backfire on the organization.
a) You should never hire or even start a conversation with a consultant that you suspect might not be honest and fair with their pricing; and b) honest consultants cannot partner with you to provide a realistic and helpful Scope of Work and cost proposal if they don’t know what the budget for the project actually is.
Most of us have had the experience at some point in our personal lives of buying a car and feeling like when we give them a budget number, they will see how much further they can push us past that number — we enter the dealership ready to be ripped off. I remember, too, when I was the one hiring consultants, people counseling me to haggle because consultants inflate their quotes or change rates per client if they think they can get more. But this just isn’t how it actually works.
That first meeting with the consultant isn’t the same as buying a car. Be open.
To give you a peak behind the curtain, usually, when a new client comes to me, I ask them first to tell me about the challenge they’re facing. I want to focus on and understand the heart of the issue first, not what I am going to do and how the big the paycheck will be. Then I ask them what they’re hoping I can do (again, to provide further context about their motivation for getting help). Then, we do not launch into outlining a huge, complicated project that only I could do for them, leaving them to feel flustered and pressured. We discuss whether they actually even need external help at all (sometimes I suggest that they don’t) and whether I am the right person to help (I help them find the right person if I am not she). If I do think I can help, with at least some of it, then we discuss what that could look like, from simpler to more complicated.
Then I ask for the budget. And what do I do with the budget number?
I don’t use it to upsell them. And I don’t change my rates to fit their budget. My rates are my rates (unlike with a car). I adjust the Scope of Work to fit their budget. I give them how much it would cost to do everything they hoped for (which, sometimes, is at or over budget) so that they can see that number (and compare to others if desired); and then I give them 1-3 options that fit well within their budget, by de-scoping the full ask if necessary. Often, I suggest taking a phased, iterative approach, where we only contract for one phase at a time so that we can learn from it, adjust later phases, re-assess where the budget is, and even cancel later phases if they need to or if they get far enough along that they can finish the rest in-house. If someone gives me a budget number that is way more than what I think is needed, I say so. I don’t expand the project to fill the budget, ever.
If I don’t have that budget number, I’m shooting in the dark and thus can’t be particularly helpful in recommending what you need or scoping the project.
And I’m not alone in this. This is the way almost all nonprofit consultants work.
How I set my prices
There’s a lot of unnecessary mystery around consultant pricing. Peeking behind the curtain again . . . . I don’t do contractor work, so I don’t set a per-hour rate and invoice by the hour. Rather, I provide prices by the project — that way, within reason, a client doesn’t have to worry much about how often they contact me, and there’s some wiggle room for some things taking longer than expected, others less, etc. For something like a month of executive coaching, while what we do together and how much time we spend together is unique to each client, it’s the same price per month for every client. Training is the same too (same price for same length of training, for every client).
More custom projects (in-depth strategic planning, diagnosing and remediating board engagement struggles, etc.) don’t have a set price. I have to dive in with you as described above to figure it out.
For any type of project (standard or custom), to set the prices, on the back end, I figure out how many hours it will take me to do the whole project. And I break those hours into how much of that is me at my desk, how much is 1:1 face time, how much is me training a group, how much is me facilitating a group through a difficult discussion, etc. Since those ways of spending my time require different amounts of expertise and mental energy on my part and carry different levels of responsibility, I assign a different (but fixed) rate to each. In short, the price I quote is directly derived from how long it will take me and how that time will be spent. This also gives me more wiggle room in de-scoping projects for nonprofits with lower budgets. And the backend hourly rates do not change from one client to the next. I know a number of other consultants who set their prices in the same way.
My backend hourly rates that I use to get the total are the same for every client.
Also like most consultants, I set the hourly rates on the backend based on a fair and equitable rate for my expertise and experience level (i.e., my salary), minimal overhead costs since I work out of my home (Zoom, Google, Canva, etc., laptop, and minimal marketing), and health insurance. These costs are similar to what it takes to support any employee. There are no hidden add-ons, no extra charges for templates or certain deliverables — the project price is purely based on how much time it will take me to get it done.
And, unlike getting your car repaired, there are no surprises. If something that was already in the contract takes me longer than I thought it would, I eat the loss. If something comes up on the client’s side that is going to take significantly more time and wasn’t in the contract, then we talk about how much extra that will cost and whether it will be worth it, and we sign an addendum to the original contract.
When I partner with someone who has complementary expertise necessary for the project, we divide out our time by our expertise and apply our individual rates to get the total.
Negotiate scope, not rate.
When buying a car, for reasons that frustrate all of us, the car price isn’t fixed. The car salesperson is trying to get as much out of you as possible without you knowing how much profit they’re making. Most consultants (individuals and small firms) are entirely different. They aren’t making a “profit” — they’re covering their salary, health insurance, and the basic expenses of running a business. Because most of us set our prices based on how much time it will take us to do the work (and our per hour rates don’t change), when you ask us if we can do the same thing but for a lower cost, you’re asking for free labor. I’m embarrassed to say that, when I was on the other side, I, too, tried to negotiate cost down but keep the scope the same — and it’s unethical. Think of it like how it feels when a donor wants to see specific outcomes from their donation but refuses to let any of the donation be used for paying the relevant staff, feeding the volunteers, and keeping the lights on.
Consultants are not the same as volunteers. (No Free Labor!)
Ethically, I draw a pretty hard line at not working for free and never asking anyone else for free professional labor. Being a nonprofit does not entitle the organization to profit off of or benefit from free professional labor. Exploiting free labor lands hardest on those with the least financial resources and the least political capital — i.e., most often those who aren’t white, cishet males, especially Women of Color. If I, as a cishet, white, middle-class woman, were to work for free as a consultant just to get my name out there, I would be upholding a system that not only won’t benefit me but will strengthen wealth and power gaps, worsening the professional consulting environment for everyone, especially those with less privilege than I. Why pay for Consultant A when Consultant B will do it for free?
Consultants are providing a professional service that is backed up by education and training and years of experience and that is needed by the organization — this is quite literally their job, and they shouldn’t be asked to do it for free, just as nonprofit staff shouldn’t be asked to work for free or for cut-rate salaries.
Using free labor is also not sustainable for your budget. Your budget should include training, coaching, and other consulting so that you know and are fundraising for the true costs of effectively leading and managing your nonprofit. Otherwise, when you really need it and can’t find it for free, you’re out of luck.
To be clear, no one is saying that volunteerism or in-kind donations should go away.
Volunteerism is such a key part of the functioning of nonprofits and a beautiful part of the social and cultural fabric of many countries. When someone wants to and offers to volunteer, even to volunteer their professional services, that’s great. They’re making the decision of their own accord and offering it to you, taking into account their financial and other resources. When a business offers free space, catering, or gear as an in-kind donation, that’s great too — they’re doing the same — taking into account paying their staff and keeping the lights on. And there’s no need to feel badly about shooting for the Moon to see if a huge consulting firm like Deloitte or Bain & Company will provide some free work — they’ll be able to pay their staff huge salaries just fine, regardless. Just, let’s not ask small and solo consulting firms for free work or cut rates. That is hitting directly at real, individual people’s salaries. When we can volunteer, we will offer it — but most of us can generally only afford to volunteer in ways that don’t eat into our professional work (like, e.g., an executive coach helping to build a Habitat house).
Yes, that means panels, webinars, and speaking opportunities too — you have to pay for those.
(aka Here’s where I’m going to get a little spicy)
I cannot tell you how many times professional consultants get asked to sit on a panel or give a talk at a conference for free, just because the conference is being put on by a nonprofit and because the other panelists are participating for free. But, much of the time, here’s the big difference between the consultant and the other panelists . . . the other panelists are being asked to share how their experiences in their current jobs relate to the subject at hand and are being paid by their jobs to be there. The consultants, on the other hand, are sharing their professional expertise on the specific topic at hand (usually, they are the experts, not the other panelists), providing insights and recommendations that are their literal job to provide and yet are being expected to do it for free. The other panelists aren’t getting their pay docked while sitting on the panel — why should the consultants who are providing the actual expertise get their pay docked?
To make this point even more clear, let’s use a fictional but typical example. The Institute for the Advancement of Women is hosting its annual conference. They’re putting together a panel on how workplaces can provide better support to postpartum employees. They ask four cis women to be on the panel — 1) an HR director at a medium-sized business, 2) a middle-manager at a large company, 3) an ED of a medium-sized nonprofit, and 4) a consultant whose expertise is in helping small to medium-sized organizations and businesses build better postpartum supports. Panelists 1 and 3 were invited to share what they’ve done at their company and nonprofit, Panelist 2 was invited to share her experience as a recently postpartum mom at work, and Panelist 4 was invited to share her in-depth research and lessons-learned from many clients on exactly the topic at hand. All voices on the panel are valuable, but only one is a professional expert in the topic and they’re the only one not getting paid to be there. Make it make sense.
Additionally, everyone you’re inviting to develop and facilitate sessions, speak, sit on panels, etc. are providing value to your conference. They are the conference — they are the draw that brings in the registration fees. If the staff putting the conference together are being paid, then the people being asked to provide the conference content should be paid too.
To put it bluntly, we’ve all heard it before: “exposure” and comped registration fees don’t pay the rent.
(Also, on a related note, even though it doesn’t have to do with consultants specifically, speaking to my fellow white, cishet people without disabilities — aka, the majority of nonprofit leadership — do not ever ask a Person of Color, an LGBTQIA-2S individual, an Indigenous person, a person with a disability, or a member of any other under-resourced and disenfranchised group to speak on their lived experience and teach you or the event attendees how to be better without offering to pay them. Not. Ever. Whether they’re a consultant, a freelancer, unemployed, a regular volunteer at your org, retired, a W2 employee of your org or elsewhere — it does not matter — you must offer compensation (even if they cannot accept it). For all of history, we have enslaved others, exploited people for free labor, and, more recently, expected the people we exploited and enslaved to teach us how to be better without supporting professionalization of that expertise. We need to do better.)
And, please, please don’t make all your panelists, speakers, etc. white, cishet people with full-time permanent W2 jobs just because there’s no budget to pay for a broader diversity of content-providers. If there’s no budget to pay, then there’s no event, webinar, or conference until expense priorities shift or fundraising puts focus on being able to pay.
Don’t decline right away if the first proposal is too expensive.
If we do come back with a proposal and the cost seems too high, don’t automatically decline. Ask whether there’s a way to descope a bit, still cover most of the objectives, and, thereby, reduce the project cost. This happens a lot, by the way, when we’re not given a budget — we scope out everything the potential client said they wanted, which sometimes costs more than they’re willing to spend. But instead of coming back and clarifying about what their budget limit is, they drop it and look for a “cheaper” consultant or give up altogether on getting outside help. We don’t want to make the project too expensive for you — that only leaves a bad taste in your mouth — so we usually only make the proposal too expensive by accident, when we don’t know what your actual needs and budget are. We’re not just hoping you “give in” to an unsustainable price. We don’t bite! Come back and ask. If you approach the conversation looking to negotiate scope instead of rate, we a) will not be offended or put off at all, and b) will almost always be happy to work with you to find a way to fit inside your budget. I’ve been on the other side (as have a lot of us) — it is 100% ok to say “We really can’t afford that — can we talk about scope?” — No need to feel awkward at all. (And if someone is snobby to you about that, that’s their problem — you don’t want to work with them anyway).
Now is not the time to hide your dirty laundry.
I know that you might not yet know the consultant in that first meeting, but you need to be really honest and open about all of the context behind the project. There are few consultants who will turn that against you or spread rumors — not only would it be unethical and unprofessional to do so, but it’s a small world, and most of us work by referral.
Being honest and open with the consultant helps us to better figure out what you need, whether we need to bring in more expertise, whether we’re the right one to help, etc. Springing complications, uncertainties, and 800lb gorillas on us later into the project is only going to cost you more than what was originally in the contract and will extend deadlines. It doesn’t protect you.
And almost nothing you say will surprise us. We’ve seen it all. It’s ok, just bring all that ragged, stained, moth-eaten laundry on out. No judgment here — only support.
Be as clear as you can with your needs.
“Garbage in = garbage out,” as they say. Most well-seasoned consultants are pretty good at reading between the lines. But we’re not mind-readers. Both sides, the nonprofit and the consultant, can get pretty frustrated when needs and intentions become muddled or obfuscated. Course-correcting or throwing out draft deliverables also pushes your desired outcomes farther down the road. Before you go looking for a consultant, as a team, get as much clarity as you can about what your hoped-for outcomes are from their work, why those outcomes are important, and what context and background information the consultant will need to help you sort it all out.
Remember that this is a joint project — you have deliverables and deadlines too.
As you’re working through clarifying your needs, think about what will be asked of board and staff members to work through this project, and make sure that everyone is ok with that before embarking on hiring a consultant. Hiring a contractor to work on a concrete deliverable or serve in an interim or fractional role is one thing (it’s like having another employee with a specific portfolio), but most consultants are working on less concrete projects. There are likely to be surveys that need answering, workshops/retreats that need attending, drafts that need writing or reviewing, check-in and updates meetings that need to happen, etc. For example, when I am facilitating strategic planning or diagnosing and fixing workplace culture, board disengagement, and other challenges, it’s an iterative process with the whole client team. I don’t work in a vacuum and then hand you a finished product — that would be useless to you because it wouldn’t be authentic, wouldn’t have full team buy-in, wouldn’t be informed by enough context and viewpoints, and would die almost immediately (related, beware of a consultant who says they’ll just build a strategic plan for you and have your team review and revise it instead of facilitating a process where the board + staff build the plan with input from all stakeholder groups).
And stick to the deadlines on your end. Yes, you’re paying the consultant, but you are not their only client, they may have different work hours from you, etc. They cannot be expected to turn something around in two days when they were supposed to have two weeks but your email was late. This is a professional partnership. If you think finding time will be an issue (especially for volunteer board members), extend the length of the project and take it at a slower pace. Or be willing to extend deadlines or pay a “rush fee” for the consultant when things are late on your end. Flexibility works really well in this relationship.
How to choose the right consultant.
First, I’m sure you expect me to say this, but, seriously, don’t choose just based on price.
That could end up costing you a lot more in the end. I’ve seen and been part of organizations that just went with the lowest bidder or the board chair’s buddy; they didn’t end up with the outcomes they were hoping for and had to reinvest in different external help or take up a bunch of ED, Board, and staff time (i.e. salary $$$) re-doing internally what didn’t work the first time.
Think of the project consulting price a bit like your daily calorie budget. In general, you want to try to get the most you can out of each calorie — an 80 calorie low-fat cookie might seem “cheap,” but the energy it gives you will dissipate quickly and it doesn’t come with a bonus side of nutrients and fiber — a 200 calorie serving of mixed nuts is more “calorie-expensive,” but it comes with protein, healthy fats, micronutrients, and fiber and will fuel you for hours longer than the cookie.
That’s not to say that the lowest bidder is always the wrong choice. Maybe the lowest bidder just has lower rates because they’re earlier in their career — but that’s ok in your case because they are particularly well-suited for the project or the project doesn’t require a higher level of experience.
Sometimes, though, you get what you pay for. Sometimes, cheaper means there’s just not much substance, or it’s cookie-cutter and won’t sustainably take root, or the work actively does harm or takes you backward. “You get what you pay for” can apply to consulting too.
Find the person who gets you, then work with them to scope the project to fit your budget.
So, instead of putting cost first, find the person with whom you really want to collaborate and then work with them to scope the project such that it fits within your budget. To find that person:
Reach out to your state’s nonprofit association for a recommendation on consultants who provide the type of services you’re looking for.
Ask your colleagues at other organizations to provide recommendations.
Look within your LinkedIn network to see what consultants you might already know (maybe a former colleague is now consulting).
Create a free account on Consultants4Good — they have a huge directory of consultants to match you with.
Make sure that you are intentionally structuring your outreach so that you’re reaching as broad a diversity (not just across race and ethnicity) of potential consultants as you can (this is going to be more limited, of course, in some rural areas than it is in some cities), and that you are mitigating implicit bias in your selection process.
Then, set up some intro conversations with 2-3 people. You can often get a good feeling from just those intro conversations. And, if you’re having trouble deciding, ask if they could send you an informal proposal in the body of an email (not fancy and in depth) so that you can get a better idea of how they might construct the project flow and outcomes. Let them know that you’re talking to others so that they can gauge their work — it’s tough as a consultant to think you’re about to book a project, forgo other projects so as not to overbook, only to find out you weren’t the only one being considered. We need to make sure we bring home our paychecks to our families, same as everyone else. And we also don’t want to give any clients the short shrift by overbooking ourselves. So please extend the same courtesy back via transparency.
What you’re looking for in a consultant:
Do they align with our values?
(Note that this is not the same as “culture-fit” —indeed, “culture-add” would often be better — what viewpoints, experiences, perspectives, expertise, and background do they add to the existing team, bringing you a richer outcome?)
Do they understand our organization? How will they make sure that what they provide will work for our unique organization?
Do they have the gravitas and expertise needed for this project?
Will they be able to challenge us where needed or will they just try to “people please”?
Are they listening to us as individuals and as a unique organization; or do they seem to be trying to put us in a box or seem likely to produce deliverables that feel like they just switched out another client’s name for ours? (That is the worst, btw. Ugh.)
How do they try to make sure that the training or retreat results, or other deliverables live-on and don’t just die when everyone goes home?
Skip the RFP if you can. (Or at least simplify it)
I know that RFPs were seen as best practice for a long time, but they are often problematic. And I was one of those people who wrote RFPs and expected a bunch of time from bidders in making beautiful and detailed proposals, participating in multiple interviews, etc.
Now, on the other side, I and a number of other consultants, have decided not to respond to any more RFPs (or to be veeeeery selective about it). RFPs require an enormous amount of work time from consultants, essentially containing a professionally-recommended blueprint for how to address and run the project. A blueprint that organizations can then run with internally if they so desire, having extracted free labor from a number of professionals (for real, this has happened to me and every consultant I know). It is all usually run as a closed process, so it lacks the back-and-forth described above that enriches the project design and outcomes. Often, the RFPs lack clarity in what is desired and even in budget, leaving consultants to guess unless they have an “in” at the organization (upholding implicit bias and narrowing the diversity of bidders that get considered). Multiple and long interviews take time and usually extract free consulting advice as well. We’re not being hired as a full-time, permanent employee with salary and benefits — we simply cannot afford to jump through a bunch of hoops and also work for free.
Additionally, the decision so often gets made simply on who came in with the lowest bid or who is friends with the board chair, negating everything else about the proposal and again upholding bias and exclusion — or who has the time and/or money/staff to create the prettiest proposal with the most catchy buzzwords (bias and exclusion yet again). They’re just too often a waste of time for the organization and the bidders. Kamilah Martin explained this well on LinkedIn. I know they’re still required by some foundation and government grant stipulations, but it’s a dated system that needs reworking. If you can avoid it, please consider it.
And, if you must have one:
make it very simple but clear, able to be answered easily in the body of an email
ask for CVs, links to socials, portfolios where relevant, etc., not a 30+ page, professional marketing-quality proposal
put the emphasis on the interview/conversation part of the process
but only one, short interview
and make it about their philosophy, their approach, etc., not concrete consulting recommendations and advice
use the criteria described above to make your decision (not just bottom line), and go back to ask for clarification, descoping, etc. instead of treating the proposals as the final offers from the bidders and closing the conversation.
Also, please stop asking for examples of our work unless you’re asking us to design your logo.
I will simply never understand why, for example, a strategic planning RFP will ask for examples of strategic planning outcomes from past clients. Why on Earth would you want to hire a consultant to guide you through a strategic planning process who would then turn around and share your proprietary information with another client? It’s bizarre. No, I will never prove I can do what I do by sharing confidential, proprietary information, data, and deliverables from other clients. Not ever. If you want to contact them as a reference, then absolutely, please do. But my kind of work (executive coaching, strategic planning, diagnosing and fixing dysfunction, etc.) cannot be put in a portfolio. (It also doesn’t make for very sexy marketing content. ;)
Keeping the relationship professional.
Be responsive when you’ve reached out to a consultant to ask about their services.
We all get super busy, of course. And every one of us misses an email or two every now and then. But it happens all too often that a nonprofit will start a conversation with a consultant and then ghost them. We’re not spammers, not AI, not used car salesmen, not a big box retailer. We’re individual professional service providers that you reached out to for help. Even if you’ve decided that you don’t want external help or want it from someone else, please give us the professional courtesy of letting us know. Don’t hedge, don’t ghost, don’t string us along. Like actors, we are well-versed in rejection and are 100% used to it. You won’t hurt out feelings. As soon as you start a conversation with us, we’re holding space for you and may have to turn down other projects. We’re not Amazon. We’re not billionaires. We’re regular people, like you, trying to make an honest paycheck.
We are in-it-to-win-it with you, but also you can’t be our only client.
Unless you’ve got us on a $100k+ exclusive retainer, please don’t force us to pretend you’re our only client. Yes, you’re paying us — but you’re paying us for a professional service you need that we provide and for a specific, contracted amount. We need to piece together a whole paycheck from multiple clients. Plus, we need to spend time on our continual learning (which benefits you), our marketing, establishing our thought leadership (also benefits you), running our accounting, etc. We simply cannot bend over backwards to give you hours and hours of our immediate attention for a $1400, well-defined project. Remember that we’re not your employee with a guaranteed salary, benefits, etc. We are a collaborator, an expert advisor, not a direct report. We love you, we are so excited to work with you, and we’re just as busy as you are with a million things. (But we will fulfill our contracted work with you and won’t half-ass it just to get as many clients as possible)
Accept that you might not love all of the deliverables.
Of course, sometimes you just contract with a dud — you find out they were more talk than substance, the deliverables or process don’t shed much more light than you already had, everything was pretty meh or seemed really dated, or their vibe was way too gimmicky, cheesy, or snake-oily. That sucks, but don’t let it derail you. Try again, using this guide.
But even when you get a great consultant, you might not be 100% on board with the results. Again, a consultant is a professional in the specific service for which you contracted with them. A good one is going to tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. A good one might very well unearth some details or challenges that you hadn’t anticipated that change the outcomes or make a deliverable wholly or partially un-deliverable in the format, content, and timing you initially wanted. Our external lens may result in recommendations that you (at least partially) don’t agree with. Maybe a donor won’t like our style, maybe a board member won’t like having their disengagement highlighted (even though it wasn’t by name, of course). These types of things don’t always or even usually happen, but they can happen, even with a great, knowledgeable consultant. And that’s ok. It is all still useful information for you and wasn’t a waste of time. Take a minute to sit with why something isn’t resonating — that in itself will be enlightening. And then talk to the consultant about it. I’ll bet they have insight that will help. In the end, everything we do is a recommendation — you can take what works for you, learn from what doesn’t work for you, and move on.
Nonprofit Consultants, almost all of them, want to see you succeed, not drain your budget.
It can be daunting to chose a consultant and put your hard-earned budget and faith in them. But being transparent and clear with them and going beyond just picking based on the bottom line will leave you with a far better, more sustainable outcome. Indeed, that’s another reason why I tend to work by referral instead of RFP — the whole process, from hiring to finish, ends up more personal, more authentic — everyone leaves feeling like the world got a little better. And almost every client has worked with me again — because we’ve built real, not superficial, trust. Nonprofit consultants, especially small firms and independent consultants, got into the business because we realized we could help the sector we love passionately even better by being the external voice of support and expertise for many nonprofits. We heart nonprofits in our souls. That’s why we’re here. So approach us like we’re here to make it all better, not here to squeeze as much money out of you as we can. I promise — we want to see you flourish.
