So you think you need a consultant
By Allan Arlett
December 27, 2000; Canadian FundRaiser
Time was, fund raising consultants came in and raised money for organizations
seeking funds, primarily for bricks and mortar. While this is often still
the case, there has been a significant change in the fundraising consulting
field in recent years.
Nonprofits are becoming aware that fund raising can provide valuable financial
resources, initially to increase financial flexibility of the organization.
More and more of them are asking fundraisers to provide essentials
rather than the 'optional extras' that can make a significant difference to
the quality of the institution. Reductions in the levels of government funding
of nonprofits have intensified trends already underway. And the fundraising
profession is becoming increasingly sophisticated.
Foundations created primarily to raise funds are proliferating, and the number
of people involved in fundraising is growing at an explosive rate. Canadians
are giving more; better-trained fundraisers are asking for more and treating
their work as a life-long career; and the field is becoming highly specialized.
Very few organizations have all of the skills and experience that they need.
Meanwhile the grant-makers are largely in a reactive mode, overwhelmed both
by the huge increase in the number of demands for funds they are receiving,
and the amount involved.
The many hats of a fundraising consultant
This has generated rapid change in the consultant's role, which is evolving
from the management of campaigns to helping organizations develop and enhance
their fundraising culture. Nonprofits now are involved in fundraising less
by choice, as in the past, than by economic necessity. In fact, given a choice,
many (perhaps most) nonprofits would prefer not to become engaged in the process.
Thanks to the rising numbers of in-house fundraising staff and their growing
professional expertise, the use of consultants to conduct campaigns is declining.
They're now being asked to:
- Help increase the skill levels of the organization's staff and volunteer
fundraisers.
- Become involved in short-term efforts to increase the income
generated by fundraising programs.
- Develop long-term income-generating strategies.
- Provide advice on how to strengthen the development function within organizations,
often through the use of audits.
- Undertake internal and/or external audits
to determine if an organization and its constituency are ready for a campaign,
or where to invest resources in fundraising most effectively.
- Produce plans
to help nonprofits establish comprehensive, long-range fundraising programs.
The specific assignment you give a consultant will to a large extent determine
the role they play vis-¸-vis your staff and your organization. Be clear about
where you want help and what kind of help you want, and be sure the consultant
has both the experience and the qualifications you need. Remember: the best
way to verify consultant claims is to check with a number of past clients
ª not just the references provided.
Your consultant's possible roles
A study carried out by Kathleen Fletcher identified a number of roles that
consultants find themselves regularly called upon to play. They include advocate,
teacher/trainer, fact finder/detective, resource finder, identifier of alternatives,
information specialist, and of course expert. In addition, consultants often
find themselves acting as facilitator/process counselors, monitors, barbarians,
talismen, sacrificial lambs, joint problem solvers, and objective observers.
But what works best for everyone involved? According to Fletcher, consultant
intervention is often deemed successful if at least one of the following criteria
was met:
- The fundraising skill level of the organization's staff and volunteers
was raised.
- The organization adopted a successful income generating strategy.
- The fundraising function was strengthened.
- The consultant produced a plan,
followed by the organization, that resulted in an effective long-term fundraising
strategy.
Inaccurately assessing the client's situation
In her study of 20 organizations that had used consultants, Fletcher also looked
at unsuccessful consultations, defined as such if they produced plans the organization
did not implement, or if they failed to produce a long-term strategy. The unsuccessful
consultants tended to be more likely to have fulfilled their fact finder role
badly by inaccurately assessing the client's situation, often in order to fit
their own prescribed methodology. In fact, only one-half of the unsuccessful
consultants produced a realistic assessment of the client's fundraising capacity,
and they were likely to have used their assessment to impose their own methodology
on the organization.
The unsuccessful consultants often played an advocate role that brought the
client organization in line with the consultant's own fundraising models, rather
than creating models appropriate for the organization. They failed to help the
client develop 'ownership' of the plan or responsibility for its implementation,
and often inaccurately assessed the board's readiness to become involved in
the type of solicitation being proposed. Without adequate organizational Âdevelopment'
their proposals foundered on a resistance to change.
Other failures occurred, said Fletcher, when the consultant misread the organization's
stage of management and governance development. Thanks to a lack of readiness
to use the assistance, entrenched executive directors, and a history of board
non-involvement in fundraising, their recommendations were ultimately rejected
by both staff and board members.
Mismatched with the client
Consultants who failed to make the transition from content specialist to process
consultant ran into trouble, as did those who created their plans in isolation
without frequent interchange with the client. Still others were mismatched with
their client, in that they did not have experience working with organizations
at a similar development level.
These various problems, Fletcher concluded, boiled down to three important general
concepts that both consultants and client organizations should bear in mind
at all times. In the failed consultations, the fundamental working concept was
wrong: organizational issues needed addressing first; the board was unwilling
to follow through with the plan; and there was a mismatch between the needs
of the organization and the product/service/solution the consultant was able
to deliver.
Fletcher's review of the practices of the successful consultants established
that the fundraising consultant's primary tasks are to: - compile information
- produce a realistic assessment of the organization's fundraising capacity
- help the organization make appropriate choices among various fundraising methodologies
- resist the temptation to impose a plan on the organization
- help the organization develop both 'ownership' of any plans adopted and
a sense of responsibility for their implementation.
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Factors To Consider In Hiring Consultants
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1. Consultants should have demonstrated
capacity to assess organizational readiness for any fundraising strategy
or program. This should include an assessment of the organization's stage
of development and an exploration of the willingness of the staff and
board to devote time, energy and financial resources to the process of
change. The consultant should look at the fundraising history, amount
of staff time invested by the organization in fundraising, current board
member skills and involvement in fundraising, size and nature of the current
donor base, a diversity of fundraising sources and number of volunteers
available to help with fundraising. The consultant should act as a fact
finder, providing objective feedback to the organization's staff and board
about their fundraising readiness.
2. Consultants should demonstrate that they will be involving the organization
in analysis, planning and decision making. Working closely with, not
just generating information from staff and board is a key factor for success.
The consultant should guide the client through a process whereby the organization
takes ownership of the problem and the consultant helps the organization
help itself.
3. Consultants should bring their specific fundraising experience
to the situation and direct the client until the organization is comfortable
with the approach. In directing, the consultant should act as a coach, teaching
the organization how to carry out specific fundraising strategies rather
than doing it for them. A consultant directing a major gift program should
not only implement one campaign but also, most importantly, leave behind
a model for the organization to produce its own major gift program in the
future.
4. Consultants must adapt established methodologies for all fundraising
strategies to the specific organization with which they're working. The
consultant should be in a student's role throughout, learning about the
client's constraints and how they can be expected to affect the way a particular
fundraising strategy can be implemented in each particular situation.
5. Consultants should be involved in the early implementation stages
of plans they help create. This allows them to put models in place that
directly involve the organization and prepare it to carry on when the consultation
is complete.
6. Consultants should be able to change from a content to a process orientation
as organization development issues arise. They should communicate frequently
with the client, exchanging both objective and subjective information, and
help the organization accept information directed at change.
7. Consultants must respect the organizations that hire them. This
will be shown through the careful consideration they give as to whether
there is a good fit with the organization. If they don't fit together well,
the consultant should choose not to accept the work. |
Process counsellor role important
The most successful consultants tended to function as a combination of information
specialist, trainer-educator and joint problem solver. Interestingly, one-half
of the successful consultants played the process counsellor role, an approach
avoided by all of the unsuccessful ones. It also appears that some degree of
consultant involvement in decision making may be important for successful interventions.
Successful consultants tended to engage in a frequent exchange with the client
of objective information and facts relevant to the project. Their interventions
also often included effective feedback mechanisms: the exchange of evaluative
and subjective comment from the consultant to the organization, with the client
willing to accept information designed to change and improve the situation.
Noting that none of the consultants in her study played the objective observer
role, Fletcher points out that "Most people who have worked with fundraising
consultants agree that they are seldom reticent about expressing their ideas
or opinions in their areas of expertise."
Successful consultations will include the right client/consultant match, a client
open to receiving help and acting on it, a strong effort followed to implement
the recommendations, the involvement of committed volunteers, and the understanding
that fundraising is an integral part of organizational development.
Managing accountability and expectations
Ensure that you have included bench marks and milestones in the contract. You'll
also need a detailed timetable of activity, including the identification of
consultant and client responsibilities, and scheduled meetings involving staff
and or volunteers. If the consulting Âteam' comprises more than one person,
include a clear statement of the amount of time that will be spent on the project
by each person involved.
It is crucial to ensure that you use consultants in the most appropriate way,
in the tasks for which they have the unique expertise. Use them to:
- Compile
and produce a realistic assessment and analysis of your organization's fundraising
capacity.
- Help you make appropriate choices among fundraising methodologies,
without imposing their own plan on you.
- Help your organization internalize
the required course of action so that staff and board take ownership of the
challenge and responsibility for the choice and its implications.
- Work with
your organization to prepare it internally and externally to conduct fundraising
initiatives, to provide the short-term on-site staffing required to undertake
the fundraising, and to ensure you are in a position to build on the initiative
if you wish to.
Allan Arlett is a principal in the consulting firm of The Arlett van Rotterdam
Partnership, 10 Buller Ave, Ste 2, Toronto, Ontario, M4L 1C1, tel: 416/694-1226,
fax: 416/694-9475, or e-mail avr@inforamp.net.
