Technical assistance
If you are considering hiring a consultant to help your organization
with a particular project or problem, here are some useful print
and online resources. Here are answers to two questions we get a
lot about finding and hiring a fundraising consultant:
When do I need a consultant?
The following are typical situations when you might need a consultant:
Your organization has no expertise in the
area of need.
- The time of need is considered short-term,
e.g., less than a year, with a general start and stop time.
- Your organization's previous attempts
to meet its needs were unsuccessful.
- Your staff or board continues to disagree
about how to meet the need and you bring in a consultant to
provide expertise or facilitation skills to come to consensus.
- A consultant can do work that no one
else wants to do. You need an objective perspective from someone
without strong biases about your organization's past or current
issues.
- An outside organization, such as a funder,
demands that a consultant be brought in.
How do I pay for a consultant?
You may be able to apply for a grant to pay consultant's fees. Refer
to grantmaker directories such as the Directory of Illinois Foundations
or The Foundation Directory. Turn to the "type of support index"
and check under "technical assistance."
If you are considering hiring a consultant to assist your nonprofit
organization with a particular project or problem, there are a number
of resources listed below that you may find useful.
Web resources
An extensive library of resources covering
a range of management, financial, fundraising and program topics,
including a section on hiring/finding consultants.
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