Nonprofit Consulting Essentials E-Book

Penelope Cagney

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 358

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

Consultants are playing an increasingly important role in the challenging world of nonprofits. Yet despite the demand for consulting services, nonprofit professionals often lack the necessary insight into how best to choose and work with a consultant. Nonprofit Consulting Essentials is a vital resource both for nonprofit leaders selecting and working with a consultant to guarantee the best use of their agency's resources, as well as consultants seeking a clear understanding of the more subtle dynamics that define a successful consulting practice working with social sector organizations. Drawing on Penelope Cagney's years of experience as a top-level nonprofit consultant, Nonprofit Consulting Essentials is filled with keen insights and in-depth interviews with the founders and leaders of influential consulting firms. Throughout the book, Cagney outlines a number of concrete consulting strategies that can serve as additional tools for managers seeking to resolve complex organizational development issues. Nonprofit Consulting Essentials also offers recommendations to nonprofit leaders and consultants to make their relationship the best it can be. Once a solid alliance is formed, they can tackle complex organizational challenges together, such as fundraising and marketing, governance and management, and organizational development. Cagney explores what it takes to make the consulting experience a success and covers vital topics such as: the key differences between consulting with nonprofits versus for-profit organizations, the primary areas of nonprofit consultation, making the consulting relationship work, the special ethical considerations of consulting in the sector, and understanding emerging trends in consulting. Nonprofit Consulting Essentials reviews the best practices and thinking in the nonprofit consulting practice, providing leaders and consultants a way to ensure a robust organization in the future.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Foreword

PREFACE

Why Is This Book Needed?

Intended Audience

How to Read This Book

Acknowledgments

ABOUT THE ALLIANCE FOR NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT

Chapter 1 - What Nonprofits Need from Consultants

The Influence of For-Profit Thinking in the Nonprofit Sector

Reasons for Dominance of For-Profit Thinking

In Defense of Nonprofit Organizational Strengths

How Nonprofits Are Different

Ten Important Distinctions Between Nonprofits and For-Profits

Chapter 2 - The Importance of Process in Nonprofit Consulting

The Value of Process

Using Process Consulting

The Importance of Process in Complex Organizational Change: Tales of Two Mergers

Chapter 3 - The Stages of the Consulting Process

Stage One: Engagement

Stage Two: Getting Down to Business

Stage Three: Implementation

Chapter 4 - Fundraising and Marketing

Fundraising

Marketing

Emerging Issues and Trends Affecting Fundraising and Marketing

Chapter 5 - Governance Consulting

Models of Board Leadership

Areas Where Consultants Can Help Boards Improve Performance

Emerging Issues and Trends Affecting Governance

Chapter 6 - Management and Organizational Development Consulting

Traditional Management Consulting

Organizational Development Consulting

Models of Management Consulting to Nonprofits: Nonprofit Consulting in ...

Management Consulting Needs of Nonprofits

Chapter 7 - International Consulting

What Is Fueling the Growth of International Nonprofits?

The International Consulting Landscape

The Special Consulting Challenges of International Nonprofits and INGOs

Special Qualities and Skills of International Consultants

Trends

Chapter 8 - What Works

Making a Match That Works

Maintaining a Relationship That Works

Chapter 9 - What’s Next

Trends Affecting Nonprofit Consulting

How the Consulting World Is Changing

Educating the Nonprofit Consultants of the Future

RESOURCE A

RESOURCE B

RESOURCE C

RESOURCE D

RESOURCE E

THE AUTHOR

NOTES

INDEX

“The relationship between consulting and nonprofits has never been more important. Cagney has done a tremendous service to both groups by detailing the influence they have on one another. Both theoretically sophisticated and practically useful, Cagney’s research will be of great use to anyone interested in improving nonprofit institutions, deriving the greatest benefit from consultants, and understanding what really goes on inside large organizations.”

—CHRISTOPHER MCKENNA, MBA program director and reader in business history and strategy, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford; fellow, Brasenose College, Oxford, United Kingdom

“Everyone seems to have a different idea of what it means to consult or be a consultant, especially in the charitable sector. Finally, we have a book—Nonprofit Consulting Essentials—that really delves into the assumptions and truths, roles and responsibilities of consultants. Best of all, it looks at the differences between consulting in the for-profit world and the nonprofit sector and provides guidance on how to best work with charities. This book is not only a great resource for consultants and those seeking to go into consultancy, but also for anyone needing to hire a consultant.”

—PAULETTE V. MAEHARA, president and CEO, Association of Fundraising Professionals International, Arlington, Virginia

“This really is an essential guide to nonprofit consulting and capacity building in the current climate of dramatic and discontinuous change. The process outlined is robust and relevant. The analysis of how the nonprofit sector differs from the corporate and government sectors is astute. Whether you are just entering the sector or looking to refresh your skills, this book is a must-read.”

—BRIAN FRASER, lead provocateur, Jazzthink, Vancouver, Canada

“If you’re a consultant in the nonprofit sector, or if you retain a consultant—if you’re even thinking about hiring a consultant—read Nonprofit Consulting Essentials. Cagney has dug deeply into the history and practices of nonprofit consultants and produced a balanced and insightful tale of our virtues, our faults, and our peculiarities. There’s a lot of practical value packed into the pages of this groundbreaking book.”

—MAL WARWICK, founder and chairman, Mal Warwick Associates, Berkeley, California; author, How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters

“This book will be an important resource for nonprofit professionals who wish to become consultants and for those consultants who want to improve their craft.”

—PATRICK M. ROONEY, executive director, The Center on Philanthropy, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana

“I have been in the YMCA movement for thirty-five years and have used consultants for technology to financial development to coaching and more, but I have never truly understood the role and benefits of using consultants for nonprofits until I read this book.”

—GREGORY O’BRIEN, president and CEO emeritus, Valley of the Sun YMCA, Phoenix, Arizona

“A knowledgeable resource for consultants, this book outlines challenges and trends that consultants face today and provides useful elements that may orient nonprofit leaders in hiring consultancy services, such as ethical considerations.”

—CONSUELO CASTRO SALINAS, coordinator, Legal and Professional Consultation, CEMEFI: Mexican Center for Philanthropy

“At last! A comprehensive book about and for consultants that explores issues as varied as opportunities, resources, cautions, and ethics positioned in the context of solid information about the current and anticipated trends in nonprofit operations that consultants and organizations face today. Nonprofit Consulting Essentials is a great decision source for organizations seeking a consultant and for consultants wishing to grow their knowledge and business.”

—KAY SPRINKEL GRACE, author and consultant, Transforming Philanthropy, San Francisco, California

“Without question, Nonprofit Consulting Essentials is the finest resource available for those currently working with or aspiring to become consultants in the nonprofit arena. It is a must-read, especially for those considering the field, but it also will prove to be an invaluable guide to existing professionals wanting to move their consulting practice to a higher level.”

—COLETTE M. MURRAY, president and CEO, Paschal Murray Executive Search; past chair of the Association of Fundraising Professionals International and the Council for the Advancement of Support of Education; former board member of AHP (Association of Healthcare Philanthropy) and AHP Foundation

“The nonprofit sector accounts for billions of dollar in the U.S. economy; high-caliber consultants play a critical role between donors and institutions. Cagney has done exceptionally well in providing tools for neophytes and seasoned consultants alike.”

—TONY BANEGAS, program officer, Arizona Community Foundation

Copyright © 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cagney, Penelope.

Nonprofit consulting essentials : what nonprofits and consultants need to know / Penelope Cagney;

foreword by Robert F. Ashcraft.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-470-44240-1 (hardback)

1. Nonprofit organizations—Management. 2. Business consultants. I. Title.

HD62.6.C24 2010

001—dc22 2010020678

For Helen cagney, my beloved mother

FOREWORD

IN MY FIRST PAID JOB in the nonprofit sector I was hired as a youth worker in a special program within a local affiliate of a large, national, nonprofit organization. Our program promoted the concept of volunteer-ism as a developmental strategy for developing young people to their fullest potential. I recall vividly the interactions our senior staff had with an outside consultant who was engaged to help the organization evaluate performance measures with an eye toward recommending appropriate adjustments to our program plan in order to achieve the desired outcomes.

Though our project succeeded on many measures, our management team concluded that the consultant was not the reason. It seemed the fit between the consultant’s personality and business management approach was disconnected from the reality of our organization’s social mission, the complexities of our volunteer-driven organization, the realities of our capital structure (human and financial), and other ingredients inherent to our “nonprofit-ness.” Our conclusion was that hiring a consultant whose prior practice was in the for-profit sector contributed greatly to the apparent disconnect and thus to our lack of satisfaction with the consultancy. My hunch is that the consultant, in retrospect, was equally frustrated by these identifiable disconnects. I will never forget the engraved paperweight our project manager purchased a few weeks after the consultancy ended that he displayed proudly on his desk for the world to see. It read, “When you fail at everything else you can always become a consultant.”

Of course, this one consulting example from more than three decades ago does not begin to speak to the beneficial role and value of consultants who serve in and through the nonprofit sector. From my earliest exposure to consultants, I have since been privileged to work with several outstanding individuals who have helped to inform and shape my thinking and practice in profound ways. In developing and managing one of the leading nonprofit academic centers in the country involved in capacity building of the social sector, I have come to appreciate the beneficial role of consultants. Their value cannot be understated. The velocity and impact of our center’s work with nonprofits has benefited enormously from the engagement of consultants who bring expertise, innovation, and capacities that are strategically deployed to realize the full potential of the nonprofits we serve. In fact, leaders and managers who focus on developing and deploying the right “mix” of capacity-building ingredients (mission, capacity, and capital) often find that the right consultant(s), engaged at the right time, is a leading indicator of whether the enterprise advances or retreats.

Fortunately, for those who care about the effectiveness of the nonprofit sector, Penelope Cagney has stepped forward to offer this groundbreaking book that for the first time addresses the essential ingredients needed for successful nonprofit consulting. In bringing her more than twenty-five years of successful practice experience in planning, development, and communications, Penelope offers nonprofit professionals and consultants alike a context and structure for the subject, an inventory of essential components, and an important ethical framework that will enlighten anyone who cares about taking nonprofits to higher levels of performance and impact.

Nonprofit Consulting Essentials: What Nonprofits and Consultants Need to Know will surely become one of the “must read” books of our time by anyone who cares about nonprofit capacity building. How we think about the non-profit management field, and the important intersection of nonprofits and consultants that occurs within the philanthropic landscape, will forever be shaped in the future by this important offering.

Robert F. Ashcraft, Ph.D.executive director, Lodestar Centerfor Philanthropy andNonprofit Innovation,Arizona State University

PREFACE

CONSULTANTS ARE IMPORTANT characters in the unfolding story of nonprofits. This book is intended to help illustrate how nonprofits use consultants, and how both nonprofits and consultants can make the most of the consulting relationship. It offers consideration of what consulting with nonprofits may or should look like in the future. This book also hopes to raise awareness of the important role consultants play in shaping the sector.

One reason I wrote this book is there are more consultants to nonprofits than ever before—especially small or one-person shops. There is more for nonprofits to consider in making wise choices. Solo practitioners are the vast majority, and boutique firms (employing up to a few hundred staff) account for approximately 20 percent. The large management consulting firms represent the smallest number (about 10 percent), but in some respects they are the most influential and most visible.1 Size is not the only difference, though. There is greater diversity in how they organize themselves and the type of services they offer. They are all part of the larger world of nonprofit capacity builders (see Figure I-1). Professional service firms, MSOs (nonprofit management consulting organizations), academic centers, and foundations belong here.

Another reason I wrote this book is that consultants have played a little-known though important role in shaping how the sector looks today, and both nonprofits and consultants need to plan for consultants to play a more conscious role in how it will look tomorrow. Nonprofits need consultants to help them shape better thinking in and for the sector. For more than a century now, consultants have mostly promoted and transferred for-profit ideas of management into nonprofits. In a capitalist society where markets rule, it is hard to imagine how it could have been otherwise. It is the current paradigm.

Figure I-1. Examples of Providers of Consultant Services to Nonprofits.

Throughout history, numerous models have been held up as ideals for human activity and aspiration. For several centuries, the models of the church and the state held sway. But as the twentieth century progressed, the corporation ascended as the dominant model for human society. For some time now, the MBA has been eagerly sought and prized by the brightest of young people. Marketplace values have become so deeply woven into our way of thinking that it is now difficult even to consider alternative ways of thinking and being.

We sense that we are at the dawn of something new in these early years of the twenty-first century. Perhaps our new age belongs not only to business but also to those who prize mission above profit. Instead of retrofitting business models to the nonprofit sector, consultants may even increasingly come to transfer nonprofit best practices and thinking back to the corporate world—such as a greater sense of mission, a diffuse stakeholder base, and shared power. Long overdue acknowledgment of the unique strengths of nonprofits and a creative and productive exchange of knowledge in all directions take place across the sectors.

The highest aspirations for this book are twofold: more effective use of consulting services on the part of nonprofits, and more conscious understanding of the influence and power of consultants in the sector.

Why Is This Book Needed?

This book is needed because:

• There is little specifically written on consulting for nonprofits.

• The cost of consulting services is one of the greatest expenses commonly borne by nonprofits; those who use consultants would benefit from additional insight into the consulting process.

• Hiring consultants involves not just senior staff but board members as well, all of whom would benefit from greater knowledge.

• Foundation staff need to know how to best use consultants to build capacity for their clients.

• Managers are always looking for ways to be more effective, and consulting offers a different perspective and new tools.

• Consultants can do a better job of serving nonprofits.

• Consultants need encouragement to use their power and influence for the betterment of the sector.

Intended Audience

This book is for those who hire and work with consultants: nonprofit CEOs, senior staff, and board members, as well as foundation staff. It is for non-profit managers seeking a fresh perspective on what they do. This book is also for consultants, those working in firms as well as individual practitioners; those crossing over from for-profit into nonprofit consulting; those preparing for a career in consulting; and those who are already there. Even the experienced consultant can benefit from learning more about consulting outside of her own area of expertise.

This book will:

• Provide nonprofit leaders with insight into choosing and using consultants so they make better use of their resources

• Help consultants be more effective by raising awareness of or reminding them of the subtler dynamics underlying successful consulting

• Help foundation staff make best use of consultants in capacity building

• Offer specific advice that can equip nonprofit managers with additional tools to resolve complex organizational development issues

• Help everyone understand emerging trends in consulting, such as international opportunities and new service areas such as coaching

How to Read This Book

You need not read the chapters sequentially; you are invited to skip around to see what appeals to you. Here are some suggestions as to how to proceed.

Chapter One: What nonprofits need. Concerns the special nature of consulting to nonprofits, and how it differs from consulting in other sectors. Reading this chapter would especially benefit consultants who are less familiar with the sector.

Chapter Two: The importance of process. Describes process consulting and why it is so important in working with nonprofits. This chapter can be particularly useful to clients in understanding the consulting process; it is a primer for new consultants and a refresher on fundamentals of the process for the more experienced.

Chapter Three: The stages of the consulting process. Describes the phases of consultation: engagement, “getting down to business,” and implementation and recommendations.

The next four chapters describe important areas of consulting. This can help clients learn what is available to them and consultants to understand what is going on in the field:

Chapter Four: Fundraising and marketing.

Chapter Five: Governance.

Chapter Six: Management and organizational development.

Chapter Seven: International consulting.

Chapter Eight: What works. Tells how nonprofits and consultants can make a good match and how to make the relationship work.

Chapter Nine: What’s next. Looks to trends that are shaping consultation to nonprofits, and makes suggestions on how to move the profession forward.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK my talented editors at Jossey-Bass, Allison Brunner and Paula Stacey. I would also like to thank Nathan Newman, my fiancé, for his patience with me while I wrote this book; and my dear friend Helen Kriz Marshall, for matchless professional insight.

I am indebted to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University for their invaluable assistance in researching the history of fundraising consultants and for their kind and insightful guidance:

Patrick M. Rooney, executive director

Dwight F. Burlingame, center associate director

Brenda L Burke, philanthropic studies archivist (Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives)

Frances A. Huehls, librarian (Joseph and Matthew Payton Philanthropic Studies Library)

I am grateful to Paul Pribbenow, president of Augsburg College, for reviewing the section on ethics.

I would like to thank these people for their willingness to be interviewed:

Tom Abrahamson, managing director and principal, Lipman Hearne

Leo Arnoult, principal of Arnoult & Associates

Jeanne Bell, CEO of CompassPoint Nonprofit Services

John A. Blanchard III, chair of the Minnesota Opera Company

Gib Bulloch, director of Accenture Development Partners

Liz Cowles, Elizabeth Cowles Consulting, and chair, Association of Philanthropic Counsel

Peter Felix, president, Association of Executive Search Consultants

Scott H. Filstrup, president of the Consultants Limited and member, Opera America National Trustee Council

Elaine Fogel, Solutions Marketing

Judy Freiwirth, Nonprofit Solutions Associates

Susan Galler, president, the Galler Group

Ann Gillespie, senior associate, Booz Allen Hamilton

Heather Mcleod Grant, Monitor Institute

Marcelo Iniarra, consultant

Carol Lukas, president of Fieldstone Alliance

Paulette V. Maehara, president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP)

Barry McBride, chair of St. Mary’s Westside Foodbank Alliance

Christopher McKenna, professor, Oxford Saïd Business School

Michael McLaughlin, editor of Management Consulting News

Drumm McNaughton, chair of the Institute of Management Consultants

Dan Pallotta, author, Uncharitable

Colette Paschal Murray, president & CEO, Paschal Murray

David Postal, board member of St. Mary’s Westside Food Bank Alliance

Nancy Raybin, Raybin Associates, and past chair of the Giving Institute

Bernard Ross, director of the Management Centre

Holly Ross, director of Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN)

Carolyn T. Thompson, consultant

Sean Triner, cofounder, Pareto Fundraising

Christine Whitney Sanchez, consultant

Terry Shannon, CEO of St. Mary’s Westside Food Bank Alliance

David Styers, senior governance consultant, BoardSource

Robert S. Tigner, general counsel for the Association of Direct Response Fundraising Counsel (ADRFCO)

Daryl Upsall, chair of EUConsults

Reginald Van Lee, senior vice president, Booz Allen Hamilton

Mal Warwick, founder, Mal Warwick Associates

Bruce M. Wright, chair of the Vancouver Opera

ABOUT THE ALLIANCE FOR NONPROFITMANAGEMENT

The Alliance for Nonprofit Management is the professional association of individuals and organizations devoted to improving the management and governance capacity of nonprofits to assist nonprofits in fulfilling their mission. The Alliance is a learning community that promotes quality in non-profit capacity building. The Alliance convenes a major annual conference, networks colleagues year-round online, and provides member discounts on books and other publications. Visit us online at www.allianceonline.org.

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What Nonprofits Need from Consultants