Consultants

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Consultants

• Cant work with themAND
• Cant work without them!

CONGRESS 2006
Rob Peacock, M.A., CFRE, President, Metanoia
Canada Bill Petruck, President, FUNDING matters
Inc. Jean Crawford, FAHP, President,
crawfordconnect Mark Climie, CFRE, President,
Wyers Direct Inc.
Management Academy November 13, 2006
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Workshop Format

• Introduction
• Setting the Stage (1)
• Round 1
• Preparing for a Consultant
• Selecting a Consultant
• The Relationship

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Workshop Formatcontinued

• Re-setting the Stage (2)
• Round 2
• Full Service
• Executive Search
• Direct Marketing
• Questions Answers
• Conclusion

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Setting The Stage (1)

• The Survey Says
• Top five areas Consultants are used
• Direct Mail 48
• Major Gifts 39
• Marketing 37
• Capital Campaigns 37
• Executive Search 33

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Setting The Stage (1)

• The Survey Says
• Have they met your expectations?
• Very Satisfied 16
• Satisfied 48
• Neutral 16
• Dissatisfied 8
• Very Dissatisfied 1

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Setting The Stage (1)

• The Survey Says
• How much does the AFP Code of Ethics impact your
  decision to hire?
• Ultimately 8
• A lot 35
• Neutral 33
• A little 8
• Not at all 12

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Setting The Stage (1)

• The Survey Says
• Top five issues in working with a consultant
• Fit 28
• Over promise/Under Deliver 26
• Understanding Deliverables 17
• Experience 12
• Poor Coms/Lack of Response 12

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Preparing for a Consultant

• Non profit Executives should ask themselves a
  series of questions before embarking on hiring a
  consultant

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Preparing for a ConsultantUnderstanding Your
Organization

• What do I want the consultant to do
• How will this relationship work with
• Staff
• Board
• Community

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Preparing for a ConsultantPlanning

• What are our immediate needs?
• What is our long term plan?

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Preparing for a ConsultantWhat do I want them to
do?

• Clear Communication Channels
• Understanding of objectives and goals
• Well laid out plan of activities
• Benchmarks
• Milestones

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Selecting a Consultant

• 10 key questions to ask a prospective consultant
• What strengths do you possess that will prove
  particularly helpful in connection with this
  project?
• How have you worked on similar projects or
  consulted with other groups facing problems
  similar to ours? What were some of the results of
  that work?

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Selecting a Consultant

• How would you describe the challenges we face
  from the limited amount you now know about us?
• Describe your work process. How would you work
  with our staff, board, and executive director?
• Are there other members of your consulting team
  who would be working with you? Who are they?
  How would you propose to divide up the tasks
  among your team members? When can we interview
  them? Do you anticipate using sub-contractors,
  if so, how do you manage that relationship?

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Selecting a Consultant

• What problems do you anticipate as we begin to
  work together? How can we best address these
  problems early on?
• Talk about the responsibilities we must assume in
  order to make our work together successful.
• Are you available to complete this work during
  the times weve specified? Are you available if
  the time becomes extended?

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Selecting a Consultant

• Approximately how much will this cost?
• What else should we be asking you? What should
  we know about you, your experience, or what it
  would be like to work together?

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Working Relationship Phases

• Contracting
• Clearly define
• Overall purpose
• Scope of work (deliverables)
• Lead consultant, Account Director, Manager
• Key contacts at organization
• Who does what, when, with
• Timelines (Critical Path)
• Costs - and all costing considerations
  (incidentals)
• Terms, Confidentiality, Termination

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Working Relationship Phases

• Doing the work
• Contact Hours
• Remove duplication
• Tweaking who does what?

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Working Relationship Phases

• Evaluation
• Interim Checkpoints
• Quarterly meetings
• Annually
• Re-contracting
• Two-way Communications

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Working Relationship Phases

• Transitioning
• Contract completion
• Re-contracting
• Termination
• Capacity Building

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Setting The Stage (2)

• The Survey Says
• Has your organization issued an RFP?
• YES 75
• NO 25

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Setting The Stage (2)

• The Survey Says
• Was the RFP process successful?
• YES 73
• NO 26

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Setting The Stage (1)

• The Survey Says
• When should a consultant start hiring for
  services?
• After signing a contract 91
• After the initial consult meeting 7
• Before negotiating a contract 1

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Setting The Stage (1)

• The Survey Says
• When hiring, have you hired from the private or
  non-profit sector
• Non-profit sector 87
• Private sector 12

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Issues in Major Gift Consulting

• Assessing the clients situation
• Needs versus Wants of the Client
• Realistic expectations with both parties
• All in agreement with direction

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Issues in Major Gift Consulting

• Mismatch with the Client
• Skills
• Personality
• Experience

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Issues in Major Gift Consulting

• Order taker versus Council
• Poor ROI
• Limited skill transfer

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Issues in Major Gift Consulting

• Accountability and Expectations
• Milestones
• Timelines
• Reporting
• Outcomes and Analysis

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Issues in Exec. Search Consulting

• Time Expectations
• The Perfect Candidate
• Organizational Readiness

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Issues in Exec. Search Consulting

• Poor Internal Management
• Hitting the Ground Running
• Restrictive Hiring Procedures

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Issues in Exec. Search Consulting

• The Hiring Committee
• Lack of Understanding of Fundraising
• Realistic Costs

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Issues in Direct Marketing Consulting

• 1. RFP Deliverables
• Give us a five year plan complete with results
  and costs.
• Give us creative in your proposal.
• Heres what you have to spend - give us a plan
  that will give us X.

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Issues in Direct Marketing Consulting

• Full Service Consultant
• Expertise
• Strategy Tactics
• Integrated - beyond DM
• Production Manager
• Tactics Only

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Issues in Direct Marketing Consulting

• The Critical Path

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Issues in Direct Marketing Consulting

• No to Innovate
• Do you need a consultant?
• Does the organization need you?

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Questions??????
CONGRESS 2006
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THANK YOU!
CONGRESS 2006

• Enjoy Congress!