Nonprofit Consulting Essentials: What Nonprofits and Consultants Need to Know

by Penelope Cagney, Alliance for Nonprofit Management, Robert F. Ashcraft (Foreword by)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470872314
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	08/13/2010
Sold by:	JOHN WILEY & SONS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Penelope Cagney is an active consultant and principal of The Cagney Company. A recognized authority on nonprofit consulting, she is a sought-after presenter for international conferences and webinars, as well as a frequent contributor to publications worldwide.

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Table of Contents

Foreword.

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

About the Alliance for Nonprofi t Management.

Chapter 1: What Nonprofi ts Need from Consultants.

The Infl uence of For-Profi t Thinking in the Nonprofi t Sector.

Reasons for Dominance of For-Profit Thinking.

In Defense of Nonprofi t Organizational Strengths.

How Nonprofits Are Different.

Ten Important Distinctions Between Nonprofi ts and For-Profits.

Chapter 2: The Importance of Process in Nonprofi t 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: Nonprofi t Consulting in For-Profit Firms.

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.

Chapter 8: What Works: Building a Strong Relationship Between Consultant and Nonprofit.

Making a Match That Works.

Maintaining a Relationship That Works.

Chapter 9: What's Next: A Look at the Future of Nonprofi ts and Consulting.

Trends Affecting Nonprofit Consulting.

How the Consulting World Is Changing.

Educating the Nonprofi t Consultants of the Future.

Resource A: Development of Nonprofi t Consulting in the United States.

Resource B: Advice for Consulting Firms.

Resource C: Ethics, Standards, and Consultant Certifi cation.

Resource D: Finding Consultants.

Resource E: Further Reading.

The Author.

Notes.

Index.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"No nonprofit executive should be without a copy of this book on their desk. It represents the end of having to wing it when it comes to managing your investment in a consultant. You, your consultants and the results of your relationships will all be the better for the practical, insightful framework Penelope has put together here. And the scope of it is impressive, covering fundraising, marketing, governance, management and even international consulting. Say goodbye to the confusion that has typically surrounded this whole arena. Should you hire a consultant? You'll know after reading this great contribution to the field. Nothing like it has ever been compiled before."
—Dan Pallotta, Author of "Uncharitable"

"I started consulting to nonprofits back in the 1980's. If only I had this very useful book back then! It is filled with valuable insights and how-tos - a terrific resource for the field."
—Beth Kanter, Author, Beth's Blog and Co-Author "The Networked Nonprofit"

"I often hear from career-changing marketing, operations, and management professionals from the corporate world who are interested in consulting for the "good guys" — nonprofits — as they seek more meaning in their own lives and careers. I will direct every one of them to Nonprofit Consulting Essentials for a real-world assessment of both the benefits and potential pitfalls of becoming a nonprofit consultant. While some corporate skills are transferable, the nonprofit sector has its own unique rewards and challenges, which Penelope Cagney describes well in this book."
—Kivi Leroux Miller, nonprofit board member, consultant, and author of The Nonprofit Marketing Guide: High-Impact, Low-Cost Ways to Build Support for Your Good Cause