Fundraising consultants bring years of experience and expertise to nonprofit missions. They assist with crucial fundraising tasks, from guiding your upcoming capital campaign to revamping marketing materials to identifying the most effective fundraising ideas. These strategic partners can increase your organization’s capacity and help you raise more for your cause.
However, hiring a fundraising consultant who fits your needs is only the first step. To truly unlock the potential of your consultant, you must view the engagement as a collaboration. And the foundation of any great collaboration is a strong relationship.
In this guide, we’ll explore the benefits of working with a fundraising consultant and offer tips for building a partnership that delivers the impactful results your nonprofit needs.
The Value of a Fundraising Consultant
Bringing in outside counsel is an investment in your organization’s future. While the upfront cost can sometimes cause hesitation, the return on investment (ROI) from a successful engagement often far outweighs the expense. According to Convergent Nonprofit Solutions, working with a consultant brings the following benefits for nonprofits:
- Experience and expertise: Fundraising consultants have years of experience in their fields that they can draw on while working with your nonprofit. This allows them to propose strategies and solutions that your team might not have thought of on its own.
- Objective perspective: Your nonprofit’s team is very familiar with your mission and current fundraising activities, which may make it difficult to try new approaches. A fundraising consultant mitigates this issue by approaching your nonprofit’s fundraising strategy and activities with an unbiased external perspective.
- Customized strategies and planning: A fundraising consultant will create and pitch strategies and plans customized to your organization’s specific needs and challenges.
- Time and resource management: As a nonprofit professional, determining priorities can be difficult and even lead to burnout. A consultant can provide structure by determining where to allocate your time and resources.
- Training and capacity building: Consultants can help your nonprofit team members “level up” their fundraising skills by providing training. A consultant can also provide advice for building your nonprofit’s fundraising capacity, which can also lead to more revenue and greater future funding sustainability.
- Increased fundraising success: The biggest result of all the aforementioned benefits is that a fundraising consultant can help you bring in more funds for your mission. A skilled consultant will also lay the groundwork for future fundraising even after your engagement with them has ended.
When hiring a fundraising consultant, determine early on whether you’re looking for a generalist or a specialist. A generalist will provide broad fundraising services that are applicable to many types of nonprofits, whereas a specialist focuses on a single subset of fundraising or a specific nonprofit sector. For example, if you run an association, you may want to work with a consultant who specializes in helping associations do everything from selecting the right software solution to determining the best ways to boost non-dues revenue.
Tips for Building a Strong Partnership
1. Define Clear Goals and Roles Early
Before work begins, ensure that your nonprofit and your consultant agree on specific, measurable objectives that you’ll use to evaluate the success of the engagement. Clear communication and defined expectations prevent ‘scope creep’ and ensure both parties are strictly aligned on the desired final outcome.
Here are a few best practices for doing so:
- Choose key performance indicators (KPIs): While your ultimate success indicator is the amount of dollars raised, you should track other KPIs to measure how you’re progressing toward your goal. Metrics such as funder retention rate and average gift size increase can reveal the impact your consultant is having on your fundraising program.
- Set benchmarks: Define what success looks like at the 30, 60, and 90-day marks. This might include specific metrics, such as “25 funder prospect interviews completed” or “10 major gift solicitations made.”
- Clarify responsibilities: Determine exactly what the consultant will handle versus what will remain on your team’s plate. You’ll also want to be clear on who has the final sign-off on certain deliverables or project stages. For example, if your consultant is rewriting your appeal letter, do your board members need to approve it?
- Agree on communication cadence: Decide early on how often you will meet and in what format (e.g., virtual, in-person, etc.). Establishing a rhythm will help your nonprofit stay connected to the consultant’s work and enable the consultant to understand how your team has progressed through their collaboration.
For example, let’s say you hire a consultant to help you conduct a feasibility study. Instead of simply setting a deadline for the final report, agree on milestones for each step of the project. This might include setting deadlines for reworking your case for support, conducting your internal audit, and finalizing your interview list.
2. Treat Them as a Team Member
The best results are achieved when a consultant is fully integrated into your mission. Treat them as part of your team instead of an outsider by inviting them to relevant staff meetings or program events so they can see your impact firsthand. Give them access to your prospect details and fundraising data, so they truly understand the full picture of your nonprofit.
Commit to being transparent as well. Be honest about your organization’s financial situation, board engagement levels, and past fundraising failures. By embedding them in your culture and sharing the unvarnished truth, you empower them to provide honest feedback—such as a feasibility study showing you aren’t ready for a campaign—which saves you from burnout and missed targets.
For instance, let’s say that your nonprofit wants to take OneCause’s advice by running a silent auction and needs a fundraising consultant to assist in planning for the biggest event you’ve held yet. If you’ve previously hosted successful auctions, provide the plans for those events, as well as your marketing and storytelling strategy for compelling invitations. Alternatively, if your past events had less-than-stellar results, provide your consultant with those details. This information will help your consultant assist with making your event the best it can be, while fostering a stronger partnership between your two parties.
3. Plan for Long-Term Sustainability
While working with a consultant provides wide-ranging benefits, you’ll want to establish a knowledge transfer plan so you can continue to benefit from your partnership even after your engagement has ended. Ensure that your consultant documents processes, trains staff, and sets up systems that will remain effective in the long term. The goal is for your team to inherit a robust fundraising machine, not a void when the consultant leaves.
As your engagement winds down, your nonprofit may also want to rethink the scope of your partnership, depending on the status of your fundraising strategy. For example, if you hired a capital campaign consultant to oversee your feasibility study, you may decide that you’d like the consultant to stay on for the entire campaign. Or, you may choose to pay a retainer to secure long-term support in the form of strategic coaching.
Remember that fundraising is a marathon, not a sprint. While a consultant can accelerate your progress, sustainable growth takes time and patience. The most successful partnerships are those where the organization uses the consultant to build a lasting culture of philanthropy, not just to hit a revenue target for the fiscal year. Trust the process, celebrate the small wins along the way, and view your consultant as a mentor who is investing in your organization’s long-term resilience.