Working with consultants

Bringing Your New Strategic Plan Online Without Alienating Your Community

I recently wrote about the phrase funders say that terrifies grantees: “We’re about to start a strategic planning process.” Although there are many things I listed that you can do to help mitigate grantee angst during a strategic planning process, the work doesn’t stop when the final plan is approved. It’s likely that many grantees who relied on […]

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Why RFPs Waste Time: Choose a Better Approach to Finding a Great Consultant Part II

Last year I posted a blog about why I consider the RFP process for hiring consultants to be a waste of time and resources, for foundations and consultants alike. This week, read about 5 better ways to find quality consulting help. Before you send out another RFP to retain a consultant, consider these alternatives: Continuously source

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Increase Transparency by Broadening Your Perspective

This blog was originally written as a guest post for GlassPockets, a blog of the Foundation Center. When funders want to know about a particular issue or have questions about process, they often look first to peers and industry associations for answers. That makes perfect sense—the people who do the same job you do are

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Grantmakers Should Think Like Consultants

I believe foundations could save time, solve problems more efficiently, and add greater value if their senior leadership would think like consultants. Let me explain: Most consultants work on a time-and-materials basis, meaning that they have an hourly rate. Foundation leaders who hire those consultants deem the value of their work worth that fee. However,

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Job Opening – Project Director at National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers

I serve as the Chair of the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers (NNCG) and we are currently seeking a new Project Director. In this part-time position, the project director will work with a dedicated group of volunteer members and a virtual office staff to: Expand the visibility and use of our Directory of Consultants

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Why RFPs Waste Time: Choose a Better Approach to Finding a Great Consultant — Part I

Imagine that the foundation for which you work needs to find consulting expertise for a particular project. Everyone agrees to develop an RFP to get qualified consultants to respond. That’s thorough, fair, and transparent. Right? Wrong. I rarely respond to RFPs for consulting engagements. Their expectations are not thorough, fair, or transparent. I find most

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