Every year at the Association of Fundraising Professionals conference, dozens of consultants and vendors exhibit their services and wares in the conference marketplace. Some have been doing this for decades. But this year, at the conference in Vancouver, many of the exhibitors were of a far more recent vintage, well equipped to help and advise charities that use social media and other technology to raise money.

As professions mature, they have to change with the times, adapting to confront new needs and realities. But it’s a good idea every now and then to look back at our origins, remind ourselves of the spark that led to a whole new line of work, and look how far we’ve come.

Management and fundraising consultants originated around the same time and placein the late 1800s in Michigan.

Early management consultants came from engineering and science. The first known one was…

Read More

The allure of corporate consulting may be on the decline, thanks to changes in the business environment as well as scandals like the indictment of Rajat K. Gupta, a former managing partner for McKinsey & Company, on insider trading.

But consulting for nonprofits is taking a different turn: The number of graduates from top-level business schools entering the nonprofit sector has actually increased. Some  students, disillusioned with questionable ethics in the for-profit world and job instability in formerly secure havens like Wall Street, are beginning to work with nonprofits. Many business schools now offer students opportunities to be involved in nonprofit consulting. Last year a new national organization was formed, Students Consulting for Nonprofit Organizations, whose members include respected business schools like Northwestern and Penn State.

Seasoned management consultants…

Read More

As nonprofits have grown in size, complexity, and number, many of the nation’s big management-consulting companies have stepped up their efforts to serve charities and foundations.

Most of the help these companies used to offer came in pro bono assistance. But now they are going beyond that to offer aid for a fee, sometimes through a nonprofit arm and often at a lower cost than they would charge businesses.

Among the companies that have started or expanded specialized nonprofit services in the past dozen years:

Booz Allen started a unit in 2007 to serve nonprofits that is just like any of the other specialty practices within the company.

Monitor Group created the Monitor Institute in 2007 to serve nonprofits. [Editor's note: This corrects an inaccuracy that previously stated the institute was classified as a B corporation.]

Accenture started ADP Accenture Development…

Read More

When most foundations want to strengthen the management of the organizations they support, they hire consultants to work with grantees. They figure that the consultants will help nonprofits grow in their ability to serve the community.

In Phoenix, St. Luke’s Health Initiatives believes in investing directly in the consultants so that local nonprofits of all kinds (not just the foundation’s grantees) will have access to the kind of training they need.

The strategy evolved naturally from other work the foundation supported. It had started an effort called the  Technical Assistance Partnership to enlist nonprofits and consultants to help organizations work together to improve specific types of management skills.

In 2005 and 2006, St. Luke’s and the consultants formed a new effort, a learning community, that eventually expanded to include more than 200 members. There are no…

Read More

Some organizations have found a way to get the best out of the nonprofit and business worlds.

A growing number of organizations combine business and nonprofit structures that offer them the best of both nonprofit and for-profit worlds. They can retain profits but are also able to raise money from both shareholders and foundations. As these organizations grow, they present new challenges and new opportunities for consultants.

First, it helps to understand how two of the most popular socially oriented companies are structured:

* Low-profit, limited liability corporations, known as LC3s, were first created in  2008 and are constructed primarily to meet social needs or provide a social benefit. They are not tax-exempt, but they can attract investment dollars and apply for foundation grants. They can retain their profits.

* B (Benefit) corporations are companies that have a…

Read More