Join us on August 12 at noon Eastern time for an online discussion exploring the pros and cons of becoming a consultant to nonprofit organizations.

What do you need to consider in deciding whether to attempt a career switch and become a consultant? What are the hidden expenses and the personal and professional costs?

Join us for a discussion with people who have made the leap into the consulting world after years of working on the staff of a nonprofit organization.

Our guests will be:

• Deborah Elizabeth Finn, who became a technology consultant to charities in 2002 after serving as the national nonprofit liaison officer at the TechFoundation, a Cambridge, Mass., organization that provides technology training to nonprofit groups nationwide.

• Jonathan Howard, vice president of Cause & Effect, a Providence, R.I., consulting company that provides advice to nonprofit groups on organizational planning, communications, and other topics. Until 1994, Mr. Howard was a communications coordinator at Plan International.

• Karla A. Williams, a Charlotte, N.C., fund-raising consultant who has advised nonprofit clients for more than 15 years. She previously served as executive director of the Minnesota Zoological Society and chief fund raiser of the Children’s-St. Paul hospital.

The Chronicle’s online discussions are free and open to everyone. People who ask questions in advance have a better chance of getting answers.