Consulting with Nonprofits : A Practitioner's Guide [Paperback]

Carol Ann Lukas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1998

At last! A comprehensive guide to the art, craft, and business of consulting with nonprofits and community groups . . . Nonprofit consulting requires specialized skills and knowledge of how the sector works. This guide gives you the resources and tools to help you provide quality assistance throughout your career: experienced consultants will find it an invaluable reference; new consultants will get oriented to the sector and find step-by-step guidance through the entire process; technical specialists will gain insights into the larger processes that shape nonprofit organizations; for-profit consultants and business sector volunteers will discover how to shift their expertise to match the unique culture of nonprofit and community work; students in public administration, organization development, and nonprofit management will find it a useful guide for fieldwork, service projects, or future career search. With this illustrated guide you get: an overview of the nonprofit sector and unique elements of consulting with nonprofits; the six-stage process of consulting with concrete steps and challenges in each stage; the art of consulting, including roles, dynamics, and ethics; lessons from the field—stories from thirty skilled consultants offering sage advice on common challenges from setting up contracts to cross-cultural consulting to choosing a consulting role that matches the client's needs; when team consulting makes sense; key differences between internal and external consulting; how to run your business; marketing your services; setting fees, estimating costs, and billing; managing your career growth; working with funders; nine worksheets, sample proposals, professional standards, annotated bibliography; and much more!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fabulous, easily accessible tool to assist nonprofits small and large. I am delighted to recommend this helpful guide." -- Michael Seltzer, Program Officer, Ford Foundation and author of Securing Your Organization's Future: A Complete Guide to Fundraising Strategies

"A thorough, well-organized, and easy-to-use book. A highly useful and readable reference for consultation with both for-profit and nonprofit organizations." -- Jill Janov, founder and partner, Jill Janov Associates, San Francisco, and author of The Inventive Organization: Hope and Daring at Work

"It's all here. Everything. A masterwork that will help aspiring consultants develop the skills and artistry necessary for effective results." -- Review by Contributions Magazine

"Offers guidance for and insights into every aspect of consulting with nonprofits and community groups. Practical. Comprehensive. Readable. Relevant." -- Michael Quinn Patton, author of Utilization-Focused Evaluation

"Packed with real-world wisdom." -- Gary J. Stern, President of Gary J. Stern & Associates, Inc. and author of Marketing Workbook for Nonprofit Organizations, Volumes I and II

From the Publisher

Nonprofit consulting requires specialized skills and knowledge of how the sector works. This guide gives you the resources and tools to help you provide quality assistance throughout your career:

* Experienced consultants will find it an invaluable reference

* New consultants will get oriented to the sector and find step-by-step guidance through the entire process

* Technical specialists will gain insights into the larger processes that shape nonprofit organizations

* For-profit consultants and business sector volunteers will discover how to shift their expertise to match the unique culture of nonprofit and community work * Students in public administration, organization development, and nonprofit management will find it a useful guide for fieldwork, service projects, or future career search With this illustrated guide you get:

* An overview of the nonprofit sector and unique elements of consulting with nonprofits

* The six-stage process of consulting?with concrete steps and challenges in each stage

* The art of consulting, including roles, dynamics, and ethics

* Lessons from the field?stories from thirty skilled consultants offering sage advice on common challenges from setting up contracts to cross-cultural consulting to choosing a consulting role that matches the client's needs

* When team consulting makes sense

* Key differences between internal and external consulting

* How to run your business

* Marketing your services

* Setting fees, estimating costs, and billing

* Managing your career growth

* Working with funders

* Nine worksheets, sample proposals, professional standards, annotated bibliography * And much more!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 223 pages
• Publisher: Fieldstone Alliance; 1 edition (July 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940069172
• ISBN-13: 978-0940069176
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #860,331 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carol is President of Fieldstone Alliance, a national nonprofit intermediary in St. Paul, Minnesota. Fieldstone Alliance works to strengthen the nonprofit sector across the country through its consulting, training, research, and publishing.

Carol has been executive director of nonprofit organizations, a trustee of a community foundation, a consultant within a fortune 500 company, and a small business owner. She has over 30 years of consulting and training experience with nonprofits, government, foundations, businesses, and collaboratives. Carol focuses on building the capacity of national networks and organizations; strengthening connections between the public, private, and nonprofit sectors as they address urban issues; and helping organizations and collaboratives plan and manage change in strategic direction and organization structure and capacity.

Carol is author of Consulting with Nonprofits - A Practitioner's Guide, and co-author of Strengthening Nonprofit Performance - A Funder's Guide to Capacity Building, Conducting Community Forums - Engaging Citizens, Mobilizing Communities, and a contributing author to A Funder's Guide to Organizational Assessment.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wondeful book that should have been titled "Consulting to Nonprofits." 1 Thumb Up!, December 23, 2007

By 

Jeff Lippincott "JLIPPIN" (Princeton, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Consulting with Nonprofits : A Practitioner's Guide (Paperback)

I loved this book. It was written for consultants who provide (or will provide) various kinds of help to nonprofits. More specifically, the help provided falls into two broad categories: help for nonprofit programs, and help with organizational issues like management structure, finances, fundraising, etc. And the help one can get from reading this book will definitely help strengthen the quality of their consulting to nonprofits.

The book was split into just four chapters. I would have liked it better if it had been split into the following nine chapters (each of which received a summary in the book):

1. Consulting roles, dynamics, and ethics

2. Consultation and the nonprofit sector

3. Contracting

4. Gathering and analyzing data

5. Planning the work

6. Implementing and monitoring

7. Sustaining change and evaluating impact

8. Terminating the consulting project

9. Managing your consulting practice

For two years I worked as a consultant to nonprofits. I worked for a firm that provided capital campaign direction to nonprofits involved in multi-million dollar capital campaigns. So much of what I lived and experienced during those two years I found written about in the pages of this book. I found the blurbs interspersed througout the book covering quotes from 30+ consultants from across the US made the book special. Without them I think the book might have gotten a 3-star rating from me.

Since the 1970's the hiring of consultants by nonprofits has become part of doing business in the US. And this book does a wonderful job answering what the most common kinds of consulting are. I can say that when I made the move to nonprofit consulting for two years I was not prepared for the culture shock. For-profit consulting is all about getting the job done quickly and competently. Little sugar coating of the services is required. But in nonprofit consulting people skills exuded by the consultant are so critical and important. And this book explains the difference in the consulting styles. The writing of this book was necessary because of the people skill factor in nonprofit consulting.

Dealing with a nonprofit executive director is not equivalent to dealing with a for-profit CEO. In the nonprofit sector the real power is usually held by the nonprofit Board. A savvy consultant will always keep this in mind. And after reading this book they won't forget it. Deal with the Board! And at page 29, Diane Brown is quoted as saying that if she bid on a whole project with a nonprofit that she usually took a bath. Why a bath? I say because she was dealing with a nonprofit. You have to approach nonprofits differently as a consultant than you would a for-profit.

I would have liked the book better if the title of the book had been "Consulting to Nonprofits." Consulting "with" a nonprofit makes me think of someone going to a nonprofit for advice. And the instant book is about consultants providing advice to nonprofits. 5 stars!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars helpful for new consultants, June 7, 2010

By 

Kathleen A. Dopkeen - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Consulting with Nonprofits : A Practitioner's Guide (Paperback)

This is more appropriate for people new to consulting, rather than consultants new to non-profits.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Practical Guide, September 14, 2001

By 

kdprudolph "kdpr" (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Consulting with Nonprofits : A Practitioner's Guide (Paperback)

Not only is Lukas's book easy to read and engaging, it has gotten me very excited about my career. Lukas draws not only on her own wealth of experience, but also on the experience of countless other consultants. This adds a depth to the book that I never expected. Instead of reading about one person's style of consulting, I am privy to expertise and stories from the trenches of the pioneers in the field. The worksheets, examples, appendices and bibliography will serve me well in my career. I anticipate that this book will be a constant resource for me - it will look dog-eared and well-used in no time at all!