Consulting with Nonprofits : A Practitioner's Guide

by Carol Ann Lukas

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!

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1998