How Charities Can Get What They Want When They Hire Fund-Raising Consultants

Finding the right consultant can be difficult, but experienced fund raisers say

the following steps can help charities hire the best expert for their money:

Ask around. In addition to checking references provided by a consulting firm, and its credentials, charities should get independent recommendations whenever they can. Michele Dombach, development director for the York Rescue Mission in York, Pa., says she starts every search for a consultant by asking fund raisers at similar charities whom they have worked with recently. Her goal is to create a list of several consultants who have successfully aided the organizations she knows and trusts.

Put needs in writing. One way to avoid problems with consultants is to spell out what a charity needs and expects from the expert in a request for proposals. Such a document also provides consultants with the opportunity to respond in writing, providing details about how they will help the charity reach its goals, says Jacob Harold, a program officer at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation who monitors grantees’ use of consultants.

But while such proposals can be a valuable tool in later evaluations of whether the consultant has met the organization’s fund-raising needs, experts say, the documents are only as good as the time and effort that charity officials put into them. Poorly written, vague, or incomplete proposals can turn off consultants, keeping the best experts from applying for the job. And the same is true of overly detailed proposals that reveal a charity’s unrealistic expectations about what a consultant can reasonably do on their behalf.

Interview the person who will do the work. A contract with a consulting firm should make clear who the charity will work with, says George Ruotolo, a Creskill, N.J., consultant and president of the Giving Institute, an association of fund-raising consultants. And charity officials — especially those who will work closely with the expert — should interview that person to see if he or she has the right personality and experience to match their needs, he says.

“It’s much better if you can work comfortably with a consultant,” says Mr. Ruotolo. “The personalities have to mix. There has to be a comfort level with the style.”

Ellen Simpson, executive director of Friendship Service Center, a New Britain, Conn., social-services agency, says she sometimes deliberately tries to be as aggressive as possible when she interviews potential consultants.

“I ask as many questions as I can,” Ms. Simpson says. “I am as obtrusive as I can be. I want to know that the person is compatible with me and my staff in a way that is graceful and matches who we are and what we do.”

Choose appropriate fees. In negotiating with a consultant and signing a written contract, charities should pay particular attention to how the consultant will be paid, says Leo Arnoult, a Memphis fund-raising consultant.

“If the firm says it will take a 10-percent commission, or any commission, beware,” he says. “We are in the business of promoting philanthropy, and philanthropists don’t want to think the consultant is getting a cut of their gift.”

Instead, consultants’ compensation should be based on a daily or hourly rate or — as some organizations prefer — specific tasks that are accomplished, Mr. Arnoult says. Consultants should seek to change the financial terms of the contract only if the scope of work changes, he says.

And, he adds, “if the firm says, ‘I have a bunch of prospects that I can get,’ beware.”

Most legitimate fund-raising consultants work with charities to help identify potential donors and find ways to reach them, but they are not expected to solicit contributions on their own; ideally, the charity’s staff and volunteers take the lead in cementing relationships with donors that continue long after the consultant is gone.

Some consultants give charities a 30-day window to reconsider an agreement. That way, if it doesn’t appear to be working in its first month, either party can walk away and the charity owes the consultant nothing.

Consult a lawyer. Marcia Selva, president of Global Community Service Foundation, a Fairfax, Va., charity that works overseas, says nonprofit groups need to get a legally binding agreement.

Without such an agreement, they run the risk of having consultants who fail to deliver what they promise.

But “attorneys are rarely consulted on these things,” says Andrew Grumet, a New York lawyer who advises nonprofit groups on legal issues.

A lawyer, he says, can make sure the contract properly spells out what tasks the consultant will complete, including a timeline and the conditions under which the charity can terminate the agreement without being forced to pay for undelivered or unsatisfactory services.

Have you had a difficult experience with a consultant who was hired to aid your organization? Tell others how your group handled it in the Fund Raisers forum.