Episode 136: How to work with Consultants: Get a Return on Your Investment
The purpose of consultants are to help your organization scale. If used at the right time, you will see exponential growth and development in your nonprofit. But without a foundation to work with, some consultants can turn out to be a financial drain. Learn when is the optimal time to bring in a consultant for your organization.
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🔦 NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT 🙌🏿
Mary Katherine Matalon Pt. 4
👉🏿https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-katherine-matalon
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🚀 RESOURCES TO HELP YOU RUN A SUCCESSFUL NONPROFIT
How to Validate Your Nonprofit Idea
https://fusion.amberwynn.net/product/the-nonprofit-validation-toolkit/
Donation Request Letters
https://fusion.amberwynn.net/product/donation-request-letters/
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Podcast Transcript
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to On Air with Amber Wynn, where nonprofit leaders learn to fuse passion and commitment with proven business strategies to create long-term funding impact and sustainability. And now here's your host and resident, Philanthrepreneur, Amber Wynn.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Hey, it's your girl, Amber Wynn, Philanthrepreneur, and today's topic is near and dear to my heart. We are talking about how to work with consultants, right? More importantly, how to get a return on your investment because I am a nonprofit consultant. I can speak to this, but I can speak to it because I've also been an executive director, and the purpose of a consultant should be to help you grow, right? To help you scale, to help you become more effective and efficient. And I'm not going to lie, there's some shady people out there who take advantage and we don't want that to happen. So today I'm going to share with you some tips on how to best work with a consultant. When we come back, most founders don't realize that they're more applicants than there is money. This fact impacts a nonprofit's fundability. Nonprofit founders should administer research on their competitors, determine if their community is oversaturated, and identify their competitive advantage before they start a nonprofit.
(01:36):
Check out how to validate your nonprofit idea, a step-by-step guide on how to administer the research you need to validate your idea before spending hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars only to struggle to fund it. Get your copy today. Hey, you're back. You're on air with Amber Wynn, nonprofit consultant, and today our topic is how to work with consultants and how to get a return on your investment. So as I shared before, the purpose of a consultant is to help you grow. When you started your nonprofit, you started with passion and dedication to your community, or you started it because there was a missing in your community that you wanted to feel something personal happened and you never wanted another person to go through the same experience or struggle to find resources, so you started your nonprofit. That does not necessarily mean that you know how to run a business.
(02:33):
The two are not exclusive. You may be good in outreach, you may be good in delivering programs, but you may suck at running a business insert consultant. A consultant can come in and help you to automate your processes, to put infrastructure in place so that it's less cumbersome or it's less challenging for you to do the work. For example, for a nonprofit consultant, I could come in and help you build out your infrastructure that's going to help you qualify for more. Grants, help you to identify what systems you need to put in place in order to answer the questions that a funder's going to ask you for, right? You're doing the work. You're focusing on program delivery, and a funder says to you, I need two years of financials, and you're like, how do I do that? I would come in and I would say, okay, well, the first thing you need to do is to make sure you have a business banking account, not a personal one, but just your business.
(03:37):
You establish that. Then I say, okay, what type of work do you do? If you're working with youth, you need to be able to track them, right? Most importantly, you need to be able to track the transactions from the grant. So I'm going to help you identify an accounting software, so the accounting software can produce the profit and loss statements that this funder's asking for, but you also need to be able to create impact reports. How many people did you serve? How often did you serve them? Those are the things that's going to help you to become more effective and more efficient. And because I've been doing it for so long, I can say, well, most of my clients like this software. Or If you don't have the budget, try this one and then you can evolve into that one.
(04:19):
A consultant's job is to help you get to success faster. But here's the thing, there's some shady people out there more than I'd like to, I'd like to say, but they are out there and I'm the type of person, if you are not ready for me, I'm not going to take your money. That's just who I am because it doesn't accomplish my goal. My goal as a nonprofit consultant is to strengthen the nonprofit organization because our community needs to be strengthened. If I'm taken from you, then you can't give to your community. Everybody doesn't have that philosophy, so what I'm going to say to you is to do your due diligence because people be talking, right? They got some slick tongues out there. You want to know for sure if they can deliver on their promises. Number one, you start off by Googling, right? Go Google, Amber Wynn and see how many complaints. Dig into those complaints. Do I have anything on the BB, B that says, Amber took my money and I never got it back? The other thing you want to do is when a consultant says, I've done this, I've that great. Give me a list of your previous clients so that I can call and verify, talk to somebody.
(05:42):
They could give you their cousins and all that other kind of stuff, but ask them for a list of previous clients so that you can have the conversation, and when you talk to those clients, say, how was your engagement with this consultant? Did deliver on their promises? Did they show up regularly? Did they ghost you? You want to know these things, right? Then secondly, another thing that happens with consultants, especially the technical ones, is, and I've experienced this, I suck at technology, I really do, but every time I work with a new consultant, they want to come in and change my systems. I'm working with Kartra, they're working with funnel kits. We need to move you to funnel kits. Why? Because I just learned Kartra, right? So if you are working with a system when you're talking to consultants, this is what you say, I have invested quite a bit of money on this system.
(06:39):
Do you work on this system? And if they say no, then you can find somebody who does, who's special. You don't want to have to invest all in this money in this whole new system, and guess what? It may not work. You just don't want to do that. So start off with do they work with the systems that you work with? If you don't like that system, then you're like, okay, I will move to your system, but I will move after my subscription ends because you don't want to keep spending all of this extra money, and if they work their salt, they'll understand that and they'll be like, okay, bet. So that's one thing. The other thing that you want to do is you want to make sure that you are ready for a consultant. This is the biggest thing I say to my nonprofits, especially those looking for grant writing consultants.
(07:27):
I will have nonprofits who will establish their organizations. I've got my 501(c)(3). How do I get a grant? Where can I get a grant writer? Babe, you're not ready for a grant writer. And if you go out there and you say, I'm looking for a grant writer, you'll see it in the groups. You'll get all of these. I can help you. I can help you. I can help you, I can help you. They're looking for thirsty people, right? The reality is, in order for you to be the most effective, that means to get a return on your investment, you need to have your infrastructure in place. Grant writers, fund developers, strategists, all the things. They love me because when my nonprofits go through my nonprofit Mastery Academy, they build out their infrastructure. What does that mean? They have a short and concise inspiring mission statement.
(08:21):
They have clear program descriptions with measurable goals and objectives. They have a funder ready budget. They have a process if they don't already have seasoned board members so that when they get to the consultant, the consultant can do what they're being paid to do. How are you going to create a strategy when you don't have an infrastructure? Right? That's like how are you going to race in Formula One when you don't have a high end high performing car, you're going to get on the track with a Honda, maybe you not going to win. So for me, I say, listen, you're not ready for a grant writer. How do I know I was a successful grant writer and I spent the majority of my time as a grant writer getting people's infrastructure in place because I knew that they weren't going to qualify for the grant.
(09:17):
But there are people out there who will take your money. They won't ask you for a budget. They won't ask you for measurable goals because they don't care. They're taking your money because a grant writer, they can't guarantee that you'll get funded. So they take your money and then they're out. Well, you didn't get funded. You weren't ready for a grant writer. You need to have your infrastructure in place so that when a grant writer gets in place, all they're doing is writing the grant. They don't need to restructure your whole infrastructure. So same thing for a director of development. The purpose of a director of development is to establish relationships so that a funder, whether that's an individual funder, a major donor, a corporation, they want to work with you, but what is it that they're pitching? If your programs don't have measurable goals and objectives, what is it that they're pitching and it is not their job to do it, right?
(10:15):
This is why I stopped writing grants because I was making $2 after I finished working with my nonprofits. I spent all my time getting the infrastructure in place. So I said, you know what? I'm going to stop writing grants and I'm just going to do what I'm doing anyway, so that when the grant writers come to me, they're like, I love you, Amber. I know babe, been in your seat. Done it before. So don't be so eager to get people in place to do the work that only you can do, right? A consultant's responsibility is to take your organization to the next level, but if you're not even on the floor, how can they take you to the next level? And then you want to complain, they took my money. They didn't do this. Yeah, it is your responsibility to first build out your infrastructure.
(11:02):
You have to have job descriptions. You need to make sure that your positions are classified correctly. You need to make sure that your board knows it's their responsibility to fundraise all of these things. A nonprofit is a business. You can't go from zero to 65. Zero to 65 is I've got my tax exempt status. Now I'm ready for a grant. No, no, no, no, no. You need to build in your infrastructure. That's zero. 1, 2, 3, 4. A nonprofit is a business, and if you started a nonprofit because you thought it was going to be easier than starting a for-profit, my as Johnny Gill would say, my you are in for a rude awakening. A nonprofit is more work than a for-profit because there's more rules and regulations because the government has given you this special exemption, so there's extra work on top of it. So what I'm saying to you is in order for you to have a positive experience, a successful experience with the consultant, the very first thing you need to do is to build out your nonprofit infrastructure.
(12:12):
Make sure that you have everything that you need so that when you partner with this strategic funding person or this grant writing person or this board development, you have something to give them. It is not their responsibility to build it. It is their responsibility to take it to the next level. That make sense? If you're interested in building out your nonprofit infrastructure, I got you. It's called the Nonprofit Mastery Academy. I'll drop the link in the bio, and what it is is it's a deep immersion program that's going to help you build out all of your nonprofit infrastructure, everything that you need from A to Z. That's the other thing. When you work with consultants and you don't have your infrastructure, you've got Lisa over here who, let me give you an analogy, Lisa over here who says, here's the bananas. You've got Paul over here who says, here's the oranges, and then you've got James over there who says, and then here's the avocado. What kind of salad is that?
(13:19):
So you need to have your bed of lettuce, which is your infrastructure, and then you add the onions, and then you add the avocados and you add the croutons, and guess what the dressing is? That's that money that you got, right? Just that creamy, just bringing it all together. But you have to have the base. The base is the salad. The base is your infrastructure. So that's what I'm going to recommend that you do is make sure that you do your due diligence with your consultants. You have your conversations. You make sure you understand which systems they're going to require you to use. The other thing is never pay a consultant all upfront. You say, okay, can we do three installments or can we do two installments? One is a deposit for them to get started so that you can look at the quality of work that they do, and then midway, if they only do two, at least you get to see or three.
(14:15):
So the deposit midway, you look at the work, and then when they finish, you give them the payment. You pay upfront, deuces, they're going to ghost you and take your money. If they're shady, if they're ethical, they won't, but how do you know? So just protect yourself by asking for installments. Those installments are typically going to be based off of deliverables. You get halfway through whatever you promise. That's the other thing you want to do. And then lastly, make sure you always have a written agreement. If this consultant is worth their salt, they're going to have something in writing, and in writing it says, I am going to deliver X by this date, and make sure that they say, whatever they create belongs to you. They're just doing a service. It's not their content, it's yours. That's what you're paying for. So have a written agreement indicating what they're going to do and when it's going to be done.
(15:15):
All right, so the last thing I'll say about consultants, for those of us who have integrity and really honor the work that you do, we are here to support you and we are here to get you to success faster. So don't punish us because of what the shady people did. Take some ownership of where you were and then just be more diligent and doing your due diligence. Okay? All right, wonderful. When we come back, we have asked Amber, where you get to ask your pressing questions when we come back. Are you looking to leverage your 501(c)(3) tax exempt status to get products and services donated for an event, silent auction order to support your program but aren't quite sure what to say? Get the donation request letters toolkit. It provides you with the templates you can customize to fit any request, eliminate the guesswork of what to say, how to say it, and what to offer potential donors as benefits for their donation.
(16:22):
You had no idea you should offer donors something in exchange for their donation. Did you offering benefits triples your response rate, plus the toolkit comes with a donor acknowledgement form template. It's the form you give them after they donate. This toolkit has everything you need for a successful donation request. Order your copy today, you're back with on air with Amber, and we are at the part of the episode where you get to ask me your pressing questions. Today's question is from Jackie, Jackie's in Carson, and she says, Hey, Amber, I'm having issues with two of my staff members. They're not getting along. She says that one of the staff members has been around a long time, so she has seniority, and then the new one is bringing up new ideas, and it's just not the way that we've typically done it. It's not that it's wrong. As a matter of fact, a lot of the ideas are good. It's just not the way that we've always done it. And so she's clashing with the senior employee who is used to doing it the old way, and so she's like, I'm not sure what to do. How would you handle this situation, baby? I'm going to tell you, you need to lead.
(17:40):
You need to lead, right? You're saying that this new employee is bringing in new ideas that you think would really benefit the company. I'm assuming you hired that person because during the interview or whenever you had the conversation, they demonstrated their ability to help you take the organization to the next level. It is hard to hire good people in the nonprofit sector. So if you have somebody who's excited and bringing in new ideas, then you need to protect them. This is not the way we've done it. Yes, and this is why you don't have any money, and this is why you're still stuck in the same situation. What I would recommend you do is to not let them handle it. You need to lead. What does that look like? You're going to have a staff meeting and you're going to say, Hey, guys, first of all, I want to acknowledge all of my road dogs.
(18:33):
Y'all been riding with me from day one. I appreciate you and I honor your loyalty, and it's time that we take this organization to the next level. I'm bringing in new people with new ideas so that we can grow and better serve our community. That's the entryway for your new employee. What we're going to do is try new things. Introduce the employee and say, employee, tell us a little bit about some of the ideas that you have. Once they share their ideas, you can say, and so now we're going to figure out how we can integrate them into our future because we can't keep doing the same things the same way and expect different outcomes. You need to say that publicly. Then you need to pull that person, your senior person to the side and say, Hey, I know this is not how we've normally done this, but we need to grow.
(19:24):
If we don't grow, I can't get more money, and then I can't get you raises and I can't, so I need you to be open and I need you to support these new ideas. The other thing I would suggest is that you give your senior person a high visibility project so that they don't feel like they're being morphed or forgotten. Give them something where it's high visibility and it can be something old, or it can be something that's been proposed by this person. The person's going to train them so that they can do it. It doesn't matter. Just give them something high visibility so that they don't feel like they're being overlooked. But be very clear with your senior person and say, do not undermine this person when they make this recommendation. I want you to be supportive. I want you to be loyal to the organization. Don't be messy. Don't be undermining because we need to move forward. But the bottom line is that you need to lead. This is your responsibility. This is yours to squash.
(20:24):
When we start our nonprofits, we start businesses. And when you start a business, 80% of your work is managing people. It's not even doing the work. All managing people and personalities and their baggage and their ego. So this is what you signed up for. Alright, if you have any questions for Amber Wynn, you can hit me up on any of my socials. I'm on all of them. I'm on Instagram, I'm on LinkedIn, I'm on Facebook. You can go to my website, www.amberwynn.net. I am here for you. I'm totally accessible and I'd love to hear your questions. Just to make sure that I'm giving you value. We're going to move into the last part of the episode where we're sharing our last part of the episode, speaking with Mary Catherine Metalon. She is a nonprofit consultant like myself, and she focuses on the area of fund development, which is what I would consider myself. I would consider myself a fund developer, not a fundraiser. Fundraising is a part of fund development. Fund development includes strategy. It's how to create relationships, how to create strategy, how to generate multiple streams of revenue, how to reduce costs so that you're not spending from your budget. So it's a broader, bigger scope of creating stability in an organization. So as we wrap up with math with Mary Catherine, I want you to just think about that shifting from fundraising to fund development and what that entails. All right, now last episode with Mary Catherine,
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Because I think if you don't have that solid infrastructure, it gets really complicated down the road too. So of course, out of the gate, you want to be able to clearly talk about your impact. And if you don't have a system that allows you to do that in an easy way, and instead you're having to manipulate 90 million spreadsheets, it can really become kind of a drain. And then also on the other side, I think it's so important to really from the beginning, invest in your financial systems. So you're always getting financial reports you can read and your board can read because otherwise you're in the thicket. And so yeah, a hundred percent. And I think a lot of times too, it's tough. People have limited money, they have limited resources, and it does seem kind of nonsensical, but starting with those systems because then when you want to grow, you already have it in place.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Welcome back. As we wind down this episode of how to Work with Consultants to get a return on your investment, I want you to consider, if you've been trying to do all the things, I want you to consider how much time you can save by working with the consultants. I have people say to me all the time, I can't afford you. And what I say is, you cannot not afford me. If you don't have experience with strategy or fundraising or building out infrastructure, then you are preventing yourself from getting funding because these are the things that a funder's going to require. If you think you can take a webinar and learn, you still only learn 20, 30% of the actual thing that you need to know. This is how I work with my consultants, because my lane is nonprofits, all things nonprofits. When I started this business, I was just like you.
(24:42):
I know nonprofits. I didn't know small business and all the things that come with running a small business, I got to what I got to market. So this is how I determine how to work with the consultant. Is it going to cost me more time trying to learn X than it would to invest in a consultant? So my hourly rate is $250, and I sit on a webinar for four hours to learn a skill, only then to try and deliver, said whatever. And it still ain't right, y'all, let's just keep it real. So let's just say I've allocated eight hours at $250, and I still don't have the outcome that I want. It would make more sense to hire somebody at $50 an hour just to do my social media because cheaper and while that person is being paid to do my social media, I am doing things to generate revenue.
(25:43):
I'm doing outreach to clients so I can bring in more money. I'm delivering programs and I don't have to worry about social media. And guess what? It's being done correctly. So that's the barometer. You can't do all things. If you started a nonprofit, you are starting a business, and businesses have business expenses, and if you want to get to success faster than you need qualified consultants that are going to help you get there. That's all I got for today. I'm just saying, okay. Alright. Thank you so much for spending a half hour with your girl every week. I'm here Sundays at 10 30. New episode, new Energy, new topics, and it's here for you. All you got to do is hit, hit subscribe and share with the people that you think may benefit from it. I will see you next week, but until then, take care of yourself like you take of your community. Thanks for
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Listening. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave a review on iTunes. Head over to www.amberwynn.net/podcast for the links and resources mentioned in today's podcast. See you next time.
