Counsel to the Rescue; Just Getting it Done

Melanie Brandston

If you are reading this, chances are you are looking for a solution to the challenges that are facing all development professionals: our “job jars” are overflowing. Leadership is talking about even more work with increased focus on expanding your donor base, raising more major gifts or even undertaking a capital campaign. Meanwhile many shops have seen job freezes, furloughs or staff reductions as organizations have restructured to get through the recession’s budget squeeze. More work ahead with fewer hands and a narrower staff skill base could be out there for you.

Bringing in a consultant to add expertise and relieve some of the work overload can be an effective and efficient solution. Consultants do not always have to be telling you what you need to be doing; consultants are certainly skilled analysts, and developing strategies and plans (doing “studies”) is an excellent way to use consultants. However, in many cases a consultant can actually do the work for you. So what can a consultant do most effectively either on- or off-site? What should not be delegated to a consultant? How can you add a consultant to your team in a smooth and effective way?

Overseeing Specific Projects

A consultant can bring expertise, objective attention and focus to a project. Consultants like those at Brakeley Briscoe are equipped to create and oversee specific development projects. They can establish a major gifts department or oversee a short-term major gifts campaign for a special project. They can be responsible for identifying prospective donors and leadership volunteers within the organization’s current donor base as well as “suspects” in the general philanthropy arena. They can conduct prospect research. They will develop strategies, timetables, and assignments for cultivation and solicitation of prospects. They will train solicitors (board and staff) and can participate in visits to prospective donors. They will track all activities, and perhaps most important of all, serve as taskmaster to ensure attention is given to fundraising priorities. Staff management, events, proposal writing, donor database records and stewardship responsibilities are all appropriate roles for a consultant.

A significant advantage in retaining a consulting firm is the depth of expertise behind the individual assigned to your job. Consultants are used to getting something important done, and quickly. With a firm, a top- level manager will oversee the work of the on-site consultant and assure the project is carried out on time and on scope. With a firm, your consultant can tap into a wide range of skills and expertise. If, for example, you need an expert in wealth screening services, in- depth prospect research, or planned giving regulation, a full service consulting firm has those resources even if your individual consultant isn’t an expert in that arena. All this adds up to a really deep capacity to get your priority attended to.

Keys to Success

Among the most important keys to success using a consultant in a project management assignment are a clearly defined scope of work, an up-front discussion about how “success” will be defined, and clarity about who does what and by when. Usually you want a senior consultant in the firm and a senior executive in your organization to serve as the overseers of the consultant manager’s work, and these two executives should check in with each other regularly.

To be most effective, consultants should not be burdened with the bureaucratic duties (perhaps that all-staff meeting or that HR-induced emergency procedures training) that you as staff probably must address. Let them focus on the contracted scope of work. They can be helpful as a sounding board on issues that may be hampering your effectiveness, but we caution against making them “one of you”.

Also remember, you don’t need to assign your project manager five days per week to the task; nor may it be necessary to require that the consultant do all the work on site. You can save time and money if you recognize that this manager serves you best with a laser focus on the job you need done.

About Asking

Should the work scope include actual face-to-face cultivation and solicitation? This is a tempting way to reduce work overload. But do not believe any consultant who claims that he or she will raise the money on your behalf without your hands-on participation. In many states solo asking makes people paid solicitors—and they may not even be licensed as such. Besides, your prospects want to speak to a representative of your organization, not to a consultant or “paid fundraiser” about any gift they plan to make. The consultant can prepare materials, letters, cultivation and asking strategies, and may be able to open a door or two. However, major gift investments in an organization’s plans are secured when your leaders explain their vision in person to the interested audience. People want to know who will be ultimately responsible for the project’s implementation and how their money will be utilized. That person is not the consultant.

Some Examples

Here are some ways consultant managers can move your work ahead. Brakeley Briscoe has provided a senior consultant to serve as associate vice president for development in a large department that went too long without a senior executive in charge. We provided a senior consultant to manage a large university annual fund during a long vacancy in the face of urgent need to get the fund up and running—including selection of the direct response consultant/vendor. A Brakeley Briscoe consultant has managed a major gifts program in the absence of a senior development executive. We have developed grant proposals when time was short. We have supported vendor selection for wealth screening and analyzed the screened information and developed an action plan. We have managed board development committees, and of course, served as resident capital campaign managers. Most of our team has actually served in these capacities before they became consultants. The combination of their analytic skills and line experience allows them to get the work going fast and right.