Non-Profit Consulting Calls
I know we need a strategic
plan...
We need a more effective board recruitment strategy...
We're
looking for a facilitator to help us...
Our organizaton needs to reexamine the outcomes we
intend to deliver and get our hands around program evaluation.....
Technology is really changing
the service mix we are a part of; how do we reposition?
We have an opportunity to develop
a new program for school-aged children....
We are not making the
most of our relationship with our own very accomplished board members...
We have an amazing
opportunity to negotiate a partnership with a major local firm...
Our
founder is aging...
We need a better handle on how changes in local demographics will impact
our work...
We are developing an in-house grant-writing function but it’s not working...
We need a better way of evaluating our CEO...
We do nine special
events a year and at least half of them loose money; our individual contributions are a joke...
We are a domestic abuse prevention agency. Tomorrow the local paper is going to break a story about a sexual harassment
complaint here. One half of my staff won’t talk to the other half and my board is freaking out. The mayor just called
to say our funding is on the line...
We’re loosing members at an alarming rate...
Our
leadership is really divided over whether or not we should...
Cultural Planning Calls
A major donor has just signaled her interest in making really meaningful changes
in the way our cultural sector is funded. The city and county are willing to join the conversation, but we can’t seem
to get the Chamber of Commerce or the university to participate...
We have a growing commercial sector that relies
on creative capacity, but they are not connected to local creative workers and creative institutions...
We don't really know how big or how saturated our market is...
Is there a way
to unite all these separate electronic calendars that promote cultural events?
We need
to find a way to imbed a regard for cultural development into a range of municipal and county agencies...
We have a host of civic issues in which arts, science, and history could play an important role, but those sectors can’t
seem to get a seat at the table...
Are crowd-sourced funding strategies right for us?
What can we do to retain our creative workers?
Our major institutions are just not responding to changes in local demographics.
If they don’t connect with the new residents of our area soon, we will loose our public support...
What
role can artists' studios play in the redevelopment of neighborhoods?
Our cultural institutions need help in understanding new market realities and
using new marketing tools...
How can we establish a more equitable distribution of cultural
programs and services?
Each year, the amount of new work presented and exhibited in
the community declines...
Every single year the city council threatens to terminate arts funding; it doesn’t seem to matter how
well they perform...
We
have major funding needs in the arts and cultural community, but the funders operate in a vacuum. It makes it hard to stabilize
programs much less move forward. I am concerned about institutional wellness all through the sector...
Our school board and our cultural institutions are going down two entirely separate paths. The kids are getting the
short end of the stick...
Foundation Management Calls
We are a brand new foundation, and we have no idea where to begin...
We do a
conscientious job of considering proposals but we have never evaluated the overall outcomes of our own funding programs...
It is increasingly difficult to distinguish between applicants. We get lost in comparing apples
and oranges...
As a board, we seem to be making decisions based more on personal connections
and less on criteria than seems wise...
Often, the proposals we receive don’t give us
the information we need to apply our own criteria in a meaningful way...
We have determined a need to take a leadership role in changing our state’s
approach to water resource management, but we are not sure what that role should look like...
Our board is made up of family members; we are not a diverse
group. How can we make certain that our funding decisions really serve the needs of our diverse community?
We would like the members of our
board to begin making site visits that are useful exchanges...
We need help focusing on the
root causes of the problems our mission asks us to address...
Our board is sharply divided over how we should use our resources...
Is it time for us to hire a staff, reconfigure our programs, or change our staff structure?
Donor
Services Calls
I want to make a major gift to
a local organization, but I need an independent evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses first...
I have been a major donor in my
community for some time. I need some help focusing my giving on requests that will make real, lasting changes...
How can my giving have the most impact on the rate at which autism is increasing?
I
need a better understanding of what is being done nationally about financial literacy...
How
can I evaluate whether or not my charitable giving is making a difference?
What is it fair of me to expect from organizations to which I make a substantial gift?
I am a long-term donor to a particular organization. Now, I believe they
are about to make a terrible mistake. How should I approach them? I want our exchange to be productive...
I am grateful to be able to support so many organizations,
but I’m really a very busy, private person. Can you do the interfacing for me?
Project Management Calls
We
are bringing together 300 residents who are concerned about downtown development. We need help in designing the meeting...
We
need to understand how the civic priorities of the 30 largest employers in the region come together...
We have a ton of great information
about a new set of practices we have piloted. Can you help document and market our ideas and experiences?
Our founding director passed away
unexpectedly. Can you get us through this transition in one piece?
We need to memorialize our first decade of service...
We
are exploring a merger with a competing organization...
We need to create an electronic toolkit to help our local affiliates
raise local funds...
We need to know where community leaders stand on our key issues...