Non-Profit Consulting Calls

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...