Consulting vs. Full-time Employment, Pros and Cons

2006-03-29

by Stacey E. Abate

After successfully consulting for five years I was suddenly confronted with an unexpected downturn.... I panicked.

Approaches to Tribal Grant Writing and Project Planning

2005-11-09

by Carrie Rothburd and Alisha Drabek, with Jane Hexter

The grant consultant has the unique opportunity to work with a client whose worldview has been marginalized for the last 200 to 500 years. This article shares the experience of an Alaska Native organizer and a non-Native grant consultant who have collaborated with several tribal groups to develop successful programs.

Charities and Trade Exchanges: How Consultants and Nonprofits Can Benefit from Bartering (Part 2)

2004-03-19

by Kevin D. Feldman

Where I live, The Norfolk Foundation is the largest of the community foundations serving the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. The Foundation established a matching gift program called "Arts Match" that provides a 1 to 2 match on cash donations made to eight area arts organizations. It just so happens that these 8 nonprofits are also members of the local trade exchange, The Barter Authority.

Charities and Trade Exchanges: How Consultants and Nonprofits Can Benefit from Bartering (Part 1)

2004-02-27

by Kevin D. Feldman

In this issue we will cover:

• The Modern-Day Barter/Trade Exchange Organization
• Bartering Non-Cash Gifts
• Key Benefits of Bartering for the Consultant
• Key Benefits of Bartering for the Nonprofit

Business Plans (Part 2) - Products and Pricing

2003-12-12

by Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE

In our last article we talked briefly about how to determine what products you want offer as a consultant. This article will examine product selection in more detail as well as discuss pricing your services.

Free Stuff - If There Really Is Such A Thing - For Those Thinking About Consulting

2003-11-21

by Patricia A. Smith

When environmentalist Barry Commoner coined the phrase There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch (TANSTAAFL), it was a reference to one of his four laws of ecology, briefly that in nature's equation both sides of the scale must balance-- for every gain there is a cost. Why is this a lead-in to an article about "free stuff" for new consultants? Well, because while the majority of the information and assistance is free, there is still a cost of time and energy involved.

Getting the Job Done Even When Your Client is Seriously Dysfunctional

2003-11-04

by Jane Savitt Tennen

...To paraphrase Chekhov, every organization is dysfunctional in its own way. Nonetheless, some are in significantly worse shape than others. How do you work effectively with them? Here are some strategies....

Your Business Plan -- the Market Research Component

2003-10-17

by Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE

So you've decided to become a consultant! Now what? Do you hang out your shingle and hope that the business will come?...This article will focus on selecting the types of services you want to provide and the types of clients you want to serve.

M-a-r-k-e-t-ing Find Out What It Means To Me

2003-10-10

by Stacy Dieter

... Now that I am a full-time consultant without a marketing department, marketing means something completely different. In this and future articles, I am going to explore what marketing means to consultants, how marketing can help us, and why it is so important to never stop.

The Top 10 Ways to Sabotage Your Consulting Business

2003-09-19

by Patricia A. Smith

David Letterman has perfected the top 10 list and admittedly many of his choices are silly and inane. This list, however, is foolproof. If you practice only one or two of these, you may be able to stay in business. For best results and to totally sabotage your consulting business you must follow all 10.

Putting First Things First as You Enter the Consulting Profession: The Why's and the What's Before the How's

2003-08-29

by Katherine Driskell Felts

On a pretty regular basis, a new consultant, or someone considering being a consultant will ask the CONSULTANTS listserv on CharityChannel a how question. "How do I set my fees, now that I'm grantwriting?" "How do I write my contracts, will you give me yours?" "How do you educate the clients so they know what to expect?" and its sister "and so they don't make me crazy?" Each of these questions is very important, and will be considered when you put together your business plan. However, to ask them too soon puts the cart before the horse.

Dreaming of Being Super-Consultant? Faster than a Government RFP Due Date, More Powerful than a Board Assessment Tool, Able to Raise Large Amounts of Money with a Single Volunteer

2003-08-15

by Katherine Driskell Felts

Are you dreaming of a consulting practice? Whether or not you are on your own already trying to consult or are on the "inside" dreaming and moonlighting to get out, you may have ideas about what a consulting practice is:

The T-V-T Principle of Profitability(TM) (Part 1)

2003-02-09

by Renata J. Rafferty

A glorious example of spam has been working its way across the worldwide web for years now. You've probably seen it, or a variation, at least a dozen times. The posting generally exhorts you to contact the sender immediately if you want to...

• Be Your Own Boss!
• Create Your Own Hours!!
• Have More Free Time!!!
• Have Unlimited Income Potential!!!

The Cobbler's Kids Don't Have to Go Barefoot -- 10 Ways to Practice What You Preach

2003-02-01

by Hildy Gottlieb

Sometimes I think consulting could be called the land of the Cobbler’s Kids, a land where we know how to make other organizations function at their best, but fail to do the same for ourselves. Imagine if we shed that behavior and started practicing what we preach.  We could be just as successful as we help our clients to be! Here are 10 ways to get started....

Protecting Proprietary Information

2002-11-29

by Mari Lane Gewecke

Some of the most valuable property owned by your consulting business includes knowledge about the unique services you provide and the name you give your company. While most of us purchase insurance to cover our physical property and assets, many consultants neglect to adequately protect proprietary information (that which you have exclusively developed) and intellectual property. It is this type of property that is often irreplaceable in monetary terms.