Our philosophy on hiring a consultant
Here are a few suggestions to help guide you in your decision to hire the right consultant:
- First, be willing to engage the consultant in an honest appraisal of your situation. What do you think you need? What are your expectations? What is your fundraising goal? How are the funds you raise going to make an impact?
- Be open to the consultant’s assessment that there may be a better set of services to help you reach your goals;
- Be sure to accurately characterize your Board/CEO relationship. Also, properly assess the extent of unity found on your Board for the proposed services;
- Consider just how likely your staff and Board will be to implement difficult recommendations made by your consultant;
- Try to ensure that, if you are interviewing several consultants, they represent similar-sized operations. If they do not, then tell each consultant that you are interviewing with different-sized concerns and what you want to learn from each one;
- If you have included RBSCo on your short list, look for the chemistry between our people and your people. We have a specific style—we are candid, motivated to do well and we want to see that you do well. We are upbeat and enjoy a sense of humor; we understand that you are a client but we want to earn your friendship. Finally, you can trust us to do what we say and to fulfill your expectations.
- Lastly, if you are shopping price, tell us. We have some flexibility and are known to be fair. Tell us what your budget is and we may be able to tailor a solution to it.
