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;
- Lastly, 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.
