Q&A with Our Fundraising Consultants: What Does A Fundraising Consultant Do?

By Peter Heller

Contributors: Gary Friedmann, Kim Gerstman, Jeffrey Lischin, Lisa Mantone, Ross Mudrick, Bruce Temkin, & Mieke Vandersall.

Around the time I began consulting work with nonprofits, I saw a New Yorker Magazine cartoon that had an exterminator arriving at an office reception desk stating: “We got a call about a consultant.”

I think the cartoon is hilarious and an appropriate warning. Don’t sell yourself as a consultant unless you are adding significant value to your client. And don’t hire a consultant unless you are confident in their ability to guide you to the next level!

A fundraising consultant should never feel like a pest: a trusted advisor, strategist, listener, and mentor perhaps, but never a pest! At the Heller Fundraising Group, we earn our keep by making your nonprofit stronger than it was before. Our specialty is guiding nonprofit clients to raise millions of dollars through capital campaigns, campaign feasibility studies, major gift programs, and hands-on training. And, trust me, we want to leave long before the exterminator is called! 

So, what should you expect when the consulting work is done? What makes it all worth your investment? I asked the Heller Fundraising Group’s collaborating consultants. Read on…

When the contract has ended, what do you hope your clients have achieved?

I hope to leave the organization in a better place than when I started…with the tools and groundwork to do an excellent job…I want to make sure that they can carry on the fundraising strategies themselves once I have left. - Kim Gerstman

A deeper understanding of the development process and the nature of relationships that feed both donors and their favorite charities. - Gary Friedmann 

By the end of a contract, I hope that clients have materials that they're proud of and can use for a long time and, just as importantly, that they have a better sense of how to tell a more compelling version of their stories. Building that storytelling capacity is a big part of what makes this work fun and interesting for me and, I hope, results in lasting impact long past our work together. - Ross Mudrick

Confidence to steward their donors and build on their success. - Bruce Temkin

I hope they see there can be joy in fundraising.  While the work we do can be hard and has a long view, there are moments throughout the steps, especially securing a major gift, that remind us why we do this work.  If everyone involved, including staff, Board and volunteers, enjoy the process, it creates momentum that can sustain the fundraising efforts whether it is annual or a multi-year campaign. - Lisa Mantone

That their relationship with money has been transformed…That we have met a variety of goals--not just financial, and that my clients feel they are ready to tackle the next challenge.  - Mieke Vandersall 

Increased funding, sustainable programs, evidence-based program design  - Jeffrey Lischin

Contact us if you’d like to achieve these results.