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Last weekend, I was trading emails back and forth with a friend from high school who is looking to start her own consulting firm in a rather obscure academic field. She was writing to ask if I would be willing to advise and mentor her during the process. I said I’d help where I could, but one thing she said kinda bothered me from the outset.
I have the idea to start a consulting firm within the next five years.
Why wait five years? My first piece of advice to her was to start building her consulting practice now, not later. Five years from now, someone else may have cornered the market for that very obscure thing you want to do. Five years from now, you could find yourself in a job that pays well, yet sucks the entrepreneurial life out of you. Five years from now, you could have three more kids and considerably less flexibility to juggle a day job and a side hustle.
Even if you don’t feel like you’re “ready” to announce your big consulting plans to the world, there are still some things you can do right now to move them forward.
Ideally, your first clients should come to you before you even hang your shingle. That’s the only way you know if you have a viable service, anyway. Yes, things will be messy in the beginning, but when you actually get ready to do a full “launch” of your full-time business, you will have already worked out many of the kinks.
But whatever you do, don’t let time be an arbitrary excuse for not rolling up your sleeves today. What does five years represent anyway? It’s just a moment in time that is not now. Don’t be one of those people who say now it’s not the right time. You don’t have enough time. Maybe next time. The timing is off. You’re too young. You’re too old. You missed your time.
Or maybe you don’t have enough information. You can’t afford the seminars or the books that will give you the information. You have too much information. You need better information. The person with the information won’t get back to you.
There will always be an excuse not to do the thing you’ve always wanted to do. It’s so much easier to sit around talking about that Big Awesome Idea we never seem to be able get off the ground. But at some point you need to either jump off the damn cliff or just stop talking about that thing you know you’re never gonna do. We all have good ideas, but they’re pretty much useless if we don’t implement them.
Because when you do make the jump? Well, it’s like Sarah Susanka said in her fantastic book, The Not So Big Life: Making Room for What Really Matters
“Once you make the unequivocal internal commitment to do something – when you absolutely know this is the time and the place to act – the world around you will shift in all sorts of apparently miraculous ways to make it happen.”
The commitment comes first. But please, do it now, not five years from now.
This is the sixth post in the How to Start a Nonprofit Side Hustle series.
Last week I caught up with Niecy Taylor, who just moved across the country from having a full-time nonprofit job in Baltimore to trying to get her foot in the door of New Mexico’s nonprofit sector. She gave some insight to how she ended up making the decision to become a consultant instead.
How long have you been a nonprofit consultant and what kind of consulting do you do?
How did you get your first nonprofit consulting gig? Was it paid?
It is amazing how things work. Shortly after I decided I would focus my attention on building my practice, the organization I have worked for the past 4 years asked me to contract with them as a consultant once I left. So, my first “official” gig is paid! I’m also doing some pro bono work for several grassroots organizations while I’m building my practice.
You can follow Niecy on Twitter @niecytaylor and read her blog on service at www.niecytaylor.wordpress.com
This is the fifth post in the How to Start a Nonprofit Side Hustle series.
If you’re a full-time nonprofit worker looking for a way to make some extra cash, it can be hard to see how you’d ever have the time or the energy after a long day doing good. Well, I’m here to remind you that everyone has the same number of hours in a day. It’s what we do (or don’t do) with them that makes the difference. I share with you here a few tricks I used to get my consulting business up and running while I still had a full-time nonprofit job.
Leave work on time
You know why you’re too tired to do anything after work? Because you stay there all night! Set boundaries on how late you stay after work. If you come in at 9:00am, plan your day so that you can end at 5ish and head home to work on your consulting business. If you have a big project to complete at your nonprofit, make a project management schedule so you can work on it in chunks, rather than cramming it all in during a week that you may also have work due for a client.
Use your vacation days
At my previous job, we had pretty good benefits. I had four weeks of vacation (five after three years) and I made sure to use all them babies up. I used one full week for an actual vacation to the tropical paradise of my choice, then the rest of the time I used for consultiang and traveling around the country for speaking gigs. When a potential client contacted me, I got out my work calendar and scheduled any projects around holidays and weeks that I knew were clear for me to be out of the office. By doing it this way, I was able to put my full-time nonprofit job first and not piss off my boss for missing any important deadlines or events for the organization.
Maximize your lunch hour
If you must eat lunch at your desk, do double time while you’re sitting there! Instead of surfing the web with one hand and a pickle in the other, use your break time to send emails to prospective clients, make phone calls to schedule meetings, or jot down ideas in a “side hustle” journal. I keep a small notebook in my purse at all times, just in case I come up with a hot idea for generating more income. It really comes in handy when you only have a few snippets of free time during the day.
What other methods have you used to find more free time during your day to work on your nonprofit side hustle?
P.S. If you’ve already got some extra time, I’m hiring a part-time virtual assistant!
This is the fourth post in the How to Start a Nonprofit Side Hustle series.
Today, I share a real story from Sarah Fischler, a nonprofit professional and consultant who’s also getting her serious nonprofit side hustle on. I asked her a few questions to provide some insight into how she got started with consulting.
How long have you been a nonprofit consultant and what kind of consulting do you do?
I have been a paid nonprofit consultant for a little more than two years. I have enjoyed being a generalist, as this approach really helped me get a sense of the kinds of work I really like and identify my strongest consulting skills. Recently, however, I have been honing in on a few areas of practice: organizational strategy work, organizational assessments, governance, and leadership transitions.
I have also led a few sector-wide research projects and want to do more in this area. Eventually, I would like to split my focus between individual client work and projects that can help promote greater effectiveness and sustainability for the sector. I also work to position myself as being a partner in a nonprofit’s success, not a detached outside expert. This approach takes more time and thoughtfulness, but results in better outcomes with my target market of clients.
How did you get your first nonprofit consulting gig? Was it paid?
Early in my career, I was fortunate to oversee a large grantmaking program at a local foundation. While I was there, I helped shift our grantmaking from being highly transactional to being highly relational, with capacity building for grantees playing a major role in that shift. This experience got me really interested in capacity building and I started providing a significant amount of free coaching to our grantees.
After leaving the foundation, I was hired as the Director of Consulting at the Community Resource Center, a statewide nonprofit capacity building organization in Colorado (my current position). Although I had informally consulted with quite a few organizations while at the foundation, I had to rely almost exclusively on instinct for my first few paid consulting jobs at CRC, all of which somewhat arbitrarily assigned to me in my first staff meeting. That approach worked in some situations and not so well in others. In a rapid, trial-by-fire fashion, I learned business development, facilitation, report writing, project management, job scoping, and lots of other skills that are now almost second nature.
In your opinion, what are the benefits (if any) of being a nonprofit consultant vs. being a full-time nonprofit employee?
I have the benefit of being both because I currently work for a nonprofit that provides consulting services. For now, this is a good situation because I have access to a lot of really interesting work through my employer – access that I would not have as an independent consultant. I also appreciate the security and consistency of having a salary and benefits. On the other hand, I lack the autonomy to focus on some things that really interest me. And, I could probably make more and do more pro bono projects if I had my own business.
Being a consultant also gives me a bigger window through which I can see the nonprofit sector and social change movements. I have seen the same problems with many of my clients and am motivated to help find some solutions to these sector-wide issues, like developing some better governance models. I find this to be one of the most rewarding aspects of my work as a consultant.
A few other things for people to consider when thinking about becoming a nonprofit consultant:
- A strong network is essential. My largest and most interesting projects are the result of carefully, authentically nurtured relationships.
- Make a commitment to staying on the leading edge, as this will set you apart from your competition. It takes time to stay in tune with the thought leaders of our field, but I think it is essential.
- I started doing paid consulting at 27. I have only had two instances where people commented about my age in a negative way. If you come to a project with the right set of skills, expertise, flexibility, and willingness to learn, I think young professionals can be highly effective consultants and often bring an important level of freshness to their projects.
- Consulting is far more difficult than most people expect, especially in terms of the psychological aspects of the work. Take the time to learn how to move a group through conflict, facilitate difficult conversations, and deliver negative information in a humane manner.
- Under-promise and over-deliver. This is the best way to build business and gain repeat customers. This is my mantra for 2010.
- Build a network of peer consultants who you can turn to for advice, work with on large projects, and use as a trusted referral network.
- Commit yourself to doing what is right for the client, not what will get you the next contract. You certainly do not want to develop that reputation.
In addition to her full-time nonprofit job, Sarah also provides consulting services and career coaching for nonprofit professionals. You can read her blog at www.sarahfischler.org and follow her on Twitter @SarahFischler
Up Next: How to Start a Nonprofit Side Hustle: Where to Find the Extra Time to Do Consulting
To ensure you receive all of the posts in the series, you may want to grab my RSS feed or subscribe by email to get new blog posts delivered right to your inbox or your feed reader. For more nonprofit links and daily inspiration, follow me on Twitter!
This is the third post in the How to Start a Nonprofit Side Hustle series.
Now that I’m working for myself full-time, people often ask me how I got into consulting in the first place. It’s kind of a funny question to answer, though, because I never actually set out to be a consultant. Those of you who’ve been regular readers of this blog know that I’ve been working in nonprofits since I was in college. I was so inspired by the work and found a niche in being able to put my otherwise-unmarketable English major skills to use in grantwriting. Then when I graduated, people told me I should move from Richmond, Virginia to Washington, DC because that’s where all the nonprofits were. And lo and behold they were right! I decided to pursue a Master’s degree in nonprofit management and did fundraising for almost eight years. Along the way, I got really interested in leadership development due to the organizations and programs I was working with. And so I started blogging about leadership issues in the nonprofit sector as I saw them. And then people actually started reading my blog and inviting me to come speak at events and do workshops and create programs. Then I started telling them they should pay me because I just couldn’t do that much work for free. And that’s how I became a consultant.
You all may recall my 2008 post announcing Thurman Consulting for the very first time. I did that to let people know that I was available for speaking and consulting, but that I wasn’t going to do all this stuff for free. Even if I wanted to, I just didn’t have the time while working a full-time job. I also wanted to make some extra money to supplement my nonprofit salary at the time. At the end of that first year, I had earned an additional $10,000 to add on to my income, which said to me that consulting might be something I could really make a living at.
For those who are thinking about hanging their own shingle while they still have the security of a full-time job, I offer a few lessons learned from my own experience in testing the waters first.
Tell people what you do
When I was a Development Director at my previous organization, I would meet other nonprofit leaders at events and tell them that I managed the fundraising for the organization. Since most nonprofits struggle with raising money, it was a conversation starter where folks often ended up asking me about fundraising trends or advice on how to find good grantwriters. As a result of my networking, I was asked to provide pro-bono training for a nonprofit board of directors to get them more engaged in fundraising. I was thrilled to do it because it gave me experience in delivering a workshop to board members and the nonprofit also gave me a great reference on LinkedIn for potential clients to see.
Volunteer to do pro-bono consulting
Providing pro-bono support for an organization can be an easy way to gain experience and build confidence in your consulting abilities. Especially if you don’t have 10 or 20 years of nonprofit work experience under your belt, it can be really difficult to convince yourself that you have something so amazing to offer an organization that they would pay you for it. I did free training for a board of directors. As another example, Beth Oppenheim over at 25 & Trying recently launched a pro-bono fundraising business to build her skills. Beth started a new blog as a home for her new venture, which she describes this way:
I am in the midst of taking my career as an experienced and dedicated fundraiser to the next level. My passion for writing has been what I contribute most to the nonprofit world. I am an experienced grant writer, and am looking for new clients! Right now, all of my work is Free. Yes, that’s right, free. I would love to work with your organization!
Speak for free
My very first speaking engagement was as a panelist for the Who’s Got Next? Addressing the Leadership Crisis Among African-American Organizations. I looked at the current speaker list, and realized that there were no young nonprofit leaders slated to talk about our experiences. So I emailed the conference organizer with my bio, we followed up with a phone conversation, and they added me to the panel. I prepared and overprepared and gave the best remarks I could. Then, people began to contact me for other speaking opportunities as a result of seeing me on that panel. And guess what? The second speaking engagement after that first one I did for free was actually paid. If you want to get into the spotlight, public speaking is a great way to start to share your expertise within nonprofit networks. But don’t wait for someone to ask you to participate in an event or conference; the first step may be you reaching out to them. It’s great exposure, and you never know how many potential clients might be in the audience. Also, be sure to keep a good bio handy for when you see an opportunity to volunteer your time and expertise.
Are you thinking about getting into the nonprofit consulting world? What are some other ways to test the waters?
Image credit: dunxs1
Up Next: How to Start a Nonprofit Side Hustle: Sarah’s Story
To ensure you receive all of the posts in the series, you may want to grab my RSS feed or subscribe by email to get new blog posts delivered right to your inbox or your feed reader. For more nonprofit links and daily inspiration, follow me on Twitter!
This is the second post in the How to Start a Nonprofit Side Hustle series.
First, the bad news. Because of the economy, many nonprofit professionals (in addition to many other professionals) are looking for ways to earn extra money due to being laid off from their jobs or being placed on part-time status by their organizations. But the good news is that also due to the economy, lots of organizations are even more short-staffed than ever and are in need of temporary, part-time or consulting help. So instead of getting a second job at Target, nonprofit professionals (and even students) can use their education, experience and entrepreneurial spirit to earn more money for their household by helping other organizations do their work better. I call it a nonprofit side hustle, but you might even call it the new overtime for folks who want to earn additional income beyond their full-time jobs. To get us started, here’s a brief FAQ for those who are thinking of dipping their toes into the nonprofit consulting waters.
What is nonprofit consulting?
When you say consulting, most people think of the common Webster definition, which is to provide professional or expert advice. In the nonprofit world, though, that definition is actually expanded to include subcontracting and project management. In other words, nonprofit consulting is not just organizations paying someone for advice, but it also includes organizations paying someone to actually implement or deliver a particular portion of the work. Keep in mind that foundations and other philanthropic institutions have consulting needs just like direct-service nonprofits do!
A few synonyms for nonprofit consulting:
- subcontracting
- freelancing
- independent consulting
- coaching
- capacity building
What do potential nonprofit consultants need to know?
When I first started thinking about consulting two years ago, the Entrepreneur website was like my bible. This article alone has enough general information in it to give you a really thorough overview of what consulting looks like as a side business. More recently, though, I’ve benefited from the wisdom of other nonprofit consultants who’ve been at it for a while:
- Hanging Your Consultant Shingle in the Nonprofit Sector
- Starting A Consulting Business? 15 Things To Do Right Now
What kind of consulting do nonprofits need? What are some examples of projects that nonprofit consultants work on?
All kinds. Nonprofits and foundations generally have a very lean staff, so there is often not nearly enough support for core organizational management areas like fundraising, marketing, finance, human resources, or technology. Nonprofits also need training to provide their staff and board with ongoing professional development or to facilitate organizational change.
Some examples of nonprofit consulting projects:
- Grantwriting
- Conference planning
- Training for board or staff
- Strategic planning
- Workshop and retreat facilitation
- Executive coaching
- Copywriting
- Web development
Is nonprofit consulting for you?
I have to be honest here – consulting is really hard to do when you already have a full-time job. But if you’re like me five years ago when I had to work part-time as a hostess at a chain restaurant to make my nonprofit paycheck stretch a little further, consulting might just be a welcome addition to your life. It takes some serious organizational skills to hold down a regular job and then go home at night or on the weekends to do client work. To get a feel for a day in the life of a nonprofit consultant, check out these recent chat transcripts from the Chronicle of Philanthropy:
Are there professional associations for nonprofit consultants?
Yes. There are formal ones and informal ones. Many nonprofit associations are great for consultants to join to receive ongoing training and gain access to potential clients. A few of the formal ones (where you have to pay dues):
- Alliance for Nonprofit Management
- Organizational Development Network (not specific to nonprofits, but the knowledge base certainly applies)
- Nonprofit Technology Network (great for nonprofit tech consultants)
- Association of Fundraising Professionals
- Your nonprofit state association
Other really good, informal networks for consultants:
Up Next: How to Start a Nonprofit Side Hustle: Test the Waters
To ensure you receive all of the posts in the series, you may want to grab my RSS feed or subscribe by email to get new blog posts delivered right to your inbox or your feed reader. For more nonprofit links and daily inspiration, follow me on Twitter!
This is the first post in the How to Start a Nonprofit Side Hustle series.
I wasn’t planning on doing a “how to become a nonprofit consultant” series until next month, but then yesterday’s post about innovating your nonprofit career sparked this comment from Dee:
Speaking of side hustles, Rosetta, sometime in the future can you do a post about non-profit consulting? (How you got into it, what you do, the time commitment, etcetera). Or, if you think there’s already an existing resource about it, feel free to point me in the right direction. Thank you!
So I figured I might as well start today! But first, you ask, what is a nonprofit side hustle? Let me explain what I mean with that term. A side hustle is a job that you do on the side in addition to your full-time job. Therefore a nonprofit side hustle is when you provide services or consulting to nonprofits on the side.
Stay tuned during the next week or so for posts about my journey into nonprofit consulting, how to get your name out there, some technical aspects of doing the work, and real-life stories from other nonprofit consultants. In the meantime, please post any resources you know of in the comments!
Image credit: Gnerk
Up Next: How to Start a Nonprofit Side Hustle: Know the Basics
To ensure you receive all of the posts in the series, you may want to grab my RSS feed or subscribe by email to get new blog posts delivered right to your inbox or your feed reader. For more nonprofit links and daily inspiration,follow me on Twitter!
One of the biggest frustrations that young nonprofit professionals have is that there is no linear career path in the nonprofit sector. There is no clear journey to a promotion like there is in, say, the legal profession. You go to law school, you get a job at a firm, you work your ass off and you move up the ladder from junior attorney, senior attorney, then partner. In the nonprofit world, you could stay at a job for five years and never move up from your program associate position. Most of the time, though, it’s not because you’re not a rockstar program associate, but because you work for a small nonprofit and there’s just no other position in the organization to which you can be promoted. It’s times like these that young workers either get really discouraged or get really creative. If you really want to be happy in your nonprofit job, I suggest the latter.
Rebecca Thorman wrote a fantastic post over at Modite about how to bring an innovative spirit to your career, so I decided to remix it a little bit to apply specifically to nonprofit professionals. While the path to career advancement may not be a straight shot, it doesn’t mean you can’t grow in your current position.
Think small
I hate to tell you this, but um, that Executive Director job you were coveting may not open up for a few more years. Maybe not even for a decade. Can you wait that long? If you’re not willing to move to another organization with true upward mobility, you can still make an impact right where you are and practice leadership from your current role. If a promotion is just not an option within your small staff, then you may want to ask yourself if that’s what’s really most important to you. If it’s being upgraded from a Manager to a Director, fine, look somewhere else. But if what’s most important to you is to work for a cause you’re passionate about, try cooling your heels a bit and enjoy the fact that you get to do the kind of work that reflects your values. Do good work for a good cause and let that be enough.
Tackle a new project
You know that computer system that’s slow as molasses? Yeah, that one you’re working on right now that takes a full minute to load webpages. How about the fact that no one in your organization gets professional development now because ‘the organization can’t afford it.” Why don’t you do something about it? Taking on a project that can improve your organization’s productivity can teach you a lot about management and leadership. You will say, oh, but I’m not in the HR department. Or I’m not in the IT department. But maybe you don’t even have departments. Maybe you just have a good idea that won’t get done unless someone takes the time to implement it. You can pull people together to figure out how to make your internet run faster or how to create an in-house professional development program. Or whatever else you think could use fixing. The point is that you can lead it. You can start a new project that will foster innovation in your nonprofit and stimulate organizational change. If not you, then who?
Start a side hustle
I was shocked, then intrigued when I learned that foundation executive Trista Harris owned a dry cleaning business with her husband. Shocked because I couldn’t see how she would have the time to have a rewarding nonprofit career and run a small business at the same time. Intrigued because I saw it as a great example of how nonprofit professionals can use their entrepreneurial spirit to earn more money for their household. Call it a side hustle, call it a slash career, call it a second job, call it whatever you want. The idea is that you can bring innovation to your career by exploring other avenues for your talents. The leadership skills you pick up while running your own business can be used to help you get better and more effective in your nonprofit job.
Set yourself up for your next nonprofit job
One thing that amazed me was that after I quit my nonprofit job of four years, several of my colleagues reached out to offer me a job with their organizations. They offered me jobs I hadn’t even applied for. What I realized was that even though I hadn’t ever received a promotion in my job in the four years I was there (we only had a staff of 6), my leadership skills had grown over time and I had built my personal brand to where people could see that. So even if you know you’ll never get the top job in your organization, it shouldn’t stop you from doing excellent work in your current position. If you do a great job in your role right now, other people from other organizations will take notice. And when there’s an opening later on, you might just be the first one they call.
Although it might be the clearest way to go, getting a promotion is not the only way to advance your nonprofit career. If you want to “move up,” it can also mean growing and changing in other ways that are under your control. What are some other ways nonprofit professionals can think differently about their careers?
Image credit: Cayusa
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