Section 8. Choosing a Consultant

• What is a consultant?

• Why might you seek a consultant?

• When might you seek a consultant?

• Whom might you ask to be a consultant?

• How do you choose a consultant?

Community-based and nonprofit organizations sometimes need knowledge, skills, capacity, facilitation, or perspective that they do not currently have in-house. A consultant can help with a specific project, advise on a specialized issue, facilitate a process, evaluate a program, build organizational capacity, or provide temporary expertise.

This section discusses what consultants can contribute, why and when an organization might use one, who may serve as a consultant, and how to select and work with a consultant effectively.

What is a consultant?

A consultant is an individual, firm, or other organization engaged to provide specialized expertise, advice, services, facilitation, analysis, or project support for a defined purpose.

Consulting relationships vary considerably. A colleague may answer a question informally without creating a formal engagement. At the other end of the spectrum, an organization may retain a consulting firm for a complex project involving a contract, multiple specialists, significant data access, and months of work.

It is useful to distinguish informal advice from a formal consulting arrangement. Once someone is being paid, given access to organizational systems or confidential information, producing deliverables, representing the organization, or taking responsibility for important work, the scope and terms should generally be made clear in writing.

Knowledge relating to an issue

Consultants may bring several kinds of knowledge.

• Research and theoretical knowledge. A consultant may understand current evidence, theory, research methods, policy, or technical knowledge relevant to the organization's work.
• Practical knowledge. Someone who has implemented programs, managed organizations, provided services, conducted outreach, built systems, or worked directly with an issue may understand challenges that are difficult to see through research alone.
• Community and lived expertise. People who live in, belong to, work closely with, or have direct experience of a community or issue may provide knowledge that outside professionals do not have.
• Expertise in a particular method or approach. This might include community organizing, evaluation, mediation, strategic planning, facilitation, public-health practice, accessibility, cybersecurity, outreach, or another specialized method.
• Experience implementing or testing an approach. A consultant may have developed, evaluated, or used a method that could be relevant to the organization.

Often the strongest consulting work connects several kinds of expertise rather than treating academic, professional, practical, and community knowledge as competing sources.

Colleges, universities, extension programs, research centers, professional schools, and community-engagement offices can sometimes be valuable partners. Faculty members, researchers, students, or staff may have relevant expertise or may already be involved in community-engaged work.

Don't assume that academic expertise will be available without charge or that a university relationship automatically fits the project. Availability, institutional approval, compensation, research requirements, intellectual-property rules, student involvement, and expectations for community partnership vary considerably.

Community expertise also needs to be approached carefully. No individual should be expected to represent an entire racial, ethnic, religious, disability, geographic, socioeconomic, or other community simply because they share one identity or experience with members of that community.

When broad community understanding is necessary, involve several people or organizations where practical and compensate people's expertise appropriately.

Knowledge of a process

Consultants may also specialize in helping organizations conduct particular processes.

Examples include:

• Assessing community or organizational strengths, needs, priorities, and experiences. A consultant may help determine what information is needed, whose perspectives should be included, what methods should be used, how data will be protected, and how findings will inform decisions.
• Strategic planning. A consultant may help an organization examine its mission, environment, priorities, goals, strategies, responsibilities, measures, and implementation plans.
• Planning an intervention, initiative, or program. Consultants may help clarify intended outcomes, identify participants and partners, examine evidence, assess feasibility, develop activities, establish measures, and identify resources.
• Implementation. An organization may need help putting a strategic plan, program, technology system, evaluation, communications effort, or other initiative into practice.
• Starting an organization or major program. Consultants may advise on governance, financial systems, staffing, legal structure, technology, communications, community relationships, program design, or other startup needs.
• Organizational development. This may involve governance, leadership, workload, staff development, workplace systems, communication, organizational culture, change management, structure, evaluation, or continuous improvement.
• Facilitation and conflict resolution. Consultants may help groups conduct difficult discussions, clarify decisions, negotiate disagreements, or improve collaborative processes.

Serious personnel, legal, safeguarding, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, fraud, abuse, or investigative matters may require specialized legal, human-resources, investigative, clinical, or other professional expertise rather than general organizational-development consulting.

Expertise in a specific area

Consultants are also frequently retained for a clearly defined function.

Possibilities include:

• Advocacy and public policy. Consultants may help organizations understand public systems, develop advocacy strategies, conduct policy analysis, communicate with decision-makers, or organize public engagement. Lobbying, political activity, and advocacy may be subject to different legal, tax, registration, and disclosure requirements.
• Negotiation, contracts, and business matters. A consultant may advise on negotiations or, when appropriately authorized and qualified, participate directly.
• Grant development. A consultant may support prospect research, proposal development, budgeting, editing, grant-management systems, or other fundraising work while the organization remains responsible for the accuracy and commitments contained in its submissions.
• Facilitation. Consultants may facilitate individual meetings, retreats, strategic-planning processes, community conversations, Board discussions, or other collaborative work.
• Communications and community engagement. Consultants may help with communications strategy, media relations, digital communications, social media, websites, public information, community engagement, crisis communications, or brand strategy.
• Evaluation. Consultants may help develop evaluation questions, measures, data-collection systems, analysis, interpretation, and reporting. Some grants or programs may require an evaluator with a particular level of independence or expertise.
• Professional or technical expertise. Examples include law, medicine, accounting, finance, architecture, engineering, data analysis, cybersecurity, cloud systems, software development, accessibility, privacy, information technology, and specialized equipment or systems.

An outside perspective

Someone who is not involved in the organization's daily work may notice patterns, assumptions, or options that insiders have difficulty seeing.

That does not make a consultant automatically objective or unbiased. Consultants may have preferred methods, commercial interests, professional assumptions, previous relationships, or financial incentives of their own.

For projects in which independence is important, examine potential conflicts and relationships directly rather than assuming that being external guarantees neutrality.

Paying consultants

Consultant pricing varies widely. An individual consultant, nonprofit partner, university center, specialized professional, or national firm may use very different pricing models.

Common arrangements include:

• Hourly or daily rates
• Fixed project fees
• Milestone-based payments
• Retainers
• Reduced-fee or pro bono engagements

Budget for the total project cost, not only the advertised rate. Other costs may include:

• Travel
• Technology or software
• Data collection
• Licensing
• Accessibility services
• Materials
• Subcontractors
• Administrative expenses

Pro bono or reduced-cost expertise can be valuable, but organizations should not assume that professionals, academics, community members, or people with lived experience should donate their work.

Why might you seek a consultant?

There are many reasons an organization might need consulting support.

• To address a problem the organization has not been able to resolve. For example, an organization might need help understanding why its outreach has not built trusted relationships with particular communities, or how to address a complex governance or ethical question.
• To facilitate a process. Strategic planning, organizational transition, collaboration, restructuring, and merger discussions may benefit from someone who can manage the process while organizational leaders participate fully.
• To bring specialized knowledge to the work. A community organization may need scientific, legal, financial, technical, accessibility, policy, evaluation, or other expertise.
• To provide skills the organization does not currently have. Examples may include:
  • Advocacy and policy strategy
  • Communications and public relations
  • Grant development
  • Fundraising strategy
  • Executive or specialized recruitment
  • Training and staff development
  • Organizational development
  • Financial management
  • Negotiation and business strategy
  • Technology, cybersecurity, cloud systems, data, software, or digital strategy
• To complete a specific time-limited project. A consultant might plan an event, conduct research, create a communications plan, assess a technology system, redesign a website, analyze data, develop training, evaluate a program, or complete another defined project.
• To mediate or facilitate a difficult situation. Qualified mediators or facilitators may help organizations, groups, or individuals work through certain disputes.
• To gain an outside perspective. Someone who is not part of the organization's daily routines may identify options or concerns that insiders have overlooked.

Outside investigations are a special case. If an organization is responding to allegations involving harassment, discrimination, fraud, safeguarding, financial misconduct, retaliation, or another serious matter, the investigator may need particular training, legal knowledge, independence, confidentiality procedures, and clearly defined authority.

When might you seek a consultant?

Consultants can be especially useful when:

• You are starting something new. A consultant with relevant experience may help identify requirements, risks, costs, implementation steps, or options the organization has not encountered before.
• You are going through a transition. Leadership change, rapid growth, restructuring, downsizing, merger, new technology, or a major change in organizational direction may benefit from specialized advice or facilitation.
• You are facing a serious or complicated problem. Specialized outside help may be appropriate when internal attempts have not resolved the issue or when independence and technical expertise are important.
• You need stronger organizational systems. Consultants may help develop policies, procedures, governance structures, financial controls, technology systems, management practices, or other organizational infrastructure.
• You do not have the internal capacity for a necessary task. Examples may include specialized tax or accounting work, GIS analysis, cybersecurity review, data analysis, grant development, evaluation, accessibility review, scientific analysis, or event planning.
• You need an evaluator with particular expertise or independence. A funder, contract, accreditation process, research design, or organizational need may require an evaluator who is not responsible for implementing the program being evaluated.

Don't wait until a problem becomes a crisis if specialized help is clearly needed. At the same time, don't hire a consultant simply because a challenge feels difficult. First determine whether the organization already has the expertise, authority, or resources needed to address it.

Whom might you ask to be a consultant?

The right consultant depends on the work. Possibilities include:

A professional consultant or consulting firm. Individuals and firms may specialize in organizational development, evaluation, strategy, communications, technology, finance, human resources, accessibility, community engagement, cybersecurity, research, or many other areas.

Academics and researchers. Faculty, researchers, university centers, extension programs, or other academic partners may contribute research, scientific knowledge, evaluation, technical expertise, or training.

Current or former leaders and practitioners. People who have managed or worked in organizations similar to yours may have practical experience that is directly relevant to a challenge you are facing.

Current or former public-sector professionals. People with government experience may understand public systems, regulation, policy, procurement, or advocacy. Consider any ethics, lobbying, conflict-of-interest, or post-government employment restrictions that apply.

People with specialized professional skills. Depending on the work, this may include:

• Lawyers
• Accountants and financial professionals
• Mediators and facilitators
• Health professionals
• Behavioral-health professionals
• Scientists and researchers
• Educators and instructional designers
• Architects, engineers, and accessibility specialists
• Artists, designers, and communications professionals
• Software developers, data specialists, cybersecurity professionals, and technology consultants

People with lived experience or direct community knowledge. People affected by an issue may understand barriers, strengths, systems, relationships, and consequences that professionals outside the community do not see.

Their participation should be meaningful rather than symbolic. Explain what knowledge you are seeking, how it will influence decisions, what information will remain private, and whether compensation is available.

For example, a community violence-prevention initiative might involve residents, young people, outreach workers, people with relevant lived experience of violence or justice-system involvement, local businesses, service providers, and other community partners in understanding where risks occur and what forms of prevention or support may be useful.

People with community, cultural, or language expertise. Consultants may help organizations understand community history, communication practices, barriers to participation, or relationships with local institutions.

Do not assume one person speaks for an entire community. Also distinguish cultural or community consultation from professional interpretation and translation. When accurate language access is required, use appropriately qualified language professionals.

How do you choose a consultant?

Formal consulting arrangements benefit from a deliberate selection process, particularly when the project is expensive, sensitive, high-risk, funded by a grant or public money, or involves access to confidential information.

Decide whether you actually need a consultant

Before beginning a search, ask:

• What problem or opportunity are we trying to address?
• Do we already have the necessary expertise internally?
• Would training or developing current staff be a better long-term investment?
• Could a partner organization provide the needed expertise?
• Is the work temporary and specialized, or is it actually an ongoing organizational function that should be staffed?
• What will happen after the consultant leaves?

Be careful about assuming that calling someone a consultant automatically makes the person an independent contractor. The actual relationship, level of control, financial arrangements, duration, and nature of the work may affect legal classification.

Define the task and desired results

Write down what you are trying to accomplish before recruiting candidates.

For a clearly defined project, identify:

• Scope of work
• Deliverables
• Expected quality or acceptance criteria
• Timeline and major milestones
• Responsibilities of the consultant
• Responsibilities of the organization
• Budget or pricing structure
• Required meetings or presentations
• Required handoff or knowledge transfer

For less defined work, describe the desired outcome clearly enough that the organization and consultant can tell whether progress is occurring.

For example, "improve staff communication" is too broad by itself. You might instead identify problems such as unclear decision rights, information not reaching teams consistently, duplicated work, or staff not knowing where to raise concerns. The consultant can then help determine appropriate measures and solutions.

The organization should not define the solution so narrowly that it prevents a consultant from identifying a better approach, but it should be clear about the problem, constraints, decisions the consultant may make, and results expected.

Determine the qualifications required

Consider only qualifications connected with the project.

Depending on the work, questions may include:

• Does the work require a particular education, license, certification, or professional credential?
• Does the consultant need specialized training in areas such as evaluation, mediation, investigation, cybersecurity, accessibility, facilitation, research, or another technical field?
• What communication and facilitation skills are necessary?
• What previous experience would demonstrate the ability to perform this work?
• Does the consultant need experience with organizations of your size, sector, funding structure, or community context?
• What accessibility practices must they understand?
• Will they handle confidential or sensitive information, and do they have appropriate data-security practices?
• Do they need professional liability, cybersecurity, general liability, or other insurance?

Consider the working relationship

Working style matters, but avoid choosing primarily on personality similarity or whether someone feels socially familiar to organizational leadership.

Instead, ask whether the consultant:

• Communicates clearly
• Listens to organizational and community knowledge
• Can explain technical information understandably
• Handles disagreement professionally
• Works effectively with people in different roles
• Can operate within the organization's decision-making process
• Is willing to challenge assumptions respectfully when necessary
• Understands the limits of their role
• Can adapt methods without sacrificing professional or ethical standards

Identify conflicts of interest

Ask candidates to disclose relationships or interests that could affect, or appear to affect, their independence.

Possible conflicts include:

• Financial interest in a product or service they may recommend
• Current or recent work for another party involved in the matter
• Personal or professional relationships with people whose conduct they may be asked to review
• Financial relationships with funders, vendors, or competitors
• Ownership of a method or product that could influence recommendations

A conflict does not always make someone unusable, but it should be identified and managed before the work begins.

Decide what you can afford

Establish the available budget and evaluate proposed costs against the project's importance and expected value.

Compare the total cost, including:

• Professional fees
• Expenses
• Travel
• Software and licensing
• Data collection or analysis
• Subcontractors
• Accessibility requirements
• Training and implementation support

Also determine whether grant, funder, Board, procurement, competitive-bidding, or other organizational rules apply.

Recruit candidates

Personal and professional networks can identify good candidates, but relying only on familiar relationships can unnecessarily narrow the pool.

Depending on the project, recruitment may include:

• Requests for qualifications or proposals
• Professional associations
• Consultant or procurement directories
• Organizational websites
• Community and nonprofit networks
• Universities or research centers
• Professional networking platforms
• Referrals from organizations that have completed similar work
• Targeted outreach to consultants with relevant expertise

For significant engagements, provide candidates with the same core information about the project so proposals can be compared fairly.

Review candidates

Use a selection process appropriate to the project's size and risk.

A review team might include people who:

• Will work directly with the consultant
• Understand the technical subject
• Are affected by the work
• Manage the budget or contract
• Understand relevant community or accessibility considerations

Develop consistent, project-related criteria. Depending on the work, compare:

• Understanding of the project
• Proposed approach
• Relevant experience
• Evidence of previous results
• Qualifications and credentials
• Timeline
• Staffing and subcontractors
• Accessibility practices
• Data-security practices
• Conflicts of interest
• Cost and assumptions
• References

Interview finalists when appropriate

Interviews can help determine how candidates think about the project and how they would work with the organization.

Ask candidates a consistent set of core questions while leaving enough flexibility to explore differences among proposals.

One useful approach is to describe a situation similar to one the consultant will encounter and ask how they would approach it, what information they would need, what risks they see, and how they would involve the organization in deciding what to do.

Give candidates an opportunity to ask questions as well. Their questions may reveal whether they understand the complexity of the work and what they will need from the organization.

Check references and relevant evidence of past work

References can provide useful information about:

• Reliability
• Communication
• Quality of work
• Budget and schedule management
• Responsiveness to feedback
• Ability to work with stakeholders
• Follow-through

Where appropriate, also review work samples, evaluation reports, public deliverables, credentials, licenses, or other evidence that demonstrates relevant capability.

Clarify independent-contractor status

Do not assume that someone is an independent contractor merely because the organization calls the person a consultant or because the parties sign a consulting agreement.

The actual relationship matters. Organizations should determine which federal, state, local, tax, wage-and-hour, unemployment, workers' compensation, and other classification rules apply to the engagement and seek professional guidance when classification is uncertain.

Put the agreement in writing

A written agreement protects both the organization and the consultant by establishing what each party expects.

Depending on the project, the agreement may address:

• Scope of work
• Deliverables
• Milestones and timeline
• Acceptance criteria
• Fees and payment schedule
• Expenses and reimbursement
• Organization responsibilities
• Change-control procedures when scope changes
• Confidentiality
• Privacy and data protection
• Cybersecurity requirements
• Access to organizational systems
• Intellectual-property ownership and licensing
• Ownership or licensing of pre-existing consultant materials
• Accessibility requirements for deliverables
• Subcontractor use
• Conflicts of interest
• Insurance where appropriate
• Records and retention
• Publicity or use of the organization's name
• Termination
• Dispute resolution
• Final handoff

Protect organizational information

Consultants should receive only the information and system access necessary to perform their work.

If the project involves participant, donor, employee, financial, health, research, or other sensitive data, determine:

• What information the consultant actually needs
• Where it may be stored
• Who may access it
• Whether subcontractors or third-party systems will receive it
• How it must be protected
• What happens if a security or privacy incident occurs
• When information must be returned or deleted

Temporary system accounts and permissions should be removed when the engagement ends or when access is no longer needed.

Clarify intellectual property

Don't wait until the end of the project to determine who can use the materials produced.

Depending on the engagement, intellectual property may include:

• Reports
• Training materials
• Photographs or video
• Research instruments
• Data
• Software and source code
• Website designs
• Graphics
• Strategic plans
• Templates and tools

The organization may need ownership, a broad license, editable source files, or permission to modify and reuse particular deliverables. The consultant may also bring pre-existing tools or methods that remain their property. Define these distinctions in advance.

Manage the engagement

Hiring a consultant does not mean turning over responsibility for the work and waiting for the finished product.

Identify an organizational contact responsible for:

• Providing necessary information
• Coordinating stakeholder access
• Reviewing progress
• Approving deliverables
• Managing scope or budget changes
• Raising concerns

Establish reasonable progress checks based on the project. Too little oversight can allow problems to continue unnoticed; too much control may interfere with the independence the organization intended to obtain and may also affect how the working relationship should legally be classified.

Plan for knowledge transfer

Where the consultant is building a system, developing a method, analyzing data, creating a program, or establishing a new process, decide what the organization will need in order to continue after the engagement ends.

This might include:

• Documentation
• Training
• Administrative credentials or account transfer
• Source files
• Data dictionaries
• Procedures
• Vendor information
• Maintenance plans
• Recommendations for future work

Avoid creating unnecessary dependence on a consultant because only that person understands how a critical system or process works.

Evaluate the consultant's work and its results

At appropriate points during the engagement and when it ends, evaluate both the work process and the results.

Questions may include:

• Were the agreed deliverables completed?
• Did they meet the agreed quality or acceptance criteria?
• Was the work completed within the expected schedule and budget?
• Was communication clear and reliable?
• Were participants and stakeholders treated respectfully?
• Were accessibility requirements met?
• Were confidentiality, privacy, and security requirements followed?
• Did the consultant identify limitations and conflicts honestly?
• Were recommendations supported by appropriate evidence or analysis?
• Were recommendations realistic for the organization?
• Did the organization receive the documentation and knowledge needed to continue the work?
• What changed as a result of the engagement?
• What remains to be done?

Not every result is under the consultant's control. Organizational leadership may choose not to implement recommendations, circumstances may change, or a project may reveal problems that require additional work. Evaluate the consultant against the responsibilities and results that were actually agreed upon.

Share appropriate feedback with the consultant and document lessons that will improve future consulting engagements.

In Summary

Consultants can provide specialized knowledge, skills, capacity, facilitation, community expertise, technical support, evaluation, or an outside perspective when an organization does not have what it needs internally.

Using a consultant effectively begins with deciding whether outside expertise is actually necessary and defining the problem or opportunity clearly. The organization should identify expected results, required qualifications, available resources, potential conflicts, and what it will need after the engagement ends.

Consultant selection should rely on project-related criteria rather than personal familiarity or vague personality fit. Depending on the work, organizations may review proposals, interviews, previous results, references, credentials, work samples, data-security practices, accessibility practices, conflicts of interest, and cost.

A written agreement should clarify the scope, deliverables, payment, timeline, responsibilities, confidentiality, data handling, intellectual property, accessibility, subcontractors, changes in scope, termination, and final handoff. Calling someone a consultant in the agreement does not by itself determine whether the person is legally an independent contractor.

Finally, organizations should remain engaged throughout the work and evaluate what happened afterward. A successful consulting relationship does more than produce a report. It helps the organization make better decisions, complete needed work, develop useful capacity, and move forward with a clearer understanding of what comes next.