Lessons Learned: Hiring Consultants
22:16, 20 June 2007
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For more than a decade, the Meyer Foundation has provided funds to help its grantees — primarily small to midsize organizations in the Washington, D.C., region — hire consultants. Since 1994, Meyer has awarded nearly four hundred management-assistance grants totaling more than $4 million. These grants have helped organizations work with consultants to build their boards, plan and evaluate, find new funding sources, improve their communications, and address other management and leadership challenges. While most of these grants have been successful, some have missed the mark. Sometimes the nonprofit fails to use the consultant well, doesn't make the project a priority, or doesn't have the time or money to follow through on the consultant's plans or recommendations. Sometimes the consultant is the problem. To better understand what often goes wrong and to help grantees avoid the pitfalls of hiring the wrong consultant, Meyer staff reviewed evaluations completed by grantees from nearly two hundred of the foundation's most recent management-assistance grants. This article highlights the lessons learned regarding hiring and involving consultants.
