Executive Service Corps of New England provides consultations for other nonprofits looking for technical assistance, management training and guidance, strategic planning and other support services so necessary for successful nonprofits. The Rhode Island location, in Narragansett, has recently expanded its consultant base and services.
“We provide high quality consultation services at very affordable rates,” said Carl S. Sivo, program director for the Rhode Island office. “Many organizations can’t pay the high priced consulting fees, so we provide access to management consultants that otherwise they wouldn’t have access to.”
Sivo was hired in 2001 to expand the Rhode Island office, and since then he has increased his volunteer consultant staff from seven to 30, and ESC has gone from beginning two new projects in 2001 to starting 12 in 2002. Sivo said he expects that by the end of this June, ESC will have 11 new clients; the nonprofit has 15 now.
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One of those clients is Sojourner House and Executive Director Betty Bailey, who contracted the organization to help her develop Sojourner House’s three-year strategic plan. Bailey and a member of the board of directors worked with two consultants from January until April, and Bailey made her final presentation to the board in early May.
“Working through the process was fascinating, and they were very supportive of my organization,” Bailey said of the consultants. “The questions they asked me caused me to look deeper, to take a step back and get a good look at it.”
Consultants – many of them retired business professionals, lawyers, CPAs and other leaders still in the marketplace – meet with clients on an occasional basis based on their needs. Two consultants met with Bailey every other week. During these meetings, the consultants asked her questions about Sojourner House, and then would assign Bailey a “homework” project for her to research and write a report on for the following week.
Sivo said this volunteer work is attractive to those who have always been active in their communities. Whether they are retired or still working, giving back is an exciting and rewarding experience for the consultants, he said.
“Nonprofits are on the cutting edge of the fields; they’re pushing the envelope daily,” Sivo said. “Our consultants get involved with these associations doing exciting things. They (the clients) are utilizing resources in the community that want to be used.”
While ESC provides management and technical assistance, Sivo stressed the organization does not help other nonprofits with their services, just how to manage those services better.
“We help them with the management of the organization; we increase their capacity to do good work for the community,” Sivo said. That might include business and strategic planning, financial management, marketing, board organization or team building. ESC is only limited by the skills of its consultants, he added.
“I re-learned a lot about Sojourner House, about its customers and staff,” Bailey said of her experience. “It was stepping back and looking at the history of the organization and some of the awesome things it’s done; it was getting a sense of awe about the organization.”
Bailey, who has been executive director for a little less than two years, said she had never prepared a strategic plan before, so the technical aspects were also a learning experience.
“I learned how important it is to have some outside support when you do something like that,” she said. “I also learned that it doesn’t have to be a six-month project – you can move it along fairly briskly.”
Bailey added that she learned the elements of a good strategic plan, which include a list of an organization’s core competencies, a description of its client or customer, the need for its services and translating what the organization wants to do into a financial plan.
Costs for the consultation vary by the length of the project and the size of the nonprofit, Sivo said, from $1,000 to $5,000. Contracts usually last from six months to a year. Two of the largest areas in which nonprofits go to ESC for consultation are strategic and business planning, he said. Having experienced consultants is an important part of ESC.
“It’s not out of a textbook. We have people who have done it through the years,” Sivo said. “People learn by mistakes, and so they’ve been out there practicing and can offer” their advice.
Bailey said she knew she needed professional help in drafting Sojourner House’s strategic plan. The organization budgeted for $6,000, but ESC saved her money and the product was of good quality.
“I just knew I needed to get outside support. I am new in the role of executive director and I’d never done it myself, so I know I couldn’t lead the effort, and the board didn’t have time to walk me through it,” Bailey said. And it’s been a positive experience for her, she said, and one she’d go through again with ESC.
“There are tools and techniques that have been used in the business world for many years that haven’t always been translated into the nonprofit world,” she said. “In the nonprofit arena what drives a business is passion for a client and dedication, and a lot of those techniques can help streamline and focus nonprofits.”
Sivo said that there might be a nonprofit that provides services that no one else does or can, but “unless you can manage that facility properly, you’re going to go out of business. Although you’re providing needed services, it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do it. Nonprofits need donations and need to be able to manage the endeavor, and we help organizations develop a management process.”
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