Growth in consulting with not-for-profits is as strong in the US as it is in Britain, according to Helen Barrett in her article, "Is consultancy your next career move?". Along with this growth have come other changes. While in the past consultants in the US voluntary sector were almost all former heads of charities, consultants today come from a variety of backgrounds. They include those who have previously worked in the corporate world, recent graduates of both traditional business management and nonprofit management programmes, and management consulting firms.
Just like their British counterparts, Americans who lost jobs in the economic downturn have turned to the not-for-profit sector. Retirees seeking a fulfilling second career or who have been forced back into the workplace by reduced circumstances are also entering the field for the first time.
There has also been a significant increase in the number of business school graduates interested in working in the voluntary sector. The percentage of business students interested in working in the sector at Yale grew from 2% to 10% and at Thunderbird Global School of Management from 1-9% in 2009, according to an article in the Financial Times, "Capturing the hearts and minds of MBAs". Faced with dwindling prospects in traditional positions, as in investment banking, they are looking elsewhere for a career.
It's not only dim job prospects that motivate a move to not-for-profit work. Young professionals, disillusioned with corporate chicanery, want their work to reflect social values. Bombarded by the media with the disasters of famine, disease, war, global warming and natural catastrophes such as floods, earthquakes, and tsunamis, this generation is more acutely aware of the plight of their fellow man than any before them.
In addition to MBAs, there are now graduates with specialised education in not-for-profit management. In the US there are 169 degree programmes in not-for-profit management, including 35 at the doctoral level. More than 295 colleges and universities offer courses. Some of the newly matriculated will go directly into consulting.
Another non-traditional source of new consultants is the large management consulting firms. The voluntary sector is growing faster worldwide than either the business or government sectors. This growing market holds promise for the large professional service firms. A company commitment to social responsibility also attracts job candidates they want to recruit and retain.
Some large management consultancies have responded to the growing market by reformulating or creating an entirely new approach to their not-for-profit practice. Some have even created separate charitable organisations for their work here. They are able to reduce fees to charities by halving voluntary staff salary reductions, by raising money from foundations, and by contributing firm resources like office space and intellectual capital. An advantage these firms bring to their not-for-profit clients is established relationships with government and business. Advisers with insight into all three sectors can be invaluable working in creating partnerships across sectors to address large-scale objectives such as ending hunger and disease.
Much of the demand for consulting services in the US are in fundraising and marketing; in governance and leadership (including executive search, coaching and interim management), and in management, especially in the perennial organisational need to plan and to change.
As for trends in consulting services, the global nature of some social problems is driving the very rapid growth of International Nongovernmental Agencies (INGOs) around the world. These complex organisations have unique problems. There are only a handful of true INGO experts with capacity to help INGOs such as Greenpeace International, Red Cross International and Doctors without Borders.
The boundaries of the sectors are blurring in the US, creating new challenges and new opportunities. New organisational forms in the US⎯B corporations and L3Cs⎯that incorporate elements of both for- and not-for-profits⎯may require different consultant skills. The need to "scale up" not-for-profits in order to achieve monumental goals may require innovators able to work across sectors.
A concern is the qualifications of new consultants. Even the most experienced professional must learn new things such as the elements of the consulting process, client-consulting team effectiveness, scope management, project planning, complex problem solving, and client relationship management. Those unfamiliar with the sector must adjust to the not-for-profit culture and come to understand fundamental differences, like the difficulty of measuring impact in the absence of a bottom line.
There is little formal education for consultants in general, and almost nothing for not-for-profit consultants. In the past consulting firms often used an apprenticeship model to train newcomers, but this cannot work today for the majority of consultants. Most work in groups of fewer than 10 or are sole practitioners. Consultant associations in the US such as the Giving Institute, the Association for Philanthropic Counsel, and the Alliance for Nonprofit Management, help to bridge the educational gap. In Europe there is Netherlands-based EUConsults (European Association of Consultants to and about the not-for-profit sector) and London-based Association of Fund Raising Consultants (AFC). A consultant training programme available in London is offered by the consultancy, "=mc". These help to ensure quality, but standardisation is difficult because of the wide variety of consultant disciplines practised in the sector.
Barrett's article brings welcome attention to this very important but often overlooked area of not-for-profit management. It is instructive to parallel British experiences with consultant growth to those in the US. We stand to gain from a continuing conversation about the subject and to learn from one another so that consultants can contribute the most value to the sector in both countries.
Penelope Cagney is president of The Cagney Company and author of Nonprofit Consulting Essentials: What Nonprofits and Consultants Need to Know (Jossey-Bass 2010, available at Amazon.co.uk)
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