Why Do So Many Fundraisers Become Consultants?

Sheldon Oleksyn writes us from Calgary, Alberta, Canada with a superb question. He is the Senior Development Officer at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. I’m certain many have the same question he poses.

Sheldon asks: “I have been noticing for a few years now that Senior Fundraisers have a tendency to start their own consulting firms rather than stay as full-time employees for charitable organization. I realize some fundraisers are entrepreneurs and enjoy consulting with a wide variety of charities.”

“I suspect the pressures and demands placed on fundraisers working within charitable organizations drive many to consulting in order to better manage their work environment. I saw evidence of this at the AFP Pacific Symposium last year. Over 70% of the attendees were consultants who loved fundraising but not the work pressures placed on them.” 

“I wonder if this trend is something you've noticed, and what this means for the fundraising profession?”

I asked Barbara Talisman to respond to the question. I’ll tell you why I thought of Barbara. For twenty years she ran her own successful fundraising firm. She was a highly effective consultant with an exciting array of clients.

Just recently, she went back to work full-time in an organization (she still does some consulting with the approval of her employer). I thought her response to the question would be revealing and instructive.

But first, I wanted to give my own thoughts to the question.

I know that in many cases, becoming a consultant is not a first or enthusiastic choice. Well...that’s the truth of it.

Becoming a consultant is the bridge to finding a new job. The organization has down-sized or the staff person may have been fired (yes...good grief, that does unfortunately happen!). Hoping to take on clients becomes a life-line (and, good for the resume) until a new position is found.

And then there are a number who do want a broader base than working in just a single organization. That can be great fun. There’s another factor: If you’re successful, you can probably earn more. In some cases, much more.

It can also be lonely. And while you’re providing service to present clients, you have to be marketing constantly for new ones.

But a word of caution. The business of being able to “better manage their work environment” and less “pressures and demands” will be disappointing if you leave your organization for that reason. Jerry Linzy, Senior Managing Partner of our firm, for instance, typically spends 80 to 110 hours a week (counting travel time) working with clients. And it means working on weekends to prepare for the new week and writing memos and material from the prior week. He would be pleased to hear about how easy it is “to manage your own work environment!” 

(By the way, having 70% of the attendees at a major conference being consultants is...well, it’s kind of a scary thought!)

And now, here’s Barbara’s thoughtful response:

Dear Sheldon,

Jerry is right, as usual. You pose a great question. I believe he forwarded it to me because I was a consultant who chose to return to working with one organization full time.

After 20 years of consulting, I found I was wanting to sink my teeth into an organization and then look back after 10 years and say, “I helped build that.” 

After a thorough search, I chose an organization I had consulted with long ago. It is also an organization in tremendous growth mode. I found their mission compelling and strategic plan a well-thought out path toward success.

This is not to say there are no “pressures and demands” as you mention in your question. However, that was never the reason I chose to consult or chose to stop. I believe every fundraiser has pressures and demands. That is why we have chosen this profession as opposed to another. Fundraising has many demanding mistresses: starting with donors and including EDs, board members, staff etc. Organizations need to be fed, and that usually means the dollars to make their missions reality through programming that meets community needs.

- The Partners