Is this a trend? I attended three conferences in April and asked a variety of independent consultants and employees of consulting firms about how the economy is affecting them. The responses were consistent: January and February were dead, but inquiries picked up significantly in March and April. The consultants I spoke to work on database implementations, capital campaigns, web design, marketing, and strategic planning. My first thought: nonprofits are starting to invest again. My second thought: nonprofits have year-end funds to use up–but that wouldn’t explain the uptick in capital campaign inquiries.
I’d love to hear from other consultants. How’s business?
Rob, here in the Northwest, we are starting to see the number of inquiries pick back up. Nonprofits are continuing to be very cost conscience and tentative, but seem to have “reset” their expectations and are moving forward. Most of our campaigns that include endowment or capital also have an initiative or operations component, too.
We are looking to update some of our assessment tools that we use when starting engagements with new clients or when completing development assessment audits. Are there any particular tools that you would recommend?
Aggie Sweeney
The Collins Group