20+ Nonprofit Consulting Firms for Every Need and Mission

Nonprofit organizations often bear little resemblance to a typical business. They have unique needs and must adhere to specific requirements, and they often have limited internal resources to handle everything on their own. It is helpful that there are consulting firms equipped to address nonprofits’ needs and concerns.

Finding a nonprofit consulting firm that is a good fit for your organization may take time but will be worth it in the end. Read on for our list of recommended top providers and steps for how to select the right consultants for the services you need.

Top Nonprofit Consulting Firms to Consider

Very few consulting firms do it all. Most provide specific guidance and services in their areas of expertise. We’ve put together a list of top providers who excel in their fields for your nonprofit to discover:

HR Consulting Firms

ProspectHR Consulting– Full-Service Nonprofit HR Support
Alera Group – Risk and Wealth Management
Astron Solutions – Nonprofit Compensation Consulting
Interim Executive Solutions – Interim Leadership
Justworks – Benefits and Payroll Management
Validity Screening Solutions – Employee Screening
Working Advantage – Employee Perks

Board and Leadership Development Consulting Firms

Hardy Smith – Board Engagement and Retention
Managance Coaching – Coaching

Financial Management Consulting Firms

Advisors for Change – Long-Term Financial Management
Foundation Group – Compliance
Labyrinth, Inc. – Charitable Solicitation Registration
Your Part Time Controller – Nonprofit Accounting and Financial Management

Marketing Consulting Firms

DNL OmniMedia – Nonprofit Technology
Getting Attention – Google Ad Grant Management
Great South Bay Media – Website Design and Digital Strategy Partner
Loop – Nonprofit Branding and Design
Meyer Partners– Nonprofit Marketing

Fundraising Consulting Firms

Averill Solutions –Fundraising Campaign Planning
Aly Sterling Philanthropy – Nonprofit Strategic Planning
Capital Campaign Pro – Major Campaign Coaching
Donorly – Donor Prospect Research
Grants Plus – Grant Seeking Strategy

Top HR Nonprofit Consulting Firms

ProspectHR Consulting – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Full-Service HR Support

Learn More About ProspectHR

ProspectHR Consulting is a highly flexible, go-to consultancy for all things HR. Comprised of professionals with expertise across every area of HR, ProspectHR helps nonprofits manage their HR needs so they can focus on their core mission.

At ProspectHR, we take a hands-on approach to each client, building relationships and starting productive conversations that lead to long-term solutions. We customize our services to meet each organization’s needs, letting them set the pace of the partnership. Some engagements are discrete projects, others involve outsourcing HR entirely, and some need a combination of varying degrees of support. No matter what your needs are, ProspectHR is ready to help.

ProspectHR helps nonprofit organizations with core HR responsibilities like:

Strategic HR Planning
Compensation Strategy
Employee Handbooks
HR Audits & Assessments
Executive Search & Recruitment
Performance Management
Coaching and Training

ProspectlHR is committed to solving nonprofit HR concerns so every organization we work with can reach its full potential and make the world a better place.

Have an HR improvement in mind for your organization?

Let’s chat about it.

Alera Group – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Risk and Wealth Management

Alera Group aims to help nonprofits connect their present to a secure financial future. Every Alera Group engagement is defined by their commitment to personalization and collaboration, which has enabled them to work with nonprofits from a variety of sectors, alongside businesses, individuals, families, and communities.

Alera Group understands the complexities of insurance and financial management and helps its clients navigate these obstacles by providing services related to:

Employee benefits
Property and casualty
Wealth management
Retirement plans

Nonprofits looking for comprehensive wealth and risk management solutions can find a trusted partner in Alera Group.

Astron Solutions – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Compensation

Astron Solutions provides expert compensation advice to nonprofit organizations. Taking a total rewards approach to compensation, Astron works to help each of its clients create compensation plans that attract and retain talent without going over budget.

Astron’s focus areas include:

Marketing and benchmarking analysis
Compensation policy development
Incentive compensation consulting
Executive compensation consulting
Pay equity analysis
Compensation surveys

Whether a nonprofit’s needs are on a project-by-project basis or an ongoing partnership, Astron has the experience to address their every compensation concern.

Interim Executive Solutions – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Interim Leadership

Is your nonprofit prepared for a leadership transition? Whether you have a plan or find yourself facing an unexpected transition, Interim Executive Solutions (IES) can help. IES alleviates the uncertainty of transitions and instead paves the way for stable, uninterrupted operations and future success.

IES can help your nonprofit:

Maintain stability
Align your team
Prepare for the next leader
Ensure organizational continuity

IES isn’t interested in just filling a seat at your nonprofit. Their structured approach pairs each client with an experienced professional who is committed to a smooth transition process that lays the groundwork for the next phase of the nonprofit’s journey.

Justworks – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Benefits and Payroll Management

Small nonprofits can access the support they need to manage their benefits, payroll, and other HR needs with Justworks. Justworks provides user-friendly, scalable HR software that helps reduce the administrative load for growing nonprofits and enables them to focus on their missions.

Justworks’ top features include:

Payroll services
HR tools
Benefits and health insurance
Compliance and risk management
Time tracking

Justworks offers nonprofits flexible options based on their needs, whether they require a simple payroll system, a full PEO suite, or an all-in-one global EOR.

Validity Screening Solutions – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Employee Screening

Validity Screening Solutions, a Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA) -accredited firm, specializes in employment screening and drug testing solutions. Since 1992, Validity has offered a streamlined, customizable, and cost-effective approach to employment screening by using the latest integration technology and compliance standards. Their services include:

Criminal Records
Drug Testing
Verifications
Driving Records
Social Media Screening
Continuous Monitoring
Document Management
Compliance Automation Software Solutions

Validity is a founding member of the PBSA and has received a number of prestigious accolades, including being named an eight-time winner of the HRO Today Baker’s Dozen Customer Satisfaction Ratings in Pre-Employment Screening Overall Program, Quality of Service, Breadth of Service, and Size of Deal.

Working Advantage – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Employee Perks

Recruit, retain, and reenergize your nonprofit’s employees with perks from Working Advantage. Working Advantage works with each client to create bespoke benefits packages and incentive plans.

By partnering with Working Advantage, nonprofits will receive:

Access to premium products, services, and experiences for employees
A partner that negotiates plan designs, underwriting, and carrier pricing
A customizable platform that employees can browse to select rewards

Reconnect with and incentivize your employees to do more with a nonprofit consultant that understands benefits and incentives.

Top Board and Leadership Development Nonprofit Consulting Firms

Hardy Smith – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Board Engagement and Retention

As a consultant, executive coach, facilitator, and speaker, Hardy Smith Consulting works nationwide with organizations looking to foster positive, productive, and fully engaged boards. For interested nonprofits, Hardy Smith provides:

Strategic consulting
Executive coaching
Speaking engagements
Online training courses

Hardy’s book, Stop The Nonprofit Board Blame Game, will benefit participants in board retreats, board development sessions, board planning activities, and those attending Smith’s speaking engagements. Hardy’s professional affiliations include: National Speakers Association, BoardSource, Association of Fundraising Professionals, American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), Florida Society of Association Executives (FSAE), and Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE).

Managance Coaching – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Coaching

Managance Coaching is on a mission to elevate and energize nonprofits’ leadership. They’re committed to improving each client’s performance by helping them build a mindset that inspires creativity, opportunities, and new solutions.

Managance Coaching achieves its mission through its coaching services:

Leadership coaching
Transition coaching
Governance coaching
Teambuilding
Mentor coaching

Start having new conversations about your nonprofit, its direction, and how leadership can elevate it by partnering with Managance Coaching.

Top Financial Management Nonprofit Consulting Firms

Advisors for Change – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Long-Term Financial Management

Advisors for Change is a worker-owned cooperative dedicated to helping nonprofits implement sustainable financial management systems that enable capacity building and give charitable organizations the tools they need to fulfill their missions.

Advisors for Change offers services related to:

Financial assessment
Budgeting
Capacity building support
Controller
Fractional CFO

Advisors for Change takes a people-focused approach to each of their clients, working to increase transparency, engagement, and accuracy.

Foundation Group – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Formation, Compliance, and Reinstatement

Foundation Group has a simple goal: help nonprofits thrive. Their expertise in 501(c)(3) nonprofit formation, bookkeeping, plus state and federal tax and compliance filings helps nonprofit leaders make better decisions, reduce risk, and grow their organizations.

With this experience, Foundation Group provides the following services:

Nonprofit formation
Accounting services
Form 990 preparation
Charitable solicitation registration
Tax-exempt status reinstatement

Nonprofits can start their financial and legal operations off with confidence by partnering with Foundation Group.

Labyrinth, Inc. – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Charitable Solicitation Registration

Labyrinth is a national consulting firm with 30 years of experience shepherding nonprofit organizations through the ever-changing legal requirements of state charitable solicitation registrations. Untimely or inaccurate filings can have serious consequences, including fines, civil lawsuits, or revocation of an institution’s ability to solicit contributions in that state.

Labyrinth has a team of experts, including accountants and lawyers, that can help your nonprofit with:

Charitable registration, renewal, and compliance
Charitable registered agent
Dynamic disclosures
Local nonprofit essentials

By trusting Labyrinth to handle the details of these complicated submissions, nonprofits can feel confident that they are meeting all registration requirements in their state.

Your Part-Time Controller – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Accounting and Financial Management

Your Part-Time Controller (YPTC) specializes in onsite and remote accounting and financial management support to nonprofit organizations of all sizes. They recognize that each nonprofit is unique, requiring differing levels of support, and they customize their services to meet each client’s needs.

YPTC works with nonprofits in the following areas:

Accounting and bookkeeping
Financial reporting
Analysis and data visualization
Policy and internal controls development
Forecasting
Budgeting
Grant proposal reporting
Audit preparation

With their accounting and fiscal management expertise, YPTC can help nonprofits stay current on financial reporting, grow their organizations, and continue to benefit those they wish to serve.

Top Nonprofit Marketing Consulting Firms

DNL OmniMedia – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Technology

DNL OmniMedia is a leader in the nonprofit technology space, helping enterprise-sized nonprofits maximize their digital communication systems. Starting with a nonprofit’s online presence, DNL can handle every aspect of website development, including:

Website registration, design, and maintenance
Data analysis
CRM implementation, integration, and customization
Strategic marketing, fundraising, and technology advice

Working exclusively with nonprofits, DNL understands the unique features of the sector and tailors solutions for each organization.

Getting Attention – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Google Ad Grant Management

Getting Attention empowers nonprofits to optimize their paid advertising through expert Google Ad Grant management. From applying on your behalf to crafting winning ad campaigns, they’ll help you make the most of the program. Backed by their expert guidance, you’ll boost website traffic, increase your digital presence, and drive more meaningful conversions.

They offer nonprofits these services:

Google Grant acquisition assistance
Ad strategy creation
Account compliance support
Keyword research
Google Grant reactivation

If you’re ready to take charge of your nonprofit’s advertising, Getting Attention might be the right partner for you. Working with a Google Grant agency like theirs empowers you to create compelling ads that connect you with strong giving candidates.

Great South Bay Media – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Website Design & Digital Strategy

Great South Bay Media, formerly Turnpoint Media, is a website development and digital strategy partner specializing in WordPress. They focus on helping nonprofits and small to mid-sized organizations create clear, effective online presences. Their services include:

Website design and development
Hosting and maintenance
SEO and AI search optimization
Brand creation
Digital marketing

Great South Bay Media has extensive experience handling nonprofit-specific needs, including implementing donation platforms and fundraising tools on their websites. Plus, their branding and marketing services can help nonprofits create a cohesive presence both on and offline.

Loop – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Branding and Design

Loop provides branding and design consultations for nonprofit organizations. Through creative design and branding, Loop helps nonprofits introduce themselves to donors and constituents and emphasize the importance of their mission.

Designing a brand involves logos, colors, graphics, web design, and much more. Loop will help your nonprofit:

Craft a branding strategy
Design your website
Create annual reports
Build email and social media templates
Develop iconography and illustrations

By combining their client’s organizational knowledge with Loop’s creative expertise, nonprofits working with Loop can develop their story and craft an effective plan for sharing that brand with the world.

Meyer Partners – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Marketing

Meyer Partners is a leading nonprofit consulting firm specializing in marketing and communication. Meyer Partners collaborates with each client to devise a personal, effective marketing and communication strategy to build the necessary connections that lead to successful fundraising and long-term sustainability of the nonprofit’s mission.

Their services include:

Direct mail marketing
Fundraising consulting
Communications consulting
Campaign strategy development

Reaching out to Meyer Partners is risk-free, as they offer free, no-obligation audits of each client’s communication strategy to identify strengths, spot weaknesses, and determine whether they’re the right consultant for the job.

Top Nonprofit Fundraising Consulting Firms

Aly Sterling Philanthropy – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Strategic Planning

Aly Sterling Philanthropy excels at working with nonprofits to create and revise their strategic plans. Recognizing that a written strategic plan is not enough, Aly Sterling has a dedicated team of experienced consultants ready to help their nonprofit clients stay on course and reach their objectives.

Aly Sterling’s process starts with an assessment of the organization’s health and goals. They then focus on aligning resources with these targets and building a plan that works for the organization’s unique situation. Specifically, they provide these services:

Philanthropic advice
Strategic planning
Corporate philanthropy consulting
Training through workshops and presentations

By partnering with Aly Sterling, nonprofits can identify and focus on their strengths, thereby maximizing their funding, avoiding employee burnout, and doing the most good for their community.

Averill Solutions – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Campaign Planning

Averill Solutions is a leader in campaign planning, with experience spanning all sectors of the nonprofit world. From the strategic to the operational, Averill Solutions can help nonprofits with all aspects of building successful campaigns and increasing their capacity for the future, including:

Campaign Direction
Campaign Planning & Feasibility Studies
Annual Fund Direction
Embedded Staffing
Leadership Learning
Executive Search

Averill’s hands-on approach offers solutions that fit each nonprofit’s particular needs and concerns. With a combined 75 years of experience and a track record of raising more than $3 billion, Averill is well positioned to help nonprofit groups implement successful fundraisers from annual giving appeals to capital campaigns.

Capital Campaign Pro – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Campaign Coaching

The Capital Campaign Pro (CCP) provides nonprofits with the tools and guidance they need to structure and execute successful capital campaigns. In particular, CCP takes a unique approach to feasibility studies, creating a guided process that includes nonprofit leaders in stakeholder interviews. To complement this model, CCP also provides nonprofits with:

Campaign consulting
Campaign readiness assessment
Capital campaign toolkit with templates, resources, and guides

In contrast to feasibility studies conducted exclusively by a consultant, the CCP model promises to jumpstart capital campaigns by providing opportunities for nonprofits to connect with their donors right from the start

Donorly – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Prospect Research

Donorly is a nonprofit consulting firm focused on prospect research. Understanding prospective major giving candidates is essential to efficiently allocating your fundraising team’s time and running successful campaigns. However, many organizations lack the in-house resources to gather critical donor information. Donorly helps nonprofits by providing services related to:

Donor research
Major gifts
Donor engagement
Capital campaigns

With Donorly’s targeted research, nonprofits can earn the funding they need by concentrating their stewardship efforts on their most promising major giving candidates.

Grants Plus – Nonprofit Consulting Firm for Grant Seeking

Grants Plus is a nationally trusted grant strategy consulting firm. Effective grant writing can be tricky; success takes knowledge of the process and premier writing skills. Since 2007, GrantsPlus clients have secured $200 million in grant funding.

As a full-service firm, GrantsPlus helps nonprofits identify opportunities and write winning proposals to obtain much-needed financing. Their services include:

Grant prospect research
Federal grant writing
Grant writing support
Tech-enabled grant writing

With years of experience, GrantsPlus staffs a dedicated team to work with each nonprofit, focused on achieving immediate grant awards and developing a long-term grant strategy.

Nonprofit Consulting Services: How to Get Started

No matter the solution you seek, the process for selecting a firm to support your nonprofit organization is generally the same. The steps are as follows:

1. Defining Your Needs

What exactly needs to be accomplished? Key internal stakeholders should be integrally involved in the process: identifying the goal and clarifying the desired outcomes. Considering all perspectives and interests will be critical to establishing the scope of the project. This will help prevent reworking the strategy once started and will keep internal and external team members focused on the project and deliverables.

2. Securing Internal Buy-in or Approval

Retaining a consulting firm is an investment in your organization, and before a nonprofit organization makes any investment, the board should be in the loop. With their upfront support, you avoid problems that could derail or slow down the project.

3. Establish a Budget and Timeframe

Whenever you consider engaging outside expertise, a major consideration is your budget. How much you can afford or are willing to pay may sway your decision about hiring an external consultant or which one you select. You may also decide to scale down a project to stay within your current budget.

Other critical details that need fleshing out are the start date, the engagement timeframe, and a tentative schedule for deliverables along the way.

4. Researching Firms

With general parameters in mind, you can begin searching for the right consulting firm. Asking respected and trusted colleagues in the nonprofit space for referrals is often the best way to start.

Researching firms on the internet is another way to broaden your search. By reviewing firm websites and reading articles, whether from referrals or your own research, you will learn about various consulting firm offerings and identify those that might be a good fit with your organization.

5. Requesting Proposals

After narrowing down the possible candidates, the next steps are to draft a Request for Proposal (RFP) and ask target consultancies to bid on your project. The RFP will spell out all the details – your objective, timeframes, any other information you would like to know about the particular consulting firm, and a deadline for returning the RFP.

6. Reviewing Proposals

The RFPs will likely present a great deal of information to digest, and it may be helpful to organize a team for this job. The team can establish a consistent process for assessing each proposal and a system for comparison. Circling back to some firms may be necessary to clarify aspects of the proposals or address any questions.

7. Choosing a Consultant

As you review the pool of targeted nonprofit consulting firms, the following data points may factor into your decision:

Projected budget
Pricing structures offered by each consultancy
Availability of the agency to meet your deadlines
References
Examples of their work product

With the relevant information in hand, one consultant firm will hopefully come into focus, rising above the others as an ideal match for your project.

Wrapping Up

There are times when your internal team is stretched too thin or does not have the expertise to accomplish a goal. That is when it may make sense to hire an expert. Although an initial expense, if you do your research and select a firm with the right background and fit for your organization, engaging a well-regarded, effective consulting firm can be worth the investment.

ProspectHR Consulting regularly consults with nonprofits of all sizes and in all sectors, and if we do not offer the services you need, we have a strong network of fellow consulting firms which we can recommend. Get in touch today to discuss your needs!

The following articles can help you learn more about ProspectHR Solutions and how we may be of service to your organization:

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