Get the Bums Out of Here ….

There is always a tendency to blame the professionals when a campaign is stalled or dead (see preceding article in this section to help determine if this description fits).  It’s only fitting that those who are being paid to provide advice and management of a campaign should be criticized if things go wrong – after all, they are the ones being paid.  It’s also important to do a realistic evaluation of WHY the campaign is dead or stalled before deciding to switch consultants or staff.

It is imperative to remember that, in the short-run, switching staff or consultants will delay the campaign.  Even in cases where you’ve hired a firm, and they offer a “new” consultant to help you, the campaign will face delay as the new consultant comes up to speed.  It’s especially true if you change staff or switch entire consulting organizations.  It may still be a good idea – but it’s best to move cautiously.

Evaluating Consultants

For this section, let’s focus on the idea of evaluating your consultant and determining whether the consultant is the problem.  It really is more difficult than just determining whether or not you like the consultant.  Some of our industry’s best consultant are not necessarily the most likable people.  Some of the most likable consultants are also the most ineffective. The focus should always be on effectiveness, not likeability.

First, determine whether the advice they are giving is being followed and failing, or whether the advice being given isn’t being taken.  It’s not realistic to blame the consultant if the advice being given isn’t being followed – anymore than it is realistic for patient to blame the doctor for a heart attack when the patient is 50 pounds overweight, with high blood pressure.  If the advice provided was taken, and it failed, then considering a different consultant is appropriate.

Yet keep in mind that just because advice didn’t work, doesn’t mean it was the wrong advice.  There is no guarantee that any different advice would have worked any better.  Evaluate the advice objectively and determine if, even in hindsight, there was a better course of action that would have worked.  If there is, then you may have a consulting problem.  If you can’t determine that there is a likelihood that a different course of action would likely have worked, then it’s not so clear cut that a change in consultants is the answer.

The last thing you want to do is spend time and money changing consultants only to have the new consultant give you exactly the same advice (because that advice is right!).  Make sure it is the advice or work style with which you are not happy or you aren’t likely to be happy with the new consultant either.

Certainly the easiest evaluation is about basic client relations activities.  A consultant that isn’t available when needed, or one that won’t attend meetings and be very giving with his/her advice is not really helpful.  Someone that is difficult to work with or threatens to quit every time someone questions the advice, is not probably doing your organization any good.  Consultants without the people skills to motivate volunteer leaders are only providing half a service.  Consultants that don’t represent your organization the way it should be represented need to be replaced sooner rather than later.

Finally, the money raised is always a major factor in determining whether the consultant is worth the cost.  Assuming the consultant has conducted a feasibility study that created a phase-by-phase fundraising plan, and the organization has done its level best to implement that plan, then evaluating the consultant on whether each phase goal is reached is reasonable.  Yet it is important to evaluate those goals in light of the real world.  There may be legitimate reasons why a particular phase goal was not reached – and it may not be the consultant’s fault.

Sometimes things change.  The economy sours, a major new project comes along that draws the attention and excitement of your leadership, or your major donors, for whatever reason, can’t come through.  These aren’t consulting problems, these are life problems.  Don’t expect any fundraising consultant to solve life problems – just fundraising challenges.

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Study vs. Campaign

The most common place organizations consider changing counsel is right after the feasibility study.  It’s important to realize, however, that the consultant who did the study has garnered some very useful information for a campaign and it is usually best to keep working with that consultant UNLESS you just don’t feel the study helped you get to where you want to be.

The reality is that the study is the first phase of the campaign.  Switching consultants at that point is changing horses in mid-stream, so make sure you are changing for the right reason.  Most often it is a personality clash or work-style issue.  These might be able to be discussed in such a way as to alleviate the issue.  Obviously, if the work is substandard or the report is insufficient or lacking, then you shouldn’t hesitate to change – chances are the campaign won’t be run any better than the study.

If you decide you want a different consultant to do the campaign, make sure you understand exactly what the old consultant will provide as part of the study.  Few will, for example, provide the raw interview notes.  Most will provide a summary of each interview.  Almost all will provide the actual returned mail surveys (if they did any to begin with).

In this sense, there is something of an advantage to having a firm as opposed to an individual.  Switching a consultant, without changing the firm, usually insures more continuity of information gathered.  Retain your right to continue to communicate with the first consultant until all the information you need is gathered.

Consultants, in moments of unadulterated honesty, will admit that a client loses something switching consultants after the study.  The evaluation that must be done by the client, however, is whether the short-term loss is worth the long-term gain.

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Switching Consultants

Making the decision to switch consultants is not easy – nor should it be.  It will have a short-term effect on the campaign, usually it’s a negative short-term impact.  Things are going to be delayed and the timetable for the campaign will be lengthened.  Understand the downside so you aren’t surprised.  If you understand the effect, you’ll be less likely to make an irrational decision.

If you’ve determined that you need to switch consultants, there is a proper way to do it.  Get out gracefully and don’t burn your bridges.  You’ll probably want or need information that the first consultant has and burning your bridges isn’t going to help you get it.  Summoning them to your office and yelling “you’re fired” isn’t going to get you where you want to go.

During a campaign, most consulting contracts have a specified period for cancellation – usually 30 days or so.  You’ll have to pay it, so you might as well get as much out of that time as you can.  Asking for basic work product (things like research done, correspondence for the campaign, campaign files, etc) is appropriate and any ethical consultant will provide the things the client has paid for without a big deal.  And the new consultant/staff person will need those things.

Ask for both electronic files and copies of printed materials.  Work to create as positive of separation as possible.  The next consultant/staff person will definitely appreciate the ability to call the old consultant and ask questions about things that happened in the campaign – and most consultants, as a professional courtesy, will share that information.

And that’s the whole crux of changing consultants.  The consultant shouldn’t want you out there spreading poison to potential clients.  You want to know that your continued relationship with the consultant will be friendly enough that, in a pinch, you could still get information from him/her if you need it.

In all likelihood, you are going to be able to arrange to have the new consultant start the day after the 30-day cancellation period is over.  It just doesn’t work that way.  Accept reality and take your lumps by recognizing switching consultants will delay the campaign.  Better to take your time and do it right.  You have the benefit of recent experience, so take the time to pick the right consultant the second time around.

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Finding A New Consultant

Now that you know what you DON’T want, it should be easier to find what you do want.  Take your time and make the right decision.  Under the “Pre-Campaign Planning” part of this website, there is an extensive article on finding the right consultant.  Read it.  You may not follow the exact process this time, but the philosophy is worth reading just to get an idea of what is possible.

Self evaluation at this stage is critical.  No matter how bad the consultant was, some of the blame for a stalled campaign has to rest with the organization. Usually it is either a lack of commitment or an unwillingness to actually ask people for money.  No matter how many different consultants you hire, unless you fix the internal reasons why the campaign is struggling, your new consultant will also not meet your needs.

Chances are that you’ll look for something other than what you had before.  If you used a big firm, you may want a smaller firm this time.  If you used a small firm before, you may want a large firm now.  Maybe this time you should consider resident counsel vs. executive counsel.  In any case, know what you are looking for to meet your needs.

Remember that virtually any self-respecting consulting firm is going to want to conduct at least some sort of initial study of the situation so it can develop its recommendations and ideas.  This may seem like paying for something all over again, but if you want the best advice from the consultant, you have to let the dig into the situation and find out what could, and should, be done.

Smart firms offer some level of “mini-study” for just these situations.  Giving them a copy of the old study is a good place to start, but they’ll still want to do some level of interviews to get a feel for themselves and see how the situation has changed.  They’ll need some time to come to their own conclusions – give them the time.  It’s not going to do any good to change consultants and then NOT take their advice … or make them rely totally on secondhand information.

Just the realization that you’ll have to do some type of new study should give you pause in considering whether to replace your old consultant.  That’s good.  Your organization isn’t the Yankess and you aren’t George Steinbrenner – you shouldn’t be switching managers constantly.

 Perhaps the biggest difference in selecting counsel this time around is that you are wiser.  You’ve been through the process and know what works and what doesn’t.  Trust your instincts.  Find two or three firms/individuals you trust and spend some time talking with them.  You probably don’t’ need a big RFP process – find someone that works well with you, and won’t make whatever you perceive to be the mistakes of the old consultant.

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