The Nonprofit Consulting Playbook

What if you could sit down with 25 successful consultants and ask them what makes their businesses tick?

In The Nonprofit Consulting Playbook: Winning Strategies from 25 Leaders in the Field, Susan Schaefer and Linda Lysakowski have compiled a first-of-its-kind insight into the everyday lives of consultants to the nonprofit sector. This collection of firsthand articles takes the reader on a journey that spans a consultant's professional life-from the decisions that formed the business to a detailed set of options for winding it down.

The beauty of this book lies in the honesty of its 25 contributors. They write openly about the decisions that guided their business models, their early mistakes, and their lessons learned. Even those in this business for decades have commented that their copies of The Playbook are strewn with highlights and bookmarks.

It's a fun, informative read that gets into the minds of people who have consulted for at least a decade. The Playbook's first-person storytelling has a style that will both inform and entertain. Most importantly, it has the power to transform your business-or your future business-in ways large and small. From insider retellings of client stories to state-by-state registration requirements, its contents will guide basic decisions for the life of your business.

Readers will find answers to these questions and more:

• What can I do to prepare myself before I start consulting?
• How should I determine my scope of business?
• How should I set fees and get off to the right financial start?
• Which marketing strategies work best?
• How do I close a deal with potential clients?
• How do I deal with angry, slow-paying, or demanding clients?
• How can I grow or reinvent my business?
• How do I regroup when business is slow?
• What information should I include in contracts?
• What state regulations might apply to my business?

The list goes on!

The Playbook does not tell the reader what to do. Instead, itoffersindividual accounts that walk the reader through a businessperson's thought processes, actions, and reflections about a given subject. The main takeaway: there is no one path to success.

While directed at those who serve the nonprofit sector, The Playbook offers valuable lessons for all consultants. Even those who serve the for-profit sector will benefit from articles about naming your business, marketing, and closing the deal with prospective clients.

The Playbook is a must-have guide if you fall into any of these categories:

• A professional who is exploring a future career path in consulting.
• A staffer who is currently making the transition into full- or part-time consulting.
• A novice consultant who wants to get off on the right foot.
• A veteran consultant who wants to strengthen, reenergize, or reinvent your business.