If you’re a leader in a small nonprofit, chances are you have faced this frustrating scenario:

An opportunity comes up for a very valuable project or campaign but it would take capacity the organization just doesn’t have. In some cases, there is no current staff with the needed skills or experience. Or there is a team member who could handle it, but their plate is already full; assigning them another project would lead to burnout or losing ground on core priorities. 

The project’s potential benefit then has to be weighed against the significant time and effort to recruit, hire and on-board someone new. That’s quite an investment — and a short-term position may not attract strong candidates. Then, if you do manage to hire someone, that person needs time to hit their stride.

Of course, any staffer you hired would be someone extremely talented, with relevant experience and passion for the cause, but they would still need to absorb fundamentals of your organization:

—the core messaging that reflects its values,

—your approach to program planning and implementation, and

—how you handle project budgeting and financials.

That can be a lot for someone taking on a new leadership role.

Image description: Close-up of two women looking attentively to the left. One is African-American, one is white. Both seem thoughtful.

Photo by Eric Mok on Unsplash

No wonder Executive Directors sometimes dream of cloning themselves. 

What they want is essentially a temporary deputy — an experienced professional who can get up to speed very quickly and jump in at a senior level. Someone who understands how money translates to results for social change, who is good at connecting with funders, partners, and individual donors...and who builds those relationships and hands them off for the organization’s long-term success.

Tova Perlmutter and Engine of Progress are here to provide this kind of support.

Dozens of progressive organizations have used Tova’s flexible, reliable help to increase their immediate results or long-term capacity. Time-limited contracts allow clients to benefit from a variety of services without investing in permanent staff positions.

CAPACITY-BUILDING

• Contract for successful membership and grassroots fundraising campaigns.
• Develop a full strategic communications plan suited to your team and mission, with schedules, messaging principles and usage/style guidance.

FUNDING AND FINANCES

• Take advantage of skilled project design so successful grant proposals serve funder goals while sustaining and expanding core operations.
• Learn from expert advice on your budgeting and cash flow.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Get help recruiting, hiring and managing temporary teams for policy or electoral campaigns.
• Contract for project management of publications that will increase the organization’s profile and impact.

SYSTEMS AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

• Benefit from assessment of technology options against your specific needs.
• Once tools are selected, get help setting up systems, processes and documentation so your team can access data and use it efficiently.

TRAINING AND FACILITATION

• Provide fun, engaging training for your team, members or the public on principles, strategy, or specific tools.
• Achieve concrete outcomes from strategic retreats thanks to skilled facilitation and well-planned exercises.

COACHING

• Get specific tips and role play on how to ask supporters for donations.
• Provide less-experienced managers with advice on meeting employees’ needs to enable optimal performance and better morale.

Tova serves clients with humor, respect, and a commitment to collaboration and equity.  See Results for more on outcomes of Tova’s services, and What People Say for descriptions by clients and colleagues of their experience working with her.