Ep 79: Boosting Fundraising: Choosing Between a Coach vs. Consultant

EPISODE 79

Inside the World of Coaching and Consulting for Nonprofit Success

 
 
 

Are you struggling to secure the funding your organization needs or ready to scale past last year's revenue? Wondering whether a coach or a consultant can help you break through those fundraising barriers?

This conversation is for you!

We'll dissect the roles of coaches and consultants and how they can specifically tackle your nonprofit's challenges. Whether it's donor fatigue, ineffective campaigns, or the need for sustainable strategies, we're here to guide you. By the end of this episode, you'll have a clear path forward to boost your fundraising results and leave those pain points behind. 

This episode peels back the layers of consultancy approaches, from hands-on corporate strategies to the empowering support systems offered by coaching. Whether you're looking to sharpen your skill set or seeking motivation and accountability, you'll find practical wisdom here that resonates with your journey. 

 Free webinar 2/27/24:

The Roadmap to Impact & Profit

Think you’ve reached out to “everyone” in your network? Out of ideas to get noticed and get funded?  Generate leads for your nonprofit or social impact business: https://www.splendidcourses.com/prospect

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Resources mentioned:

 
 
 

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TRANSCRIPT:

Christina 00:02

Welcome to the Purpose and Profit Club podcast for nonprofit leaders, mission-driven creatives and social entrepreneurs. Get ready to stop dreaming and start doing. Here, ideas become action. We prioritize purpose and profit. You ready, let's go?

00:20

Hi, beautiful people, today I want to talk about a theme, an idea that's been on my mind for some time. I'm like all right, we need to do a podcast about this. So I want to go over the difference, the benefits, the behind the curtain of working with a coach, working with a consultant, and maybe even the difference between those things and working with somebody who's a freelancer or an in-house staffer. So my goal for you today is, if you've never worked with a coach or never worked really with a consultant, you have an idea of it. Maybe you've noticed a lot more people using the word coach using, I think, consultants have been around plenty, but using the word coach and you're like but I have this idea of it. What is it really? I want to unpack that with you.

So I built my business doing, done for you services. This is like a decade plus ago, having owned an agency. That was where our clients would hire us and throw over the wall. Hey, you guys, come up with and implement the entire marketing strategy, the entire plan, all the community management, all of this stuff. So there's that piece and now you could hire certainly, depending on the size of your organization, you certainly could hire a freelancer to do that. If you've ever had worked with anyone who does social media management great freelancers who can do either a chunk, an aspect of it, who can do certain parts of it, even in fundraising sometimes we see that right or sometimes organizations will choose like a part type staffer if they don't have the budget for a full time role. So freelancers, you get the gist.

02:08

Now, working with a consultant and moving into the consultancy world is really where I started splendid consulting, right. So it's where I moved from that agency model where it was done for you services and it was scaling with account coordinators and interns and things like that and going this is not it, this is not what I want to do, and saying how do I use what I've learned, use the tools that are working for all of these for-profit organizations, for-profit companies they're making tons of money and how do I adapt them? And how can I show nonprofit and mission driven organizations how to use these same strategies right and stop doing the slow way and start doing the fast way. So I launched my consultancy. This is years and years ago, but I launched it as a consultant and I branded myself as a consultant and when you worked with me it was almost my version of consulting is a lot like mentorship, it's a lot like teaching, educating, and I will sit with you. It usually went like this we would do a discovery where you would tell me your problem Very similar to going into the doctor right, you're like these are my symptoms, this is what I feel like, and I'm like, ok, and from there we'd prescribe, I'd prescribe, I'd recommend here's what I want you to do, here's what.

These are the next steps, right, and then from there, go through a discovery period of really understanding your organization, kind of peeking behind the hood and going, ok, where do I see the disconnect, or where do I see a opportunity to improve a bond, or where do I see like, ooh, this is kind of interesting, but we're not talking about this, let's get you talking about it. Right, and we would go through that process. And then from there, that's when I really, as a consultant, would step into being a subject matter expert in the nonprofit field of the educating and the mentoring. And here's what I want you to do and we would troubleshoot together. And it was a lot of teaching, like it was a lot of one-to-one, some done for you, some done for you stuff. And when I say done for you, meaning, hey, let me help you, let's create a theme for this three-piece direct mail series. Let's come up with a theme for it and I'll help you ghostwrite it. Or if you're like I've never done blank right, I've never worked with influencers before I might say, all right, let me customize a strategy for you, let me help you come up with some swipe copy. That is like plug and play, and then you're going to do the outreach, and then we're going to meet, we're going to see how it's going right. So when I had more of a consultant-based business, that's what I did and I find that consultants in general this is the way I think of it and I think a lot of people do but everybody's their own definition and opinion.

05:02

Consultants tend to be subject matter experts on what it is they consult on. So nonprofit, world, fundraising, marketing, business growth, scaling up online, digital that's my zone. Storytelling, I got you. I'm not a great consultant for weightlifting, right, I'm not a subject matter expert on that and we'll go put a pin in that example. I know some stuff about it, but I'm not a subject matter expert on that. Right, I couldn't do exactly the entire lineup that I just gave you for that, ok. Then we have the consultant model. That I believe is really more popular in the corporate world. If you see those large consulting firms. When I talk to those consultants they do much more. I believe that those are a little bit more on the agency model, where they actually are a fractional employee or they do a lot of done-for-you work. So I just want to give you that distinction. A friend of mine is a consultant and whenever I ask her about her job I'm like that is not the consulting I do. My friend, this is very different, ok. So now let's move her to coaches.

What do coaches do? I want to put a fork in the road here Is you may have heard the term business coach, you may have heard the term life coach and you may have heard the term. Lots of different types of coaches and how people brand themselves. But I think of coaching this way. I think of coaching as you know that thing you deeply desire. You know that thing. This can be personal or professional, doesn't matter. The thing that you've had maybe on your resolution list, or you've had on your dreamy list, or you've had as a goal or you just deeply desire. It's a thing that won't go away and maybe you've tried it and you're moving towards it. A coach gives you the support and the nudge forward to do that thing. So when I think about coaching, way back when we had coaches if you think about it in school, right, many of them were like for athletics, but we had coaches then.

07:16

And what is a good coach do like? A great coach understands you. A great coach can advise you, but a really great coach motivates you and makes you feel seen and supported, while also getting you closer to where you want to be. Is both inner work of like how are you feeling, how are you talking to yourself, right those pieces and outer work, like literally I'm thinking about gymnastics like what do I need to do to do a cartwheel? Like put your hands here, let me spot you, let me support you, let me talk you through doing it again, right, that's like a coach I'm thinking of having as a child, right? And then there's this weird thing that just happens when we become adults, where there's no coaches anymore, right like poof off into the world, go forth.

And I think for a while maybe the nineties and two thousands a version of a coach for professionals was a mentor. Get yourself a mentor, right. But a mentor that relationship to me always felt a little like it felt a little what is out of balance is sort of thinking of like two scales, like a seesaw, and they're not even because if I am the mentee and I'm, you know, trying to get to where I want to be, that thing I deeply desire, and I've got my mentor for it, I sort of feel like why, already talked to her, I don't want to bother her? Right, you don't get the consistency right with that mentor relationship. Typically I found that you get with a coach. Now slight detour is between a consultant and a coach is there are many coaches particularly more in the life and mindset industry that will be that are great coaches that are not subject matter experts on something. So, for example, you could be a general life coach and you could coach your clients on anything on marriage, on friendship, on Handling relationships with their in-laws right on fitness, on health, on wellness, right, because really a coach shows you your own thoughts and then gives you the support and accountability to move you forward to where you want to be.

09:20

Many times people kind of confuse that therapy and I think of therapy as let's unpack why you are the way you are. Let's unpack in a rear view way Some of the things that happened, right, sometimes that could be going back to some traumas, that could be just unpacking things that happen in your life. We're like I want to debrief on this right that feel that have a I need to explore, right. I think that is very, very different than coaching. Coaching is listen, I've had this on my list for three years our organization funding. I want to fundraise half a million dollars. Right, not going to go to therapy to figure that out. I'm going to go hire a coach and I'm not going to go to a mentor to figure that out either. And I'll tell you why. Not going to go to a mentor who knows how to raise five hundred thousand dollars, because they are busy. They're raising their own money right there. They're so far ahead and I want somebody to work with me, who, who understands this process right and you can hold me accountable week after week. So that's the kind of difference between all of those different roles. Just to outline for you Now the type of coaching that I offer my clients. That is coming to the purpose and profit club group coaching program which is happening and opening enrollment in just a few weeks, so make sure you register, for the webinar is linked to the show notes to fast track your fundraising. That's going to be an amazing brand new training and I will tell you all about the program inside that training. Okay, that's the best place to learn about the coaching program that this coaching program is like the Swiss army knife of nonprofits.

Okay, so I have combined my expertise in consulting where I'm. Literally, I feel like I can see the forest through the trees. Right, I can see it Micro like you. Tell me your problem and I can very quickly say this is what we need to do. And then the coaching comes in. How do I get you to take the first step? How do I get you to take the next step? How do I get you to do the inner works? You actually enjoy it and don't beat yourself up when there's some rejection along the way or some curveballs or some plot twists along the way. That's the coaching piece. Okay, so that's how I combine them both. Okay, coaches for me are a place and I've hired coaches myself. I've been in group coaching programs. I've been one now. It's amazing, I feel like a group program helps me go. Oh, I'm not the only one. Oh, this is normal.

11:55

I was coaching a cohort of nonprofit founders this past fall. We would meet and kind of I would do a bit of teaching and a bit of coaching to get them ready for your end fundraising. And I remember the first session Did a bit of teaching and then somebody asked a question and we did some coaching on that. Somebody asked a better question, or rather a more vulnerable question, and once she asked that question and sort of just Ripped the bandaid off of, like this is what I'm actually struggling with and I have a lot of fear around fundraising. I have a lot of fear around and actually it I'm not even doing it at all. Christina, I haven't done anything like it was like she just needed to say the thing, the amount of people that basically were just nodding along on screen and in the chat going same same, same, same, same same, and so as I coached her through some of her resistance and what was coming up for her. Everybody else not only got that same coaching they could apply to themselves, but they got that like, oh, this is shameful, this is, this is part of the deal. Like this shit is hard, right, this is hard. And having a container of people who are like, oh, you do this to, I do this to I find it lightens the entire load. Lightens it for me, too, when I'm in a group of people who are like, see and understand and support me and cheer me on. I love coaching for that. Okay, so that's part of why I've created this as a group program.

So if you've been listening for a while, you know that 2023 was my year of strong. That was my word of the year and I really used it to carry me both personally and professionally in my life. But one of the ways strong showed up for me was I really wanted to prioritize strengths training and weightlifting. So in January, I joined my local gym after many, many years of a break. I joined it, I was back and I went at least three days a week for the entire year, and I've outlined this in previous episodes, but I wanna offer that whatever this data is like oh, it takes 30 days to start at hab or to start and keep a habit. That is not true. Okay, it's longer. So just know, if this is you right now because we're in resolution season, if it still feels like a grind getting up and going to the gym or getting up and making donor calls or getting up and posting on social media, whatever the thing is it doesn't matter. If you're like, wait, the habit is supposed to form. Now the science, the latest science, is saying at least 60 days, and I wanna offer in my experience it was longer. It was like four or five months. That's fine. Like it was. Like I was like well, this is just what I'm committed to for a year anyway. So just knowing that I wasn't like bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to go every single week was fine. It sort of lessened the like oh, it's not a habit. Yet it doesn't feel as easy as brushing my teeth or washing my face at night, okay.

15:07

So last year was the year of Strong and I really prioritized strength training and weightlifting and what I noticed was, probably by the fall, I was like getting a little tired of doing the same few routines, like I'd just switch it up. But basically what was happening is there are certain pieces of equipment and mats and floors and kettlebells and all the things but there was, like I'd say, 30 to 40% of the gym equipment I know how to use. It's over half of the gym equipment I don't know how to use and I was like I'm ready to like level up, I'm ready to like figure out some of this stuff, but I don't wanna figure it out on my own. I don't wanna like pinch anything, I don't wanna tweak anything. I don't wanna DIY this. I don't wanna watch a video on Instagram that shows somebody doing it, because then, when I get to the gym, none of this makes sense. I need somebody to help me.

So I ended up purchasing a block of coaching sessions and twofold like here are two amazing outcomes and here, like you'll see this in your own life of like, oh, isn't this interesting? So, number one, I'm getting to learn the new equipment. Simple, simple, simple. I'm getting to learn the new equipment and I find if we want to grow whether it's grow your revenue, whether it's grow some sort of skill set, whether it's grow your mindset, anything If you wanna improve anything, you have to start doing new things and often like not once, not twice often. So I just love that. It's like not only is it teaching I'm learning new things, but I'm also it's making me I shudder to use the word excited, because that is not the right word, but it's making me more interested in going, because I'm like, ooh, I'm not gonna do the same trust press today, like who knows what I'm gonna get to learn. Or maybe I'm gonna try this machine for the third time today. Right, it has a novel. There's a novelty to it.

17:04

I think it's important to give our brains to like stick to something. That's hard. That's the first thing. Great outcome, totally worth it.

Second thing, and I cannot underscore the importance of this piece A great coach motivates you. A great coach motivates you. You know what I mean If you've had two coaches and one of them and this has happened to me one of them was so motivating, like talking to me through the reps, right, talking to me after the rep, helping me sort of frame and shift my dialogue during the reps, right, so important, after the reps, so important, helping me enjoy the process, not just the product versus. Then I had kind of a quiet coach fill in and he was really reserved and quiet and I just was like I need a little more hype, like, yeah, you gotta, I need a little something right? So a really great coach shows and brings out the best in you, brings out the best in you and helps you feel better, nudges you to push forward. And the last thing I think I said too, but here's the third outcome too that I've noticed is the days that I go to the gym where I've got the coach for the hour, I'm more tomato faced than the days where I do the workout alone. Why, you know this, I know this right, because I have somebody holding me accountable, I have somebody motivating me, I have somebody saying I got you, I got you, you're awesome, keep going, keep going, keep going. Versus the days Now I'm pushing it. But you know what I mean, where it's like if it's just you right, and that's why I love a coaching program.

18:47

So in my own business, I was in a coaching program a while back and I loved it Huge quantum leap through that huge quantum leap. What does a quantum leap look like? It looks like in a level up in your identity, a level up in revenue, a level up in how I feel. And then I said that feels complete, amazing. And then I went on right and I probably did a little bit of continuing. I had like maybe some courses or something like that, or took a few workshops or something. But I wasn't in a coaching program for a little while and then I was like I think I'm ready for that. That piece, that community piece, that like, ooh, people get me piece that momentum piece right. I just felt this like, ooh, I want that right. And so I joined my coach's program I don't know terrible with dates a few months ago and, holy crap, quantum leap.

Like holy crap, just getting in a space online where people are celebrating, where people are showing up, where people are saying this is hard, where people are saying, hey, how would you handle this? Can I get feedback? Can I get some coaching? My mind's in the gutter, I need some help, right. Can you help me celebrate what? Can you help me see my blind spots right?

20:06

Having that piece has been so valuable and I've noticed in these last few months that a shift in how I feel and how you feel is everything. How you feel is everything because it informs how you show up to donors, how you show up to your staff, how you show up to your board members, how you show up to your friends, your family, your kids, right? So you want to make sure that, not that you never have hard days, but how you're speaking to yourself, in a way where it keeps you motivated, it keeps you moving forward, it keeps you like talking to yourself kindly, so that you stay in this, this social impact world, and you keep doing the work you want to do. So, to round it out coaching is wonderful. Coaching is awesome. If you don't have a coach, I would love to be your coach. If I'm not the coach for you, I can help you find a coach. Send me a message.

Let's talk and think about the Purpose and Profit Club coaching program. Like I said, it's coming in just a few weeks. We will meet every single week and then we will have a quiet week at the end of each month. We will meet every single week. We will have themes. I've just been like pouring into this program. You will have access to my entire library of courses, templates, worksheets. You'll get all of that, but we will deepen the work as we deal with the interwork and the outer work.

21:38

The strategy One of my clients we've really worked hard on their digital strategy. They're messaging, they're fundraising, making sure that they have smarter tech than they were using. And then also it's like how so funny when you do that, how you adapt that to direct mail and their direct mail program is rocking it, and sometimes it's just me going through it and giving them feedback in a few minutes. Move this here. Get rid of those words. Let's punch up this headline. Those are the types of things we'll be doing. We'll be doing monthly giving. If you're like, okay, we have a monthly giving program and four people are in it, no, let's level that up. Or if you're like, yeah, I want to start a monthly giving program and I feel overwhelmed and I don't know what to do, we're going to do that. If you're like I wish that we had more major donors, we're going to get into that. I'm going to run Outreach Genius, which is one of my live programs. I only ever teach it live. I'm going to run it as a sprint. It's going to be so fun, so we will dig into prospecting and outreach and daring action inside the program. I cannot wait. It's going to be. It's going to be best. It's going to be the best.

If you have questions, send me a message @SplendidConsulting on Instagram and I will see you soon. You know how they say you should enjoy the journey, not just the destination. Have you ever wondered how do I crack the code to do that? I can help you do that. I can help you not only achieve your biggest, most daring goals, but the journey to get there. No more overwhelm, no more self-doubt. I want to invite you to book a call with me. Go to splendidatl.com/book.

You Get To Have Purpose And Profit. I’ll Show You How.

 
 
PodcastChristina Edwardspurpose and profit, marketing, entrepreneurship, purpose driven, nonprofit, social impact, mindset, productivityComment