CORE Archives
  • Archives
    • A CORE History & Timeline
    • The Way we Were (Old "About Us") >
      • CORE's Vision, Values & Promise
      • Our Theory of Change
      • CORE Structure and Governance
    • Newsletters/Blogs >
      • At the Crossroads with you and "U"
      • On the Home Front
      • Year-End Update & Invitation to Contribute
    • Videos/Poems/Multimedia >
      • A 2014 National Presentation about CORE
      • A CORE Limerick
    • People of CORE's History
    • 2016 Exploratory Journey
    • Harvests from Past Programs >
      • Circle of Transformational Practice >
        • Gathering Harvest >
          • 2016 sessions >
            • Your Story is Your Brand
            • Racial Justice in Our Lives and Our Work
            • Open Circle
            • Building Trust in Our Work
            • Social Justice and Mindfulness
            • Courage in our work
            • Eye Opening Models
            • Creating Intelligent Teams
            • Shared Leadership
            • What is the next level you seek in your consulting practice?
          • 2015 sessions >
            • Conversations we are hungering to have
            • Gratitude as transformational practice
            • How do we respond to sudden change?
            • More Eye-opening Models and Frameworks >
              • Intuitive Organizational Diagnostic
              • Using Chalk Talk in consulting
            • What does collaboration feel like in consulting practice?
            • Cross Cultural Insights and Reflections - July 2015
            • The Art of Transformational Consulting - June 2015
            • Conversations around equity and justice - May 2015
            • Exploring Asset-Based Community Development - April 2015
            • Eye-opening models and frameworks - March 2015 >
              • Asset-Based Community Development
              • Center for World-Changing Organizations
              • Global Dexterity
              • Mutual Aid Networks
            • How can we become the change we want to see in the world? - February 2015
            • How do we focus on the most important things? Or, "What conversations are we yearning for?" Part II. - January 2015
          • 2014 sessions >
            • What conversations are we yearning for? - December 2014
            • Toward a deeper consulting community - November 2014
            • More eye-opening frameworks and models - October 2014 >
              • Articulating Purpose
              • Zentangle
              • Participatory Flowcharting
              • The Turtle Approach to Measurement
              • Intuitive Organizational Diagnosis
              • Problem Abatement Model
              • Hot Action Model
            • Power differentials and how they affect our work - September 2014
            • Be the change: personal qualities of effective consultants - August 2014
            • Toward a Deeper Consulting Community/Focused Conversation Techniques - July 2014
            • Testing
            • More Eye-Opening Models and Frameworks - June 2014
            • Engaging in super-sensitive conversations - from theory to practice - May 2014
            • Toward a Consulting Community - April 2014
            • Eye-opening models and frameworks - March 2014
            • Engaging in super-sensitive conversations - Feb. 2014
          • 2013 sessions
          • 2012 sessions
          • 2011 sessions
          • 2010 sessions
      • Art for Change 2014
      • Harvest from 2014 CORE Community Gathering with Playback Milwaukee
      • Funder Confabs >
        • October 21st 2014 Funder Confab Harvest
        • July 24th 2014 Funder Confab Harvest
        • Funder Confab Group Agreements
        • Funder Confab Action Team Charter
      • CORE Action Café >
        • CORE Action Café announcement version
      • Match for Change >
        • MfC Round 3/2014 Participant Matches
        • Match for Change Flow Chart
        • Becoming a CORE Connector >
          • Connector Application
        • Eligibility >
          • For Organizations
        • Matchmaking Definitions >
          • Capacity Building
          • Consultant
          • Project
          • "Matching" grant
          • Organization
          • Ready
        • Organization Application Process >
          • Application Preview - Organizations
        • Consultant Application Process
        • Matchmaking Confidentiality
        • Assisted Contracting
        • Reporting Process
        • Definitions
        • Round 1 Participants
        • Round 1 Discoveries
    • Resources >
      • Tips on Hiring a Consultant
      • The Field of Transformational Change by Becca Krantz
      • Related Efforts
    • Testimonials

Tips for Hiring a Consultant

We recommend that you consider more than one consultant before selecting who you will work with, and check their references, to determine the best fit for you.

We also suggest you talk with potential consultants about the following things, and work towards shared understanding on them, before beginning the work:

Purpose: Why are you undertaking this work? What is the deep aspiration that leads you to seek consulting at this time?

Outcomes: What are your expectations, or “conditions of satisfaction.” How will you know if this capacity building project is working? Are there specific things you can use to track or measure or document progress and/or outcomes?

Process: What is the work plan? That is, what activities will the consultant undertake, and which ones will involve work from members of the organization?

People: Who else, if anyone, do you need to enroll or get buy-in from for this to work? Will the consultant be involved in helping with this in some way (e.g. coaching the organization’s leader, or meeting with people?)

Emergence: There are many wise quotes to the effect that even the best laid plans sometimes don't survive their first encounter with reality. How will you build in times for reflection and learning and changing the plan as the future emerges?

Cost/Budget: What will the fees be? Will there be a flat fee? Or Hourly? Or some hybrid (e.g. hourly with a ceiling?)

With thanks to: the "P-O-P" model, created by Leslie Sholl Jaffe and Randy Alford as taught by Robert Gass; Ben Kadel of Emotus Operandi; and C. Otto Scharmer's Theory U.

For further information about hiring a consultant, follow these links to request an emailed copy of the following articles published in the Society for Nonprofits (www.snpo.org) Publication "Nonprofit World" (links offered here with permission):

"Common Mistakes in Hiring a Consultant" ( Nov./Dec. 2012), 
"Secrets to Finding the perfect Consultant" (May/June 2010);
"The Logic of Consultants' Fees" (Sept./Oct. 1992) [Note that this is a 20-year-old piece, and the numbers are not adjusted for inflation, but the logic remains relevant]. 


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CORE  explores and cultivates core practices for social transformation
to heal ourselves, our communities, and our world
. www.corechange.us  ​