Recognising the Top 5 Must-Have Qualities of a High-Performing Charity Consultant

There are around 166,000 charities in the UK that produce an annual turnover of close to £48 billion.

In this market, effective fundraising isn’t always easy, and sometimes bringing in some external expertise can help you to identify the best opportunities for your non-profit. Charity consultants can help non-profits to raise funds and reach strategic goals.

In this guide, we'll go over the top five must-have qualities that the best charity consultants should have - it’s not just about suitable training and qualifications, but also their skillset. Keep reading for more.

1. Creative Thinking

The market is saturated with fundraising campaigns and if your non-profit’s campaigns don’t stand out then you won’t be seen by potential donors. If you have a consultant who can set yours apart, your organisation will benefit.

A lack of creativity will make your organisation seem bland, and it will be more difficult to get the attention of donors. Regardless of how effective any other elements of your strategy are, your campaigns will only work effectively if potential donors are interested and a consultant who is able to adopt a creative approach can help with this. 

Sometimes, this can be as simple as making communications with donors more fun and interesting. Campaigns will also sometimes experience slumps and a creative thinker will often be able to come up with innovative solutions that can get things back on track. Taking different approaches now and then will provide freshness to your campaigns and help keep donors engaged.

2. Great Interpersonal Skills

If you’re looking to bring in an external consultant to work with your fundraising team, it’s important that they have great interpersonal skills to be able to work closely with your team. 

This can be quite a tricky skill to master. A consultant needs to be assertive and persuasive, but never pushy or aggressive. Effective spoken and written communication is vital, and being a good listener is also very helpful.

A good consultant will be able to listen and learn from the existing team and use this experience to determine the best approach for your non-profit. This is often associated more with face-to-face fundraising, but it's also vital for consultants as they need to interact with plenty of people and build relationships quickly to do their job effectively.

3. Perseverance

When hiring a charity consultant, you want to make sure you choose someone who doesn't give up easily. There are a lot of challenges that non-profit consultants face daily. To succeed, they need to be able to meet these challenges head-on.

You need a consultant that can take being rejected without letting it phase them. It's going to happen, so someone who can deal with it without becoming demotivated or disillusioned will be able to continue to get good results. The better someone is able to persevere, the easier time they'll have securing donors

It's often best to look for someone who is results-driven. Your campaigns need to have a positive impact, and setting goals will give your team something to work towards. A consultant who is good at keeping targets in mind and can push towards them will help your organisation achieve its goals.

4. Integrity

A job is a job, but non-profit organisations are different from other companies. Something that they all share is that they're trying to do good. As such, everyone working for a non-profit should share this sentiment.

A charity consultant needs to be passionate about what they do, and you need to know you can trust them to work with the best interests of the organisation in mind.

There are certain ethics and codes of conduct that go into fundraising. You can train anyone to understand what these are, but you want a consultant that will adhere to them consistently and share the same passion for the mission of your non-profit that you hold.

5. Adaptability

The non-profit sector is constantly changing. As such, everyone working for a non-profit organisation needs to be able to adapt quickly and efficiently.

When hiring a non-profit consultant, you should look for someone who you're confident won't have trouble dealing with adjustments. They need to be flexible and versatile so that they can continue to do their job even if they're faced with unforeseen challenges and need to pivot their approach.

Someone innovative and able to think critically will generally be good in this sense. Donors may behave unexpectedly, and situations might not play out as they usually do.

A good consultant will be able to handle such situations by adapting their typical approach to ensure things still work well. They'll also be able to see opportunities that most other people would miss, making it easier for them to improve your campaigns to get better results.

Getting the Most Out of Your Charity Consultants

It takes a lot of work to run a successful non-profit organisation, and skilled charity consultants can have a huge impact. You want to ensure that those who are spearheading your campaigns have the skills required to get things done correctly and effectively.

AAW Group works with various non-profits in the UK and globally to offer insight and strategic consulting support to drive a step change in performance. Take a look at our Strategic Consultancy page to see more about what we can do for your non-profit organisation.