Our Services
Inheritance Consulting will ensure you have the skills, tools, resources, support and capacity to be the visionary leader you are and fulfill on your greatest aspirations for your organization and the next generation of leadership.
Inheritance Consulting conducts its work both in-person and virtually.
We welcome the opportunity to discuss your most pressing concerns and how Inheritance Consulting can address those needs.
The cast of the Tony Award-winning play, The Inheritance
Organizational Intake
There is no better time to assess the productivity and overall well-being of your nonprofit than starting right now!
There are no two ways about it: the last five years have been unprecedented in the lives of nonprofit organizations. Covid forced most organizations to go fully remote, and left nonprofits to rethink, modify and — in some cases — completely overhaul long established operating models ever since. Fundraising and budgeting practices have undergone dramatic changes and challenges. And staff, organization leaders and boards contend with unforeseen and unprecedented circumstances to this day. The full impact of the global pandemic has yet to be fully realized, and future ramifications are still to come.
Any committed and sophisticated leader wants to know how their organization is coping amidst so much ongoing change, but are simply too close to day-to-day operations to make such vital and beneficial assessments with any accuracy.
Inheritance Consulting will partner with your nonprofit to conduct an agency wide intake, that will leave you with a vivid portrait of organizational strengths, opportunities for growth, and potential sand traps you can still manage to avoid. There is no better time than right now to take your organization’s pulse, and to ensure the road ahead promises smooth sailing once again.
Utilizing skills that come from 35+ years in the industry, in a matter of weeks Inheritance will conduct 1-1 interviews with Executive and Board Leadership, department heads and/or program leaders, in addition to key stakeholders identified as critical to the organization’s mission. We will then distribute a confidential all-staff survey for feedback, then synthesize and analyze all the information we have gathered.
Inheritance Consulting will provide your organization with a report detailing key findings and recommendations that will srve as a roadmap to ensure the health and well-being of the organization for everyone that works, volunteers and supports your invaluable mission.
Executive Coaching
If you are the leader of a nonprofit and this resonates with you, a powerful partnership is waiting in the wings.
The head manager of any nonprofit (usually the Executive Director, President or CEO) carries the singular most critical role – and greatest burden – within the organization. It’s where the “buck stops,” which includes everything from carrying out the mission and strategic plan, building a strong board, cultivating major donors, managing the managers, being the public face of the organization and setting a positive tone for everyone else.
It is also the most isolating position on staff – you are ultimately everyone’s boss, but you report to (and are reviewed by) the board. Most nonprofit leaders refrain from sharing any vulnerability with anyone. Most also believe they do a good job of hiding their vulnerability from others. They don’t. Negative, defeatist, often self-deprecating internal dialogues find any number of ways to be expressed. And always – this cannot be stressed strongly enough – always to the detriment of the organization’s staff, mission and themselves.
Few are in greater need or more deserving of a trusted, confidential, empathetic and strategic ear than the lead manager of a nonprofit. When expressed, fears, concerns, uncertainty and indecision dissipate and create a clearing for leadership to emerge.
You Are the Leader You’ve Been Searching For. Inheritance Consulting will provide Executive Coaching that will work with you to clear away the cacophony of voices that undermine your talent, instincts and expertise. You will become more open to the counsel of staff and other trusted advisors, synthesize information with clarity and calm and have the space to think and make decisions worthy of the organization and your leadership. All with the added benefit of keeping your own peace of mind.
Let’s Tawk
No, really – let’s have a conversation. Most people think they’re having them all day long.
Ever been in a meeting and feel liked a character out of “Peanuts,” listening to your parents speak?
“Bla bla, bla bla bla bla bla. Wa waaaa.”
Wonder how often most people hear meetings this way? Trust me, you don’t want to know. The simple fact is most people allow others to talk only because they know their turn is coming up soon. At which point positions are switched and everyone now hears the same drone the current speaker has been hearing all along.
Human beings are designed to be heard, not to listen.
Generations upon generations of people completely wasting their time because no one is really listening to what anyone else has to say.
Inheritance Consulting knows that individuals have the capacity to participate in genuine conversation. Most people aren’t even aware that’s not what they’re engaging in most of the time. Through our series of interactive, playful and even fun workshops, participants will not only develop the tools to become active listeners, they will begin to uncover how much more engaging meetings suddenly seem and how much their influence expands across their work and life. They’re no longer waiting for their turn to talk, they suddenly have highly valuable things to say.
And through the power of listening to others, people begin to discover how it feels to be heard and viewed as a genuine contribution. The workshops are designed to easily integrate what is learned into daily office practices. And as the work takes hold, the quality of every communication will begin to rise. People will begin both listening and sharing from their hearts, and brainstorming, collaboration, open dialogue, problem solving and empowerment will fly off the charts.
Created for staff at all levels in addition to board and key stakeholders - and designed to work both in-person and virtually - once participatory listening starts to take hold, your organization will never be the same.
Strategic Planning
People often hear the term “strategic planning” and start running for the hills.
Partnering with Inheritance Consulting, you’ll be overlooking the Grand Canyon.
Inheritance Consulting doesn’t work with nonprofits to plan from a place of scarcity. Nothing undermines the passion and drive of an organization more than a strategic plan that encourages the organization to:
While – as the last few years certainly demonstrate – there must always be contingencies to deal with the unforeseen, we call upon organizations to plan from a space of possibility, opportunity and action. Any strategic planning process designed to empower and motivate an organization’s board, staff and supporters must begin with posing the question:
Inheritance Consulting will conduct a series of 1-1 and Team interviews with the Chief Executive & Management Team, the Executive Committee & Board, staff at all levels and key stakeholders to establish Major Aspirational Goals for the organization’s vision, mission and internal operations.
Then – working backward – together we will establish the objectives and tasks that must be accomplished in order to fulfill on these aspirations, and embed metrics into the plan to ensure you’re on the right path to success!
Start by envisioning the answer to THAT question, and you’ll create a strategic plan everyone will be inspired to live into.
Board Building & Development
Nothing can bolster OR undermine the leadership of a chief executive and their ability to carry out an organization’s mission more than its board of directors. A committed, supportive, multi-faceted and diverse board who perform their roles responsibly, support the chief executive and understand the parameters of their job can be a nonprofit’s greatest asset.
Although controversial to acknowledge, not nearly enough boards live up to this vision.
Boards have imperative governance, fiduciary and fundraising responsibilities they often haven’t received the requisite training to fully appreciate or carry out. Inheritance Consulting will ensure your board understands their indispensable role within the organization. We will provide coaching, training and team building opportunities so they develop the knowledge and communication skills required to fulfill on these fundamental responsibilities.
One of the chief executive’s most challenging roles is to ensure the board is fulfilling on its duties while also maintaining appropriate boundaries. Managing up requires guts, candor, humor and perseverance. No one said it would be easy. It is not. Yet a poorly functioning board is often the long-term result of a chief executive who feels compelled to appease, stroke, avoid or spin-doctor the board instead.
Effective board members, led by a strong board chair, want to be successful stewards and trustees of the organization. They want a partnership with their chief executive that is authentic, forthright, and mission-driven.
Inheritance Consulting will build on the strengths of the board and foster an environment that invites fresh insight. We will support the chief executive’s leadership as they tap into the resources board members have to contribute, while building an organization that is resilient, reflective and welcomes change during turbulent times.
Day-to-Day Operations
To remain strong, cohesive and mission-driven despite challenges or unprecedented events, daily management and administration must operate seamlessly and consistently. Every nonprofit has been adversely impacted by the pandemic. It is those that “keep the trains running on time” that will emerge from this crisis powerfully, in full command and as leaders of their movements and nonprofit community. Inheritance Consulting will ensure your operational needs are met, any existing gaps are filled and you have a plan in place looking toward the future.
Our expertise includes:
Interim Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer
HR Policies, Procedures, Benefits and Implementation
Grant Writing & Foundation Research
Office Environment (in-person and virtual)
New Hiring & Staff Retention
Management Training and Development
Office Culture (in-person and virtual)
Equity & Inclusion
Budget Preparation and Oversight; Financial Handbook
Workspace & Logistical Determinations.
Leadership Succession Planning
501(c)(4) Management
