About The Consultant Bank

What is The Consultant Bank?

The Wabash Valley Community Foundation’s Consultant Bank offers local experts as free consultants to assist local nonprofit organizations in building their skills in managing their organizations and delivering their services. Recognizing the vast majority of nonprofit organizations in our communities work on very limited budgets, The Consultant Bank is a resource from which local nonprofits can access consulting services free of charge.

How does it work?

The Consultant Bank is comprised of respected professionals who volunteer to help guide organizations toward greater capacity. No prior consultant experience is necessary — simply a willingness to share what the consultant knows about their area(s) of expertise and skill set.

I’m interested in being a volunteer consultant, but would like to know how many hours are required of me.

Each consultant is encouraged to donate up to 12 hours per year to be allotted in limited increments.

I work with a nonprofit organization in need of consulting services. What kind of consulting services can we request, and how many hours will we receive?

The Consultant Bank offers possible consulting needs which include facilitation for strategic planning sessions, a review of bookkeeping systems to ensure best practices are in place, assistance in crafting capital campaigns, policy development and more. As The Consultant Bank is strictly volunteer based, volunteers will not be able to assist with advising on legal or financial issues, dispute resolution and/or mediation, writing grants for organizations, conducting surveys and/or focus groups for organizations, or creating websites for organizations.

Nonprofit organizations in Clay, Sullivan and Vigo counties may request consulting services in increments of 1-3 hours (up to 4 hours annually) at no cost.

What topics does The Consultant Bank offer?

Currently, The Consultant Bank offers:

• Accounting/Bookkeeping (creating & understanding financial reports);
• Board development;
• Branding;
• Coaching: board president;
• Coaching: leadership executive director;
• Conflict resolution;
• Financial planning;
• Fundraising;
• How to write a grant (training/coaching/draft review);
• Human resources/personnel policy development;
• Insurance needs;
• Leadership: team building for the board;
• Marketing: effective communication;
• Meetings: planning, running, facilitating;
• Policy development;
• Policy: fiscal;
• Policy: general governance;
• Social media: policy and management;
• Staff development;
• Strategic planning;
• Surveys: focus groups, needs assessments;
• Systems and data/record-keeping;
• Technology needs assessment;
• Volunteer recruitment: training, retention; and,
• Website coaching.

If you are interested in serving as a volunteer consultant, but do not see your area of expertise or skill set on the list, please contact Kelli Miller at 812.232.2234.

What is The Consultant Bank process like?

To learn more about The Consultant Bank Process, we invite you to click here.