What Nonprofit Executive Directors Actually Need From a Fractional Consultant (Copy)

Sep 3

You already know what fractional consulting looks like from the consultant's side. But what does it look like from the chair of the executive director deciding whether to bring one in?

Greg Harrell-Edge spent years running CoachArt - a nonprofit that matches kids with serious illness with volunteer teachers. He also made one of the most instructive hiring mistakes in the book: bringing on a full-time CTO when what they needed was a fractional. And now he runs the ProImpact Project, a community of over 4,000 nonprofit executive directors, so he hears the ED perspective on staffing, innovation, and the fractional model every single day.

Nonprofit executive directors don't need another silver bullet - they're drowning in them. The fractional consultant who succeeds is the one who sits next to the ED, looks at all the options together, and helps build and implement a real plan. Process and consistency, not the perfect tactic.

Why Is the Nonprofit Sector Described as Being in Crisis - and Is That Accurate?

Not exactly. Greg pushes back on the crisis framing - and the distinction matters for fractional consultants.

"A lot of people say that the nonprofit sector is experiencing a staffing crisis right now and a burnout crisis," he said on Fracture. "But really, we think it's in evolution."

Crisis implies a problem to survive. Evolution implies a transition to navigate. The organizations figuring that out - the ones with ambitious goals, long-term thinking, and the willingness to try different approaches - are creating real advantages right now. That gap between what used to work and what works now is exactly where the fractional model fits.

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What Do Nonprofit Executive Directors Actually Need From Consultants?

They need someone who is not selling a silver bullet.

"Everything is presented as a silver bullet," Greg said. "There's a new piece of software, here's a case study with an amazing thing it's done. And it's all essentially too small and too much of a silver bullet. If you just do this one thing, it's gonna be what makes all the difference."

EDs are bombarded. They know the pitch. They've seen the case study. They're not looking for another fix - they're looking for someone to help them make sense of all the fixes together.

Greg's framing for how fractionals should position themselves: not "here's the right answer" but "let me sit next to you, look at all of these things that present themselves as silver bullets, and help create a more complete plan."

That repositioning moves the fractional from vendor to partner. It changes the sales conversation. It changes what the client measures your success against. It changes how long the relationship lasts.

"The piece that's totally missing right now is figuring out how to put it all together. Repositioning the fractional as that go-between rather than yet another silver bullet." - Greg Harrell-Edge

What Happens When an Organization Hires Full-Time Instead of Fractional?

Month two into Greg's tenure as Executive Director of CoachArt, they decided to build an app to scale their volunteer-matching programme. Their process was taking over seven hours per match - calls, emails, database entries, back and forth.

They hired a full-time CTO.

"We got incredibly excited about committing to a full-time, highly compensated position, month two into my tenure as a first-time executive director."

The first year was good. The CTO figured out the plan, found the right development agency, and started implementation. Then the agency called.

"Would it be okay if the CTO stopped attending the meetings? At this point, everyone else on your team has so much more knowledge about the actual programmes, and we really just need to talk to them."

The CTO's entire job was to be in those meetings.

Greg realized in real time that what they had needed was a fractional. Someone to guide the process - identify the right agency, set the strategy, oversee implementation - and then step back. They needed that expertise for a defined period, not a permanent headcount.

The story ends well. The app reduced match time from seven hours to under seven minutes. Matches quintupled. They expanded nationally during COVID. But it took until month eight for the app to outperform the manual process - which leads to the next point.

Why Do Fractional Consulting Engagements Need to Be at Least 12 Months?

Because culture change takes time. Technology adoption takes time. The CoachArt app is proof.

"In the first few months, we were making fewer matches via the app than we used to do with the manual way. It took a while for volunteers to get used to it, for the kids to get used to it. It wasn't until month eight where we were making as many matches with the app as we had been with the manual process."

Cindy always recommends a 12-month minimum for fractional engagements - not because consultants need the revenue, but because that's the window required to see real change. The CoachArt example shows what happens when you stay the course past the uncomfortable early stage. Month one results are not the metric. Month twelve results are.

If an organization wants to "try" fractional for three months, they're setting themselves up to cancel right before anything meaningful happens.

How Do You Find Nonprofit Organizations That Are Ready for Fractional Work?

Not all EDs are equally ready for the fractional model. Greg distinguishes between two types:

The traditional organization: Sees fractional primarily as a cost saving. Lower risk than a full-time hire.

The evolution-minded organization: Sees fractional as a strategic partnership. Someone to help them test, iterate, and implement. They're thinking about their organization five years from now, not just the next quarter.

Signs of an evolution-minded ED:

They talk about the long term, not just immediate problems
They use impact metrics, not just revenue metrics, to measure success
They're cautiously optimistic about the sector right now - not pessimistic
They're excited about AI or new approaches but haven't found the right way to implement them yet
They describe the sector as changing, not collapsing

Greg's community, the Proimpact Project (proimpact.org, over 4,000 EDs), is specifically built for this second type. It's worth knowing where to find them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do fractional consulting engagements need to last at least 12 months?

Because real organizational change doesn't happen in 90 days. The CoachArt app story makes it concrete: it took until month eight for the new system to outperform the old manual process. If the organization had stopped at month three, they'd have concluded the change didn't work. Twelve months gives you time to implement, fail, adjust, and actually see results. Shorter engagements often end right before the breakthrough.

What's the difference between a nonprofit sector in crisis versus in evolution?

Crisis implies a problem to survive; evolution implies a transition to navigate. Greg Harrell-Edge argues the nonprofit sector is in the second state - the old playbooks are causing problems, but new opportunities are opening for organizations willing to operate differently. That distinction matters for fractional consultants because organizations in crisis mode often reach for silver bullets. Organizations in evolution mode are looking for partners.

How should nonprofit fractional consultants differentiate from other consultants?

Stop positioning your offer as a silver bullet. EDs are pitched silver bullets constantly - new software, new frameworks, one-size-fits-all solutions. A fractional consultant who sits alongside the ED, looks at the full picture together, and builds a real plan for implementation is a fundamentally different offer. It's process and partnership, not a single answer.

How do you identify which nonprofit executive directors are ready for fractional work?

Look for signs of an evolution mindset: long-term thinking, focus on impact metrics rather than just revenue, openness to new models and tools, and cautious optimism rather than pessimism about the sector. They're not looking for someone to save them - they're looking for someone to build something with them. The Proimpact Project (proimpact.org) is one community built specifically for this type of leader.

What does the CoachArt app story teach fractional consultants?

Three things: First, hiring full-time for a time-limited strategic initiative is an expensive mistake that fractional solves. Second, culture change and technology adoption take longer than expected - build that into your engagement timeline. Third, early results are not the metric. The CoachArt app quintupled matches - but not until month eight.

Should nonprofit consultants respond to RFPs?

Approach with caution. The RFP process invites organizations to describe what they think they need, which is often not what they actually need. Responding requires significant proposal time and usually means competing on their terms. The most effective fractional practices are built through relationships and referrals, not RFP wins. If you do respond, do it on your terms.

What is the Proimpact Project and how can it help fractional consultants?

The Proimpact Project (proimpact.org) is a free nonprofit organization founded by Greg Harrell-Edge that serves over 4,000 nonprofit executive directors. It includes a newsletter, blog, community (the ED Hive), annual summit, and podcast. Greg is actively looking to partner with fractional consultants who can add value to his community. It's a direct channel to EDs who are thinking about the future of their organizations.

The fractional consulting model works best when both the consultant and the client understand what they're actually doing together. Not buying a silver bullet. Not saving money on a full-time hire. Building something - a strategy, a system, an organization that works differently - with the right outside expertise for as long as it takes to see it through.

That's what the best executive directors are looking for. That's what the best fractional consultants deliver.