BUILD A 6-FIGURE
CONSULTING BUSINESS
WITH JUST 3 NONPROFIT CLIENTS
Turn your nonprofit experience into a fractional consultancy, even if you don’t have 6 months of savings and don’t know how to find your first client.
119
days on average for members to sign their first client
92%
of members successfully find fractional clients during the program
$155k
average revenue 12 months post graduation
$105k
average revenue at graduation
You're too good at your job to keep getting paid like this.
You're tired of:
Doing the work of three people on the salary of one
Watching "other duties as assigned" quietly swallow your actual job
Asking for a raise like you're asking for a favour (and being treated like it is one)
Watching a consultant get paid the big bucks to say what you've been saying for months
Feeling guilty for even wanting out
It's not a you problem. The sector rewards loyalty with more work, not more money - and calls it mission.
You've thought about leaving. Maybe you've even Googled "how to start a consulting business" at 11pm.
But there's the mortgage. The benefits. The team that relies on you. And that little voice asking who you think you are.
So you stay. And wait for things to calm down.
So there’s consulting…
You've thought about it. Probably more than you'd admit to your ED.
It's tempting. Set your own hours. Pick your clients. Get paid what you're worth.
It's also terrifying. No paycheque on the 15th. No benefits. No clue where your first client is coming from.
You’re not here for the hustle.
To match your old salary, you need 10, 20, sometimes 30 clients.
So you're always selling. Booked solid in April, crickets by June. Writing proposals on Sunday night with a glass of wine and a growing sense of dread. Saying yes to that weird project, because what if next month is slow?
Congratulations. You traded nonprofit burnout for consultant burnout. Same exhaustion, now with invoicing.
Enter Fractional: The 3-6-12 Model
No martyrdom required. No hustle worship. Just the proven system that gets you from 'barely surviving' to 'retirement fund that doesn't make you laugh-cry'.
3 clients.
And not a penny spent on ads, funnels or “building your personal brand.” Your clients come from the network you already have - even if the word “sales” makes you want to hide under your desk.
6 figures.
Math you can do on the back of a napkin: $4,000/month x 12 months x 3 clients = $144,000. No courses, no side hustles, no “multiple revenue streams” - even if you’ve never successfully negotiated a raise in your life.
12 months.
Contracts that last a year or more. No feast or famine. No Sunday-night proposals. No starting from scratch every January. More stability than your current job - even if that sounds impossible right now.
Melanie went from in-house burnout to lunch with her kids and meetings only in the afternoon (and none on Fridays). "This isn't just business building—it's life reclaiming.”
Melanie Gibbons
INTRODUCING THE
NONPROFIT FRACTIONAL
OPERATING SYSTEM
The 12-month program that teaches you to build the 3-6-12 model step-by-step.
A Sustainable, Values-Aligned Consulting Business Is Not a UNICORN.
It’s a System.
Set up your Business
(weeks 1-2)
You'll get oriented and set up the administrative stuff - registering your business, opening a bank account and dropping your details into the contract and proposal templates.
Network Activation
(weeks 3 - 10)
This is where you reconnect with the people who already know your work - former colleagues, board members, funders, peers. No cold calling and no networking events. Think building relationships instead of “pitching”.
Deliver Without Drowning
(months 4-6)
Once your first client signs, the first thing you deliver is a plan, and that plan becomes your scope of work. You’ll set your boundaries from day one, so you can manage scope and your time.
If you're still in-house, this is often when people give notice.
Build a Business That Fits Your Life
(months 9-12)
By this point you're running a business, and the question becomes what you want it to look like. Your business - your decisions.
Nail your Message
(weeks 2-3)
We take "I can do everything" and turn it into a clear description of who you help and the problem you solve, so people in your network can refer you without having to explain it twice.
Discovery Calls and Proposals
(weeks 10-20)
You'll learn to run discovery calls built on curiosity, and to send proposals that read like a summary of the conversation you just had.
Right now, the average from joining to signing a first fractional client is 119 days.
Sign the Right Clients
(months 7-8)
This is where your second client comes in, and maybe a third. You’ll learn how to find balance and manage multiple clients without burning yourself out.
Virginia signed her first fractional client 82 days after joining and is making more than she made in-house.
Virginia Almendarez
Meet your Coach: Cindy Wagman
Cindy is a former in-house nonprofit leader turned fundraising consultant turned business coach who's done with the nonprofit sector's toxic relationship with money and success.
She helps seasoned nonprofit professionals build six-figure consulting businesses - without the burnout, hustle, or one more board meeting that should've been an email. As the founder of the Nonprofit Fractionals Network, she's coached over 100 consultants to grow profitable, values-aligned fractional businesses that make room for both purpose and prosperity.
Cindy personally closed over $1 million in fractional contracts and built a $650K/year agency before walking away from it to teach others everything she’s learned. She's the author of Raise It! The Reluctant Fundraiser's Guide to Raising Money Without Selling Your Soul, former co-host of the Confessions with Jess and Cindy podcast, and host of Fracture, a podcast for nonprofit fractional executives who are done trying to fix broken systems from the inside.
She's armed with an MBA in strategy and change management and over two decades of nonprofit experience - plus zero patience for the sector's martyrdom complex.
Who is this for?
-
The OS is perfect for you if:
✓ Have 7+ years of nonprofit experience and are ready to monetize that expertise without apologizing for it
✓ You want income and impact - and you're done feeling like you have to choose between mission and mortgage
✓ You want people in your corner while you build
✓ Are ready to challenge the sector's toxic belief that suffering equals service
-
Maybe think twice if:
✗ You’re early in your career or don’t have in-house experience
✗ You don’t want to do implementation
✗ You're after a get-rich-quick, $500K scale-up
✗ You believe charging well betrays the mission (we'll have to agree to disagree)
Payment Options That Don't Require a Loan from Your In-Laws:
12-month payment plan
$700/
month
Maximum flexibility for those who need the breathing room. Because cash flow is real, and we're not going to pretend everyone has thousands sitting in their checking account.
One-time Payment
$7,500
save $900
Done and dusted. Get immediate access to everything and start your fractional journey without any monthly commitments hanging over your head.
Love it Or Leave it Guarantee
You have 30 days from the day you join the Nonprofit Fractional Operating System to decide whether this is actually right for you.
If it's not - wrong timing, something shifted, it's just not clicking - you email me and you get every dollar back. Doesn't matter if you paid $700 for the first month or the full $7,500 upfront. No conditions, no appeals process. It’s that simple. After the first 30 days, there are no refunds.
Yvette kept her part-time job and with her Fractional business now earns $180,000/year. She’s hired a small team, including her daughter.
Yvette Kelly-Fields
What It Costs vs. What It's Worth
Let's do some math that doesn't make you want to throw your calculator across the room.
The OS Investment: $700 USD/month for 12 months
But here's the thing—this isn't an expense. It's the smartest business decision you'll make this year. Here's why:
One fractional client at $4K/month with a 12 month contract = $48K. That’s a 5.7X ROI from just one client.
The money is nice. But the real return isn't financial… it's freedom.
It's finally knowing exactly what you're selling and how to talk about it without feeling like a fraud. It's having the skills to land clients without chasing every lead that moves. It's building a business that runs on your terms, not theirs.
It's taking actual vacations instead of "working remotely from the beach." Having dinner with your family without checking email under the table.
It's the confidence to say no to nightmare clients and yes to opportunities that actually excite you. It's charging rates that don't make you physically nauseous and having clients who see your pricing as an investment, not a burden.
The financial ROI pays for the program. The life ROI? That's priceless.
Book A Call within 5 Days and you’ll also get The “Fast-Track Your First Client” Bonus Bundle
A 30-minute pipeline review with Cindy to map your network, identify top priorities, and aim to beat the 119-day average to your first client
The Proposal Library: Real proposals that landed real retainers for OS members, so you can see exactly what getting to “yes” looks like
Your first proposal, reviewed by me before you hit send
Betty grew a small agency serving 7 clients. With her team in place, she can take extended periods of time off.
Betty Xie
Get a full behind-the-scenes walk through:
Josh was burned out from years of bureaucracy and politics. Four months into the OS, he was with 3-4 clients he actually likes, making more money than he ever did.
Josh Bowman
FAQs
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Plan on about five hours a week at the beginning. If you have more time, great! The lessons are short and each one comes with an action step. The goal is to spend time “doing” not just “learning”. After the first few weeks, most of your time shifts away from curriculum to conversations and business development. From there, your time is focused on managing your business full-time.
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Yes. In addition to the self-paced curriculum, we have Office Hours twice a week, which are live group coachingn calls. Between calls, you can get personalized feedback through Slack.
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That's almost everyone on day one. Your first clients usually come from people who already know your work. The first 90 days are built to find them: get your message clear, reconnect with your network, then turn those conversations into discovery calls and proposals.
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You can still join - the OS is open year-round, and you get the full program either way.
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that's what the first few weeks are for. You don't need a perfect job title. You need to get clear on who you help and the problem you solve, and then test it in real conversations. You'll get feedback along the way.
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Yes. About 10% of our members are in Europe and Africa, and that number is growing. Nonprofit, charity, NGO - the model works the same way, because the business side is the same.
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ou're in good company. The OS started with fundraisers because that's my background, but I've overhauled the curriculum so it works for everyone. We have members in operations, comms, HR, finance, chief of staff and ED roles.
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Yes, and most people do. We build quietly, and you give notice once you have something solid - not before.
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You're covered by our Love It or Leave It guarantee. If it's not the right fit in the first 30 days, email us for a full refund. No conditions.
Katy loves the stability of long-term Fractional clients and has been working with some for over 3 years.
Katy Pedersen
Book a call
Earnings disclaimer
YOUR SUCCESS DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON YOUR OWN EFFORT, MOTIVATION, COMMITMENT, AND FOLLOW-THROUGH. WE CANNOT PREDICT AND WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL ATTAIN A PARTICULAR RESULT, AND YOU ACCEPT AND UNDERSTAND THAT RESULTS DIFFER FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL. EACH INDIVIDUAL’S RESULTS DEPEND ON HIS OR HER UNIQUE BACKGROUND, DEDICATION, DESIRE, MOTIVATION, ACTIONS, AND NUMEROUS OTHER FACTORS. YOU FULLY AGREE THAT THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES AS TO THE SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR RESULTS YOU CAN EXPECT FROM USING THE INFORMATION YOU RECEIVE ON OR THROUGH THIS WEBSITE OR PRODUCT.
When you purchase our product, you understand that there is no guarantee that you will achieve any particular result or outcome using any of the ideas, tools, strategies or recommendations presented. We make no promises or warranties concerning your likelihood of success, performance, future earnings, business profits, marketing performance, customer growth, or results of any kind. You understand that with any business endeavor there is an inherent risk, including a loss of capital and loss of customers and therefore you assume all responsibility for any such risk.
EARNINGS DISCLAIMER. ANY EARNINGS OR INCOME STATEMENTS OR EXAMPLES SHOWN THROUGH OUR WEBSITE ARE ONLY ESTIMATES OF WHAT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE NOW OR IN THE FUTURE. THERE CAN BE NO ASSURANCE AS TO ANY PARTICULAR FINANCIAL OUTCOME BASED ON THE USE OF OUR WEBSITE. YOU AGREE THAT I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR EARNINGS, THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF YOUR PERSONAL OR BUSINESS DECISIONS, THE INCREASE OR DECREASE OF YOUR FINANCES OR INCOME LEVEL, OR ANY OTHER RESULT OF ANY KIND THAT YOU MAY HAVE AS A RESULT OF THE INFORMATION PRESENTED TO YOU THROUGH OUR WEBSITE. YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR RESULTS.
TESTIMONIALS. I PRESENT TESTIMONIALS AND INSIGHTS ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE’S EXPERIENCES WITH MY WEBSITE FOR PURPOSES OF ILLUSTRATION ONLY. THE TESTIMONIALS, EXAMPLES, AND PHOTOS USED ARE OF ACTUAL CLIENTS. THEY ARE NOT INTENDED TO REPRESENT OR GUARANTEE THAT CURRENT OR FUTURE CLIENTS WILL ACHIEVE THE SAME OR SIMILAR RESULTS; RATHER, THESE TESTIMONIALS REPRESENT WHAT IS POSSIBLE FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY.