- Needs assessment – We start by conducting a needs assessment with the client organization to:
- Build rapport
- Learn about the client organization and its current circumstances
- Explore presenting issues
- Gauge client readiness
- Reach agreement on the scope and focus of work
- Exchange ideas about the specific steps to be pursued in our workplan
- Ensure the client understands CRE’s approach, our role, and the full range of services we can offer
- Workplan development – The needs assessment is followed by the preparation of a workplan which outlines the goals and scope of the work as well as the projected steps, outcomes and costs. The workplan is reviewed by the client and revisions are made as needed. The lead CRE consultant and the primary contact at the nonprofit (almost always the Executive Director) sign the workplan, which serves as an agreement between CRE and the client organization.
- Implementation – Once the workplan is agreed upon, the consulting work starts. Implementation steps vary depending upon the focus and goals of the workplan. Regardless of the content area of the consulting work, during this phase, the consultant works with the client to advance the project outlined in the workplan and achieve the desired result or change.
- Progress Reviews – Periodic reviews are conducted against workplan goals to ensure that the work is proceeding in the right direction, to make needed course corrections, and/or to assess whether goals have to be re-defined or new goals articulated.
- Close-out – At the end of the engagement, the consultant meets with the client to review what has been accomplished and what the next steps the client might take to sustain the gains and the changes resulting from their work together. A close-out letter summarizing results as well as sustainability recommendations is sent to the client.
- Evaluation – CRE conducts telephone interview of the client after the work is completed to ensure continuous learning on our part. We seek to not only gauge client satisfaction, but also to understand the impact our work had on the nonprofit organization and whether it led to the desired change. Clients who meet a set of organizational criteria are invited to participate in our Measuring Impact Study, the results of which will be available in the next year. See Evaluating Our Impact for more details.
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