Nonprofit execs have broad options when seeking outside assistance—but are vendors listening to you or just selling something?

O'Brien

Ciocci

The association community teems with consultants.

They conduct educational sessions, sponsor events, plaster publications and the very Internet itself with advertisements. Consultants tweet, post, give interviews and write books. They seem to network everywhere 24/7.

Vendors offer everything from bookkeeping to re-educating board members to re-imagining your association's reason for being. (CEO Update parent company Leading Authorities offers speakers, event and video services to associations.)

How to choose the right vendor?

References and recommendations from CEO peer groups and your professional network are the critical element—and a major reason to be active in such groups and to build your network.

"No matter how long you're in associations, you never experience everything you can experience. There's always something new," said Michael O'Brien, a vice president at association management firm SmithBucklin and CEO of the $1.7 million-revenue Window & Door Manufacturers Association.

O'Brien has been in associations for 30 years, including at the National Association of Home Builders and the Manufactured Housing Institute.

"In your professional network, pay attention to what your colleagues are going through. Even though you might never experience anything like that, you can learn valuable lessons and contacts for your association for the future," he said.

When his industry came under fire—primarily from local media in North Carolina—for what he said were specious claims about manufacturing defects in windows, fellow association executives at SmithBucklin were able to help. They recommended Washington, D.C., crisis communications firm Xenophon Strategies.

"I didn't even know what to ask, to be honest, when it came to interviewing that kind of firm," O'Brien said. "We weren't practiced in dealing with the aggressive nature of local media."

Xenophon consultants helped WDMA with "media triage," O'Brien said, helping to frame responses and even sitting in on interviews.

Starting your list
Aaron Hobbs, president of RISE, a trade association for the pesticide industry, said he combines word-of-mouth with a formal bidding process.

"The vendors we've brought on board almost exclusively come from recommendations," he said. "That's not the entirety of how we make decisions, but it's a big factor and that's usually how we start.

"We still follow normal business procedures, but that initial list of who we seek out and request proposals from comes from recommendations," Hobbs said.

From fellow members of a peer group for first-time association CEOs, Hobbs was referred to a facilitator—Jon Hockman—who helped RISE update its strategic plan by working with the board, staff and executive leadership.

The cost was moderate and Hockman was "worth every penny," Hobbs said. "He spent time with me and my team, asked us a lot of questions about what we wanted to achieve," he said. "He was not setting our vision or telling us what to do, but he helped us pull out themes."

Not all are equal
Linda Church Ciocci, 24-year executive director of the $2.8 million-revenue National Hydropower Association, said she gets ideas from publications like CEO Update and online forums hosted by ASAE.

But she also just picks up the phone sometimes.

"If you just reach out and call and say, ‘Can you give me advice about a vendor,' other CEOs are very good at sharing information," she said. "I get lots of recommendations, including who to stay clear of in regard to consultants."

Ciocci said she seeks vendors that specialize either in small groups or in the renewable energy field. NHA recently hired a salary-benchmarking firm that has worked with other renewable energy associations.

"What you really look for are the vendors who have very specific experience with organizations such as your own," she said. "An organization or consultant that truly understands your mission.

"Not all consultants are equal when it comes to working with small associations," she said. "We purchased software for our database system but it was terrible. It was built for a professional society, not a trade association. We had to scrub it and start over again."

Peer recommendations help, but Ciocci said it's the responsibility of the chief executive and the board to know when to hire consultants and for what purpose.

"Any good executive director has a good understanding going into each year what the overall management structure weaknesses and strengths are," she said. "I look at what consultants are bringing to the overall organization in terms of strengthening it and taking it to the next step.

"I get a tremendous amount of marketing communications" from consultants, she said. "First of all, you don't go out and secure services you don't need. The number one rule is, know first what you want and then research the appropriate consultants who can deliver."

Ciocci interviews potential consultants like job applicants.

"Sometimes you find consultants aren't listening to you, they're trying to sell you something that's not exactly what you need. If they're not willing to mold their services to your particular needs, then don't hire them," she said.