After the assessment visit by ESC consultants, the ESC VP of Consulting Services will call you to discuss the fee for the project. The range is $1,500-$20,000, usually 50% paid at the beginning of the project, 30% at the midpoint, and 20% upon project completion. The fee is based on the agency budget size, number of consultants required, scope of the work to be done, and length of time a project is expected to last. Our fees are nominal compared to other consulting organizations because our consultants are volunteers. The fees support a portion of our administrative costs. Once the fee is agreed upon, you will be asked to sign a contract.

Executive Service Corps does not raise funds on behalf of a nonprofit agency. ESC consultants do develop fundraising plans and programs. Also, ESC works in management areas that contribute directly to a successful fundraising program, such as: board development, strategic planning, marketing, and public relations.

The Executive Service Corps does not implement recommendations. ESC's role is to advise, and the client's role is to implement. However, the ESC report will be written to be outcome oriented. "Hands-on" activity (e.g., development of job descriptions) is only used at times in order to accelerate the learning process of the client. Sometimes ESC consultants work with clients providing executive advisory services to assist the client with project implementation and help ensure their success.

The VP of Consulting Services or the President of ESC will contact you to discuss the fee for the project. Your immediate contact is with the consultants. ESC's VP of Consulting Services and President are available to you by phone at any time during the project.

There is no set schedule for meeting with the consultants. That is entirely up to you and the consulting team. Scheduling regular meetings (i.e. weekly, bi-weekly) with the consultants does help in building momentum and staying focused on the consulting project. Meeting regularly can also serve to monitor progress checkpoints. Ongoing communication between client and consultant is important. During the course of the project, consultants will communicate on a regular basis with you to keep you up to date on their progress.

Attending Board and staff meetings is not a requirement but, depending upon the nature of the contract, ESC consultants often attend Board, staff and committee meetings. Attending meetings can provide the consultants with the opportunity to observe staff or Board in order to gain a perspective on your agency's operations. You and the consultants together determine the appropriateness of attending these meetings. You should share your staff, Board, and committee  meeting minutes with the consultants.

We hope and expect that the consulting project will run smoothly. There may be times, however, when you feel that the project is dragging, or you have a concern about a particular consultant, or just would like to offer your thoughts to the Executive Service Corps. Direct communication with the consultants is helpful, but we hope you will also call the VP of Consulting Services if you feel concerned about the project for any reason. We can then do a mid-course correction if it is needed in order to ensure a successful project.

At the conclusion of the consulting project, ESC consultants will prepare a written report summarizing their findings, recommendations and suggested implementation steps. In addition, you and the consultants may feel that interim reports are needed.

Yes. Before the consultants' report is finalized you will be given a draft to review. The consultants will be happy to meet with you to discuss the report, or if you prefer, the report can be mailed to you. After you have reviewed and offered any suggestions for change, the report will be finalized.

This decision is up to to the client, but it can be very helpful for ESC consultants to share the report with the Board in order to maximize their involvement in assisting with implementation of the recommendations. It is often most effective when you make the presentation to the Board with the consultants present to help in fielding questions and participate in discussions.

About three months after project completion, an independent ESC volunteer evaluator will schedule a meeting to ascertain overall satisfaction with the ESC consulting services and to evaluate the consulting project.

ESC welcomes repeat business. We encourage you to come back to ESC with a request for assistance in any managerial areas of need. Over one third of ESC's consulting projects are with former clients.