The Beginning

A small group of friends, all business professionals in Chicago, IL, were searching for ways to give back to the community. They had in the past donated their time and money, but wanted to make a greater impact. Moreover, they were looking for something that fit well with their professional services lifestyle. The answer: Pivot Nonprofit Consulting, a volunteer organization of business professionals created to provide pro-bono consulting to nonprofit organizations.

The Sweet Spot

The founders of Pivot Nonprofit Consulting perceived a gap in consulting services for small, growing nonprofit organizations. Traditional for-profit management consulting firms have the strategic tools, but lack nonprofit experience. Nonprofit consulting firms have deep knowledge of the nonprofit sector, but their experience base is often narrow. The goal of Pivot Nonprofit Consulting was to blend the best of these two worlds by offering pro-bono nonprofit consulting services grounded in for-profit experience.

The Impact

The consultants at Pivot Nonprofit Consulting owe their success to a number of factors. First, we have found that many of the analytic and problem solving techniques from the business and management consulting world are useful for solving the problems of nonprofit organizations as well. Second, by working with a broad array of nonprofit clients, we have built a more comprehensive understanding of the most challenging issues facing nonprofits today. Finally, by tailoring our project staffing to fit the lifestyle of the busy professional, we are able to utilize capacity among consultants who would otherwise not be able to volunteer.

The Results

Pivot Nonprofit Consulting is designed to achieve results for both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. For our clients, we combine for-profit thinking and best practices with an understanding of key issues facing non-profit organizations today, and we apply these ideas to specific problems. Through our client work, we hope to advance the theories of practice for the nonprofit sector – we believe that the best theory is often born in action. We have also found that many of the insights from our work in the nonprofit sector are applicable in our day-to-day for-profit work. We believe both sectors will ultimately benefit from gaining a better understanding of each other.