Advice notes
Using consultants
People often approach the Baring Foundation looking for
funding to employ a consultant. These advice notes are based both on the
experience of the Foundation in making these grants and on the experience
of organisations which have been funded in this way. They are designed
to help applicants when they apply for grants and to help organisations
once they are supported. They will be useful to organisations that wish
to employ general consultants to help with issues of management, governance
or policy and practice. Organisations wishing to appoint more technical
consultants offering legal, financial or architectural advice will probably
need more detailed specialist advice.
All organisations using consultants for the first time are
advised to contact an umbrella organisation or an organisation with experience
of working with consultants. Consultants can be enormously helpful to
voluntary organisations. It is for this reason that the Baring Foundation
is prepared to consider proposals for funding. However, the experience
can also be a negative and wasteful one. These advice notes are designed
to help.
These are the questions our assessors will ask when reviewing
your proposal. They may also be helpful for you in making your plans.
1. The aims of the consultancy
- What do you want the consultancy to achieve?
- What is the outcome you want?
- What do you want the consultant to produce? Who is it to be produced
for?
- Why do you need a consultant? Are you looking for the objectivity
that an external eye can offer? Do you lack the necessary skills internally?
Do you lack the time?
- Do you need a consultant? Would you be better to release a current
staff member to do the job? Are you looking for technical specialist
skills? Or general skills?
- If it is the first time you've used a consultant, ask other organisations
about their experiences and what they learned from it.
2. Drawing up the consultant's brief
- Voluntary organisations are often disappointed by consultancy projects
because the brief for the consultant was not properly drawn up. Although
you may want to use the experience and expertise of the consultant to
refine a proposal, you need to be clear enough in the brief to ensure
you get the right consultant for the job.
- Provide the consultant with clear and thorough information about your
organisation. Clearly spell out why you need a consultant, what you
hope they will achieve and the time scales and methods you require.
- Be specific about the experience and skills that you require, and
particularly whether or not you need someone with experience of your
field.
- State clearly what the budget is and any means of variation that you
may have. In particular be aware that you may not wish to use the entire
grant to pay the consultant and that you will have some costs yourself.
3. Finding and choosing a consultant
- If you receive a grant to employ a consultant you need to be very
confident that you are appointing the right person. Sometimes this is
done through a very formal tendering exercise, but the Baring Foundation
does not expect this as a condition of grant aid. However, it is always
important to talk to more than one consultant, unless you have considerable
experience of working with one individual or group.
- It is always important to talk to other organisations that have used
consultants and to talk to the umbrella bodies, many of which keep lists
of good consultants. NCVO, NACVS and other umbrella bodies all have
directories of consultants.
- Consider whether or not you want to engage an individual or a group.
There can be pros and cons with either approach. With an individual
you know that you will get the attention of one consultant who you can
get to know; with a group you may get a range of different skills.
- Decide on the process for selection - you might ask for written proposals,
conduct interviews by phone or face to face, take up references or a
combination of all of these methods or some. Speak to more than one
consultant even if you do not have an open tender - you may pick up
useful information too.
- Ensure you find out how they see the task and how they would approach
it, who would be working on the proposal and what experience and skills
they have, the proposed work plan and time scales, the indicative costs
(fees, VAT and expenses) and, if required, referees.
- Decide the criteria for selection - e.g. cost, experience in your
field or an understanding of your field.
- If you use a firm of consultants make sure you see the main individual(s)
who will be working on the project.
4. Managing the consultancy
- Identify who will be responsible for managing the contract with the
consultant. Decide whether or not you want a steering group and, if
you do, decide in advance what its role will be. If more than one organisation
is involved, decide in advance who will be the main contact point with
the consultant. Also decide who will deal with invoices and practical
queries.
- It is always worth deciding at the beginning of the process what you
will do with any products of the consultancy. If there is to be a report,
to whom will the report belong? What will you do if you disagree with
the content of the report?
- Do you want the consultant to be involved in discussing and even
implementing the report?
- Agree with the consultant the way in which you will pay. Some consultancy
contracts pay for the days spent on the job. Others will agree a fixed
fee for the whole task. Make sure you know how you want to do this.
Consultants are normally self employed. This means they take responsibility
for paying their own tax and National Insurance and you do not need
to pay them for holiday periods or for any days lost through sickness.
Normally the consultant will submit an invoice.
- It is always useful to have mechanisms for interim reporting and
reviewing. These ensure that the work stays on track and frequently
these are tied to payments.
Other Baring Foundation advice notes:
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