10 Tips to Avoid Hiring a Dud Strategic Planning or Fundraising Facilitator

The Fundraising Coach -- Fundraising Tips, Tools, and Tactics for Nonprofits -- by Tom Iselin

Hosting a strategic planning session can be costly and time-consuming. You can spend hours and hours trying to find a suitable venue, hire caterers, organize pre-work, and wrangle all the attendees. But often times, the biggest cost is the one you spend on hiring the facilitator.

Then, the big day arrives. Everyone is prepared and excited to roll up their sleeves, grapple with pressing issues, and create a roadmap for the future. They have high expectations the day will be a huge success and that the facilitator will be outstanding.

But when the day turns out to be a huge belly flop because the facilitator was a huge dud that wasted everyone’s time and the organization’s money, it can make the organization be wary of ever hiring another facilitator.

Therefore, when hiring a strategic planning facilitator, it's crucial to be cautious and thorough to avoid falling victim to ineffective facilitators who overpromise and underdeliver. Listen in to these ten things to look out for the next time you’re scouting for a facilitator: