Consulting Services

Contact Becky for a free initial consultation and bid.  Becky protects your confidentiality and will let you know if she believes she can help.  If she can’t help, Becky will suggest other resources.

Email Becky@bemidjiconsulting.com to set up a time to talk. Or, text to (218) 760-9470 (provide a first name, organization, and call back number).  Or, reach out on Becky’s landline: (218) 333-3832.

Individualized Scope of Services
Each organization has different needs and is at a different stage in its development. Your board and staff may only need help with a few components of your work…or you may need more intensive support. I try to respect these differences in designing a Scope of Services and bid. When you review this, you decide which services your organization wants to accept and decline those you don’t need.

When we partner to advance your work, I commit to the following:

+ Advice and support are practical and hands-on. The goal is to help you develop solutions and a plan that will address your specific needs and provide both immediate benefits and longer-term results.
+ I will be direct and transparent in my communication with you. I will ask hard questions as kindly as possible, give feedback, and propose options for your consideration.
+ You will work primarily with me. On occasion, I will suggest using an associate who has a different skill set if I believe it will provide more benefit to your organization. This associate’s time will usually be included in your initial bid. If not, I will always tell you if this time will involve      additional costs.   You have the right to decline additional services that were not in the initial bid.
+ If I don’t believe I am the right fit for your organization or your needs, I will tell you.
+ I always protect your organization’s confidentiality. While I do sometimes share stories to help other organizations learn, I never share identifying details. If I wish to share your story to help other organizations learn, I will ask for permission in advance.

Scheduling Time
I welcome your questions and am generally available M-F 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. or at other times by appointment.  I realize that evenings and weekends may work best for some boards.  Feel free to send me an email to let me know you need time & suggest times that work for you.  I often respond faster to email than voice mail.

Yes, I am available for weekend retreats. I realize that weekends may be the best option for board members who have full-time jobs. Just let me know what works best for your organization.

Projects developed by Rebecca Schueller Training & Consulting, LLC

• Northwest Minnesota Continuum of Care:  Coordinated Community Plan for the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project (March 2019) – the plan covers Beltrrami, Clearwater, Hubbard, Kittson, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, and Roseau Counties.  Note:  Thanks go to the entire Northwest Minnesota Continuum of Care and our federal consultants who assisted with writing and editing portions of this document.   Northwest Minn. YHDP-CCP-Final-March 1-2019
• Leech Lake Head Start Community Needs Assessment (2018)  LLEC Community Assessment 2016 FINAL 3-12-18
• Anishinabe Legal Services – Strategic Plan 2019 DRAFT – ALS 2019 Consolidated Strategic Plan – March 9

Fee Structure and Commitments

• I offer a pro bono initial assessment and will submit a bid for future services that fully outlines all costs and deliverables.  Your organization does not incur any costs until after the bid is accepted.  You choose among the services proposed according to your needs and budget.
•  I will always give you a bid before services begin.  If there will be additional costs for other services you request after we begin our work, I will let you know in advance. I include a reasonable materials fee, and this will be identified in your bid. Mileage costs will also be clearly noted.
• I will provide the deliverables identified on time and within budget.
• I provide free, phone and/or email follow-up advice and support for up to 3 months after our contract is completed.
• You are welcome to contact me via phone between 9:00 a.m. & 6:00 p.m. central time M-F or by appointment.  You may contact me via email at any point.  I often respond faster to email.  In an organizational crisis, I can be available on a weekend, early morning, or evening.

Invest in Your Organization

Nonprofit leaders, staff, and volunteers deserve support yet often believe they shouldn’t spend money on their own capacity. Paradoxically, building organizational capacity often benefits your clients and constituents in the long-term. I have been honored to work with organizations which acknowledged that they couldn’t continue as they had previously. And, these organizations believed that they would recover the costs they invested in capacity-building.

Make a fully informed decision for your organization. Contact me for a free consultation and then bring a bid and proposal to your board of directors to review.

Board/CEO Working Relationship & Governance Partnership:

An effective board/CEO partnership is essential in resilient and effective nonprofit organizations. It provides the leadership cohesion that ensures delivery of excellent services to improve quality of life and community well-being over a sustained period. Becky will work with your board and CEO to define expectations and and a matrix of responsibilities and to help your new and existing board members fully understand their governance responsibilities.  Effective boards also need strong working agreements that outline values and expectations.  One of Becky’s foundational board training resources is The Nonprofit Board Designed Alliance.

Board Assessments:  Does your board need to reorganize?  Feeling as though something isn’t working quite right?  Becky can conduct a board assessment, using a survey tool and individual interviews, and then present findings to your full Board and discuss strategies to move toward better processes or perhaps a reorganization.

CEO/Executive Director Annual Evaluation:  Becky will work with your Board to develop an annual CEO (and board!) evaluation process. While the annual CEO evaluation is a basic board responsibility, fully effective boards benefit tremendously from constructive feedback that develops the strengths and builds the capacity of each partner.  Contact Becky to discuss a basic process for the CEO/Executive Director evaluation that allows your board to conduct this duty with professionalism and mutual respect.

New CEO/Executive Director Onboarding & Mentoring.  Request customized services to help with hiring the right CEO and successfully onboarding that individual.  Becky has trained and consulted with several hundred senior staff and executives throughout Minnesota in the past three years.  Utilize her connections to benefit your organization.

CEO Exits:  When a board and CEO need to discuss ending a working relationship, they can often benefit from structured support to end the partnership in a way that promotes the best interests of the organization and the well-being of the individual leaving.

Your initial consultation is always free. Contact Becky to discuss your needs.

Need Help with Organizational Transformation or Pivots?  Contact Becky when your organization needs to plan how it will move in new directions to respond to community needs, operations challenges, or to improve sustainability.  Or, consult with Becky when you need to re-evaluate the effectiveness or sustainability of a long-term program that may not currently provide the impact needed.

The Covid-19 pandemic is an important time for planning.  The sheer pace of change and resulting uncertainty are unnerving.  Our nervous systems weren’t designed for ongoing fight/flight/(or freeze!) responses.  Planning can help.  During these difficult times, visionary organizations will engage all of their committed staff and stakeholders in identifying the most important opportunities for their clients and communities.  Resilient organizations create strategic plans that establish both priorities and limits and build on strengths while “confronting the brutal realities.” Strategic planning should be rewarding…not a chore. It should leave board members and staff re-energized and re-invested in the essential, life-changing work of your organization. And it should give everyone, particularly the Executive Director, a short-term direction for the next 12 months and a longer-term direction for the next 3 years.  Design and implement a process and plan which reconnects stakeholders with your mission and vision, builds your organization’s capacity, and creates energy and momentum to advance your mission that can be communicated to the larger community. Funders get more invested when they are supporting projects and initiatives that result from high quality strategic planning which involves multiple stakeholders.

Your initial consultation is always free. Contact Becky to discuss your needs.

Becky is available to mentor supervisors who need additional support in their roles, as well as to facilitate difficult conversations between employees and supervisors.

Becky rarely writes grants for organizations!  She believes you’re paying primarily for her learning curve on your organization.  You already have staff who know your organization and client needs the best. And, grants work best when there’s a team effort.  Consider the many roles required to write competitive grants (see image).   Instead, hire Becky to support your team’s capacity to write successful grants.  With a successful, multi-year track record of Federal, State, and private foundation grants totaling several million dollars, Becky can help you analyze whether a funding source is right for your organization and what focus area(s) will be most compelling to funders.  Becky will engage with your staff to capture your program and service expertise. Becky is available to review, comment, and score grants or lead an internal  review and scoring analysis with your organization’s volunteers and staff.

Your initial consultation is always free. Contact Becky to discuss your needs.

With private foundation, national campaign, special event, and local nonprofit resource development expertise, Becky understands the funding challenges faced by nonprofits, tribes, and small public agencies in rural communities. Let Becky help you explore options, plan events that raise both money and agency friends, and help your team (or lonely Executive Director!) develop competitive grants.

Your initial consultation is always free. Contact Becky to discuss your needs.

Consult Becky for help when things don’t go as planned.  Or, ask Becky when you have new program managers in place who need help with grant implementation, management, or reporting.

“Not Another Spaghetti Dinner”

Becky has a track record and expertise in delivering high quality events and conferences that generate public awareness and raise money. Whether your goal is community awareness raising, donor recognition, stakeholder onboarding, or raising money, use Becky’s expertise to help your team plan and develop events that will build relationships, credibility, and funder goodwill.  Plan a “signature” event that will make your organization stand out from the crowd, while raising funds to support your mission and work.

Your initial consultation is always free. Contact Becky to discuss your needs.

Let Becky take the stress out of business writing for your organization. Use Becky’s expertise in creating and editing brochures, annual reports, presentations, and other documents.

Your initial consultation is always free. Contact Becky to discuss your needs.