Working With Technology Consultants

These articles & resources will help you prepare for completing an IT project using outside assistance. This page is a great place to start before working with consultants, volunteers or any other type of outside help.

Each step listed below contains a short description and an associated resource. All of these resources were developed by ENTECH or in partnership with other nonprofit organizations.

1. Decide the consultant's role. The first step in working with a technology consultant is deciding what that person will be doing for your organization. In step 1, you will create a Request for Proposal which describes in detail your expectations for a consultant.
   
   Template Request For Proposal
   Download and fill out the our Template Request For Proposal.
   
2. Send out proposals. After you have prepared the above RFP, its time to start sending them out to the right consultants. Use UW-Milwaukee's Consultant Directory to find great lists of local consultants with nonprofit experience.
   
   Consultant Directory
   Search for a consultant
   
3. Be prepared for the review. When vetting these vendors, you want to be prepared to ask the right questions. We've prepared a checklist for use during your proposal review period that should help quite a bit.
   
   Criteria Checklist
   Use ENTECH's consultant criteria checklist.
   
4. Check out the Proposal review service. Things getting difficult? Need a second opinion and don't know all the bits and bytes? Check out ENTECH's Proposal Review Service, where the geeks sit on your side of the table.
   
   Proposal Review Service
   ENTECH's Proposal Review Service.
   
5. Work smoothly with the consultant. Once you've settled on a consultant, managing the relationship can be trying at times. This presentation highlights strategies that will help you help them get the job done right.
   
   Working with the Technical Consultant
   Tips for working with the consultant in .pdf format (get Adobe Acrobat).
   
6. Still looking for more information? We have organized a directory of useful links related to working with technology consultants.
   
   Consulting Links Page