Who Our Clients Are
Our clients: An impressive array of mission-driven organizations.
We work with all types and sizes of foundations, nonprofits and academic institutions, and we welcome projects that vary in scope, content, and duration. Engagements range from weeks to several months to multiyear support. We charge by the hour, by the project or by retainer, depending on what is right for the client’s needs and budget. We value collaboration, and we welcome the opportunity to partner with other consultants and specialists in providing our clients with excellent outcomes.
Our approach: The best one for the client.
All engagements are customized to the organization’s particular needs, culture and circumstances, and they are carried out in a fully communicative and collaborative manner with sensitivity, discretion and confidentiality. List of selected client engagements is available upon request.
The following case studies are representative of our client work:
Case #1: A scholarly nonprofit dedicated to preserving and digitizing the entire literature of an endangered culture.
Challenge: With the sudden loss of the founder, whose vision and scholarship developed and drove the organization, the board and the successor executive director needed assistance getting their bearings and making some significant decisions about the organization’s path forward.
Engagement: Sternheim Consulting undertook a full organizational analysis (governance, finances, personnel, administration and operations, and program review); interviewed all trustees and staff; planned, organized and facilitated a two-day board retreat focusing on governance training and decision-making around topics including relocation, affiliation/merger, and developing revenue streams from proprietary intellectual property. Simultaneously, during the entire six-month engagement, weekly sessions were dedicated to coaching the new executive director in his role and responsibilities.
Case #2: A family foundation anticipating its required sunset.
Challenge: Looking toward the foundation’s required closing in 20 years’ time, the aging trustees (all appointed by the now-deceased founder) needed to address how to secure on-going stewardship of assets and effectiveness of programs in the absence of a succession plan.
Engagement: Working closely with the CEO and the foundation's long-standing adviser, Sternheim Consulting planned, organized and facilitated a one-day “visioning” retreat for the trustees to have a generative discussion about the evolution of the foundation after their leadership and to put in place a mechanism for stewardship succession.
Case #3: An independent donor establishing her own grantmaking program.
Challenge: After many years of active philanthropy in the context of a large family foundation, an older donor needed to establish her own independent foundation and grantmaking program.
Engagement: No longer bound by the historical mission of the family foundation, Sternheim Consulting worked closely with the donor through a series of guided conversations to understand her values and interests, and to help her articulate a vision and mission for the new foundation. Once the focus of her passion -- international organizations advancing women's rights -- was identified, Sternheim Consulting documented the program's parameters, researched and vetted grant recipients, made site visits, and evaluated grants.
Case #4: A new international university developing its board and its campus.
Challenge: A visionary founder/CEO had successfully raised the funds to open a university for women in an underdeveloped country. Students were enrolled, classes were in session in temporary buildings, and ground was broken on building a donor-supported campus. However, the international board of trustees had never met together in person and needed training and guidance to understand its fiduciary and academic governance responsibilities; the staff faced significant logistical challenges; and the university’s support organization was taking on responsibilities outside of its fundraising mission.
Engagement: In a collaborative engagement, Sternheim Consulting planned, organized and facilitated a two-day retreat for the boards and senior staff of this international university that focused on: coming to a common cultural understanding of the obligations of university governance; developing organizational capacity to build and advance the university; differentiating boards’ and staff functions; clarifying roles and responsibilities; and processing difficult decision-making.
Case #5: A community foundation needs special project work on a confidential issue.
Challenge: The board of a community foundation needed to restructure the salaries of its highest level employees.
Engagement: Sternheim Consulting prepared an executive compensation study using current data from the sector and making recommendations based on contextual information and comparative bench marking.
Case #6: A grass-roots arts organization needs start-up support.
Challenge: A brand-new arts organization is funded by a generous donor, who also appoints a talented artist as executive director.
Engagement: Sternheim Consulting worked directly with the executive director to provide organizational development support as well as coaching in this new role.