E10: Using AI as a Consultant Without Losing Client Trust - Valerie Ehrlich

At 14, Nel Taylor was living on the streets of Portland, hula hooping for cash at the Saturday Market. A circus school for unhoused youth recruited them, helped them get housed - and then started parading their story out at galas. One event manager told them that if they cried during the appeal, people were 30% more likely to give. Today, Nel runs Now This Consulting, sits on the North American Council of Community-Centric Fundraising, and leads with their history on purpose.Nel was one of the standout speakers at Cindy's Fractional/Shift summit, so they're back to go deeper. They talk about why a public past works like a bat signal for the right clients, and what happened when a contract blew up in January and DEI budgets dried up: almost no income until August. Then Nel tried everything - journaling, affirmations, a deal with the universe, a lot of generosity - and booked six projects worth $111,000 in a single month. Now they have a waitlist, and a whole new set of problems to figure out.Ideas worth stealingYour full story filters clients for you. The people who'd say no never show up, so you never lose them.Affirmations work better when you write what you want to be true, not when you dig through what's wrong with you.Give without keeping score. Ask "what do you have going on, and how can I share it?" - then share it.Say what you're waiting on. Telling prospects you have one spot and other proposals out made saying no easier - and turned one no into a January deposit.About NelNel Taylor (they/them) is an organizational equity strategist and ethical fundraising consultant with 15+ years in nonprofits. As Founder and Steward of Now This Consulting, they help organizations put anti-racist principles into everyday operations and fundraising - or as Nel puts it, "I'm just out here trying to Indigenize the nonprofit sector."Resources mentionedNow This Consulting - Nel's workshops and newsletterCommunity-Centric FundraisingDenise Duffield-Thomas - Nel's pick on money mindset for consultantsFree conversation: replace your nonprofit salary with 3 clients a yearConnect with Nel: Website | LinkedIn | InstagramAbout FractureFracture is the podcast for nonprofit professionals who are done building other people's organizations. Hosted by Cindy Wagman, founder of the Nonprofit Fractionals Network, each episode delivers real talk on building a fractional consulting business that actually works.Want clients who hire you because of who you are? Join Cindy for a free conversation on how to replace your nonprofit salary with just three clients a year - grab your spot here.

Frank Velásquez Jr. walked into the nonprofit sector in 2017 as a first-time executive director with zero fundraising background. He went to a conference, picked up donor-centric fundraising tactics, and sent an appeal letter that reduced one of his adult students to her hardships - all in the name of a donation. That letter still shapes his work. Today, as founder of 4 Da Hood, he helps leaders and organizations tell their stories with authenticity, courage and joy.Cindy and Frank get into the love-hate relationship so many of us have with this sector: why it's worth staying, how consultants can push for change from that outside-but-not-quite position, and why "the work before the work" matters more than we admit. Then they get to the fun part - joy. Conference karaoke, sneaking a friend's husband into a party, and Frank's "joy only zone," a practice rooted in the tradition of Black joy that resets a room before the work starts.Ideas worth stealingDo the work before the work. Pause, process and set shared agreements before you jump into a project.Pay it forward. One "want to co-present with me?" turned into a deep friendship and a string of collaborations.Networking is a depth game. Skip the business-card blitz, find the small table and stay there (introverts, this one's for you).About FrankFrank Velásquez Jr. is the founder of 4 Da Hood and the visionary behind the Ascending Leaders in Color program. A storyteller and speaker at AFP ICON, AFP Lead and beyond, he helps leaders of color step into their power with unapologetic joy.Resources mentioned4 Da Hood - Frank's storytelling and leadership workFree conversation: replace your nonprofit salary with 3 clients a yearConnect with Frank: Website | LinkedIn | 4 Da Hood on LinkedInAbout FractureFracture is the podcast for nonprofit professionals who are done building other people's organizations. Hosted by Cindy Wagman, founder of the Nonprofit Fractionals Network, each episode delivers real talk on building a fractional consulting business that actually works.Want a consulting business with more joy and less hustle? Join Cindy for a free conversation on how to replace your nonprofit salary with just three clients a year - grab your spot here.

Jessye Kass Karlin, founder of Riverwalker Talent, built a nonprofit recruitment and fractional HR practice on a simple habit: once she's under the hood of a search, she asks if the client wants more support. One recruitment contract turned into a three-year fractional partnership that eventually rebuilt 20% of an organization's team.Jessye and Cindy dig into the contract language she uses to head off scope creep before it starts, including built-in communication agreements and response-time commitments, and the sliding-scale pricing model that lets her serve smaller-budget nonprofits without discounting her own expertise. She's also candid about the boundary-setting she didn't have in her first two years, when she answered client emails at midnight, and what shifted once she treated boundaries as contract terms instead of personal willpower.Key TakeawaysA single recruitment search can become a longer fractional partnership - Jessye's approach is to offer the expanded scope once she understands the organization's real needs, not to lead with it.Boundaries work better written into the contract than held as a personal intention - Jessye's contracts spell out response times, business hours, and communication norms up front.Scope creep is rarely intentional. Offering a client two or three priced options for added work, instead of a flat yes or no, makes the trade-offs visible and keeps the relationship collaborative.Reframing a pricing conversation as "can we collaborate on a solution" instead of "you'll need to pay more" changes how clients receive it.Guest BioJessye Kass Karlin is the founder of Riverwalker Talent, a nonprofit recruitment and fractional HR firm. She spent 15 years in direct nonprofit service, including as an executive director, before building her firm from a solo recruiting practice into a team of consultants.Resources + LinksRiverwalker TalentConnect with JessyeWebsite | LinkedInFracture is for nonprofit professionals who refuse to choose between doing good work and having a good life. Hosted by Cindy Wagman, founder of the Nonprofit Fractionals Network, it's real talk on building a fractional consulting business that actually pays - and still matters.Subscribe to Fracture | Join the OS

CF Callihan, founder of Heart Strategy Impact, tried fractional fundraising first. A promising first client went quiet for three weeks before the contract even started, and when the work finally began, CF found himself trying to cram a full-time job into a fractional container. The work paid, but it didn't give him joy - a signal he eventually learned to trust.Instead of ongoing, retainer-style fractional work, CF now coaches nonprofit leaders and boards to build stronger relationships with their own donors. He credits messaging work with turning his business development from chasing leads to fielding inbound calls.Key TakeawaysNot every nonprofit consultant should be a fractional consultant - CF tried it, recognized it wasn't giving him joy, and pivoted to a coaching and strategy model instead.A client relationship can go quiet without being malicious - CF's first big client ghosted him for weeks before ever starting, which nearly derailed his early business development.Clear messaging changes what business development feels like - after working through a StoryBrand-based framework, CF went from chasing clients to getting inbound meetings from people he'd never met.Being able to say "that's not what I do" is a business development asset, not a liability - it builds trust and often earns a referral instead.Guest BioCF Callihan is the founder of Heart Strategy Impact, a fundraising consultancy coaching small to mid-sized nonprofit leaders and boards on individual donor relationships. He is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.Resources + LinksHeart Strategy Impact | Fundraising Superpower QuizConnect with CFWebsite | LinkedInFracture is for nonprofit professionals who refuse to choose between doing good work and having a good life. Hosted by Cindy Wagman, founder of the Nonprofit Fractionals Network, it's real talk on building a fractional consulting business that actually pays - and still matters.Subscribe to Fracture | Join the OS

Tess Conrad, CFRE first appeared on this podcast as a fully-booked generalist fractional fundraiser. Since then, she's niched her business into planned giving - a deliberate, gradual shift sped up by an endorsement from a well-known planned giving expert who saw her as a successor.She also lived through the scenario a lot of fractionals fear but rarely plan for: an unplanned two-month medical leave that stretched to four, followed by a long-term client relationship ending unexpectedly right after she returned. Half her income disappeared at once. An emergency fund, a subcontractor network, and a return to basic business development brought her back to fully booked within months.Key TakeawaysNiching into a long-sales-cycle specialty like planned giving takes patience - Tess expects to be fully booked in her niche by mid-2027, years after she started positioning for it.An emergency fund isn't optional once you're running a fractional business - it's what let Tess take medical leave without panicking about income.Line up subcontractors before you need them. Tess's network covered her client relationships during her leave and kept continuity with the organizations she serves.Content built around a specific niche compounds - weekly LinkedIn posts and a weekly newsletter kept Tess visible in planned giving even while she wasn't taking new clients.Time management systems will keep changing as your business does. Tess moved from Asana to Motion to pen and paper, adjusting each time her client mix shifted.Guest BioTess Conrad, CFRE, is the principal consultant at Full Potential Fundraising, specializing in fractional and done-for-you planned giving for nonprofits. She previously built a fully-booked generalist fractional fundraising practice before niching into legacy and planned giving work.Resources + LinksFull Potential FundraisingConnect with TessWebsite | LinkedInFracture is for nonprofit professionals who refuse to choose between doing good work and having a good life. Hosted by Cindy Wagman, founder of the Nonprofit Fractionals Network, it's real talk on building a fractional consulting business that actually pays - and still matters.Subscribe to Fracture | Join the OS

An unpaid invoice hits differently than a late bill. Grace Tabib, founder of DUPAY, knows that firsthand - she left a law firm offer to return to nonprofit work, then went three months unpaid on a role she still loved. That experience became a business built on recovering unpaid invoices for freelancers, fractionals, and founders.In this conversation, Grace and Cindy break down why late nonprofit payments are almost always admin delays rather than malice, what a solid fractional contract needs to spell out from day one, and how to send a payment reminder that stays professional without feeling cold. They also get into the harder cases: when a client goes quiet, when the money genuinely isn't there, and when it's time to stop chasing an invoice yourself.Key TakeawaysMost late nonprofit payments come from admin delays, not bad faith - missing approvals, absent signers, or invoices routed to the wrong inbox.A contract should spell out payment terms, approval steps, and timelines before work starts, even with a client you already know well.Reminders work best sent early and often - the first one the day payment is due, not weeks later.Keep reminders professional, not personal - lead with the invoice number and due date, not the relationship.If a client goes unresponsive after repeated professional outreach, it's reasonable to hand the collection to a third party rather than keep spending your own time and energy on it.Guest BioGrace Tabib is the founder and head of advocacy at DUPAY, a platform that protects income and recovers unpaid invoices for freelancers, fractionals, and small businesses. She is a lawyer with her own history of unpaid nonprofit work, which shaped DUPAY's mission to help people get paid for work they've already done.Resources + LinksDUPAYConnect with GraceWebsite | LinkedInFracture is for nonprofit professionals who refuse to choose between doing good work and having a good life. Hosted by Cindy Wagman, founder of the Nonprofit Fractionals Network, it's real talk on building a fractional consulting business that actually pays - and still matters.Subscribe to Fracture | Join the OS

Before Jocelyn Helland was a fractional consultant, she was Cindy's client. In 2018, as an executive director in Toronto, she brought Cindy's team in to shore up a fundraising department in crisis - and watched, up close, what "done for you" fundraising could look like.Years later, Jocelyn left the ED chair and built her own fractional practice. She refuses to niche into one function, running fundraising and interim leadership engagements at once, and she's learned to tell the difference between a genuine red flag and a client who simply doesn't understand fractional support yet. She also talks candidly about walking away from a relationship that had good bones but the wrong fit - and why protecting that decision protected her reputation.Key TakeawaysFractional doesn't require a niche - Jocelyn runs fundraising and interim ED engagements side by side because the range keeps her sharp.Fit matters more than budget. Anxiety before every meeting is a clearer red flag than a mismatched invoice.A red flag and an uninformed client aren't the same thing - coachable organizations just need the model explained.Trust is the deliverable. The best fractional clients let go of oversight and let the expertise work.Reputation outlasts any single contract. Ending a mismatched engagement well protects future referrals.Guest BioJocelyn Helland is the founder of Jocelyn Helland Consulting, offering fractional fundraising and interim executive leadership to small and mid-sized nonprofits. She spent over two decades in-house, including as an executive director, before building a fractional practice on her own terms.Resources + LinksJocelyn Helland ConsultingConnect with JocelynWebsite | LinkedInFracture is for nonprofit professionals who refuse to choose between doing good work and having a good life. Hosted by Cindy Wagman, founder of the Nonprofit Fractionals Network, it's real talk on building a fractional consulting business that actually pays - and still matters.Subscribe to Fracture | Join the OS

In early 2025, one of Holly Rustick's students lost $100,000 in contracts in a single week. Holly has been writing grants for more than 20 years and has run Grant Writing & Funding through five US administrations, the 2008 recession, COVID, and 2025.In this conversation with Cindy, Holly breaks down what her students' experience shows about how the sector is buying right now, how to reposition your services when the market tightens, and why the consultants who are thriving got serious about the business side.Key TakeawaysGrant funding dropped in Holly's programs in 2025, but her students' business revenue went up. Nonprofits are still buying - the form has changed, not the demand.Repositioning from "grant writer" to "grant strategist" changes what you offer, how you price it, and what results you can promise.The Minimum Valuable Product framework: what is the minimum scope of work that gets the client the result they actually need? Cut the extras.Credit-based retainer systems give clients flexibility without costing you recurring revenue.Before every sales call, write down every objection you think might come up - then write how you'd respond.Guest BioHolly Rustick is a grant writing strategist with more than 20 years of experience and founder of Grant Writing & Funding. Her students have collectively won over $225 million in grants and generated $4+ million in business revenue. She hosts the #1 ranked grant writing podcast in the world.Resources + LinksGrant Writing & FundingGrant Writing & Funding PodcastNFN OS ProgramConnect with HollyWebsite | LinkedIn---Fracture is for nonprofit professionals who refuse to choose between doing good work and having a good life. Hosted by Cindy Wagman, founder of the Nonprofit Fractionals Network, it's real talk on building a fractional consulting business that actually pays - and still matters.Subscribe to Fracture | Join the OS

Episode SummaryYour clients are starting to ask about AI - and some have policies banning contractor use. Valerie Ehrlich, PhD has spent her career at the intersection of learning, evaluation, and organisational strategy, and now focuses on what responsible AI adoption actually looks like in the social sector.In this conversation, she and Cindy get into the questions nonprofit consultants are actually facing: what to say when a client asks whether you use AI, how to think about data privacy, and why the most effective AI users are critical thinkers - not early adopters.Key TakeawaysConsultants need to decide whether they'll be proactive or reactive about AI disclosure. Getting caught off guard when a client asks is not an option.Separate client-facing AI use from backend use. Both are acceptable - but they require different levels of disclosure.Pay for AI tools rather than using free versions. Free tools often monetise your data. Read the terms of service.Never record a client conversation without consent. Even if it's technically legal, it's a trust issue.A consultant's deep sector knowledge produces better AI output than someone without it. That's an argument for your value, not against it.Guest BioValerie Ehrlich, PhD is the founder of Mission Bloom, supporting mission-driven organisations in learning, evaluation, and AI adoption. She also writes The Bloom Shift, a Substack newsletter on responsible AI in the nonprofit sector.Resources + LinksMission BloomThe Bloom Shift on SubstackNFN OS ProgramConnect with ValerieWebsite | LinkedIn---Fracture is for nonprofit professionals who refuse to choose between doing good work and having a good life. Hosted by Cindy Wagman, founder of the Nonprofit Fractionals Network, it's real talk on building a fractional consulting business that actually pays - and still matters.Subscribe to Fracture | Join the OS

Kelsi Kriitmaa spent 25 years across the UN, global NGOs, and private sector consulting before building what she calls a portfolio career - multiple revenue streams, multiple professional identities.In this conversation, Kelsi and Cindy map out how the portfolio model actually works: relationship-first business development, why generalists are undervalued, and why seasons of life matter more than long-term plans.Key TakeawaysA portfolio career means multiple revenue streams and professional identities - not just one consulting client.Business development in the social impact sector is relationship-first. Mass marketing tactics won't get you clients here.Generalists are undervalued and essential. Niching too early means missing the market.Build for now, not forever. What you need from your business in year one is different from year three.No in-house role is as safe as it used to be. Portfolio careers give you more options, not fewer.Guest BioKelsi Kriitmaa, PhD is a social impact coach and consultant with 25 years of experience across the UN, global NGOs, and private sector consulting. She founded Kriitmaa Coaching & Consulting, holds an ICF accreditation, and has a PhD in Epidemiology.Resources + LinksKriitmaa Coaching & ConsultingPortfolio Career Playbook on Maven - search "Kriitmaa Portfolio Career Playbook"BridgeSpan Group article on generalists: [URL to confirm with guest]NFN OS ProgramConnect with KelsiWebsite | LinkedIn---Fracture is for nonprofit professionals who refuse to choose between doing good work and having a good life. Hosted by Cindy Wagman, founder of the Nonprofit Fractionals Network, it's real talk on building a fractional consulting business that actually pays - and still matters.Subscribe to Fracture | Join the OS