Fracture

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 Takeaways

• Niching 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 Bio

Tess 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 + Links

Full Potential Fundraising

Connect with Tess

Website | 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.

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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 Takeaways

• Most 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 Bio

Grace 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 + Links

DUPAY

Connect with Grace

Website | 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.

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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 Takeaways

• Fractional 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 Bio

Jocelyn 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 + Links

Jocelyn Helland Consulting

Connect with Jocelyn

Website | 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

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.

• Grant 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.

Holly 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.

• Grant Writing & Funding
• Grant Writing & Funding Podcast
• NFN OS Program

Website | LinkedIn

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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

Your 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.

• Consultants 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.

Valerie 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.

• Mission Bloom
• The Bloom Shift on Substack
• NFN OS Program

Website | LinkedIn

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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.

• A 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.

Kelsi 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.

• Kriitmaa Coaching & Consulting
• Portfolio Career Playbook on Maven - search "Kriitmaa Portfolio Career Playbook"
• BridgeSpan Group article on generalists: [URL to confirm with guest]
• NFN OS Program

Website | LinkedIn

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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

Greg Harrell-Edge ran CoachArt, a nonprofit matching kids with serious illness to volunteers who teach arts and athletics. When he arrived, every new match took over seven hours of staff time. They built an app. That time dropped to under seven minutes. They quintupled matches made and went national during COVID.

But Greg's most useful story isn't the win - it's the mistake. Month two, they hired a full-time CTO. A year in, the development agency said the CTO didn't need to attend meetings anymore. Greg realised in real time: what they'd needed was a fractional.

Key Takeaways

• The nonprofit sector is in evolution, not crisis. Organizations doing things differently right now have real advantages - the fractional model is one of them.
• EDs are drowning in silver bullets. Position yourself as the person who helps them put it all together, not as another fix.
• The EDs most ready for fractional work think long-term, focus on impact metrics, and show up with cautious optimism.

Guest Bio

Greg Harrell-Edge is the Founder and Executive Director of the Proimpact Project, a free nonprofit community helping EDs lead future-ready organizations. A second-generation nonprofit leader, he previously served as ED of CoachArt and hosts the Proimpact Podcast.

Resources + Links

• Proimpact Project
• Proimpact ED Hive
• Proimpact Podcast
• CoachArt
• Nonprofit Fractionals Network
• NFN OS Program

Connect with Greg

Website | LinkedIn

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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

Tracey van Marcke didn't set out to build a fractional COO business. During COVID, her network kept asking "while you're looking, could you help with X?" After the third conversation, something clicked.

Five years later, TvM Impact Consulting supports nonprofit CEOs and executive directors as their "right-hand executive" - an operational partner who's been on the other side of that desk and can carry some of the weight.

Key Takeaways

• Your client is always the person - the CEO or ED - not the nonprofit itself. Serve the human and the organisation follows.
• A prospective client who bad-mouths a previous consultant is a clear red flag. If they'll say it about them, they'll say it about you.
• Project work is a legitimate entry point into long-term retainer relationships. Use it strategically.
• Three to four clients is a sustainable sweet spot - the right number depends on the type of work, not just hours.
• The timing of fractional work always finds a way to work out. Build your pipeline and trust the process.

Guest Bio

Tracey van Marcke is the Founder and Principal of TvM Impact Consulting, LLC, a fractional COO practice serving nonprofit CEOs and EDs. A former nonprofit CEO herself, she's been doing this work for five years and was a 2023 NAWBO Richmond Women of Excellence Award Finalist.

Resources + Links

• TvM Impact Consulting
• Nonprofit Fractionals Network
• NFN OS Program

Connect with Tracey

Website | LinkedIn

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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

Most fractionals get stuck on branding two ways: ignore it entirely, or lose weeks in a logo spiral before landing a client. Christine Lieu-Guzauskas, founder of CL Designs, has a sharper framework.

Key Takeaways

• Branding has three layers: internal (positioning), external (visuals), and experiential (client journey). Most consultants skip the first and underfund the third.
• Start visual brand research on Pinterest. Set a timer, collect without judgment, and let patterns emerge.
• Your brand evolves with you - five iterations in ten years isn't inconsistency, it's a growing business.
• Client experience isn't just onboarding gifts. It's frictionless booking, transparent pricing, and asking how clients like to celebrate before you send a goodbye present.

Guest Bio

Christine Lieu-Guzauskas is the founder of CL Designs, an award-winning Toronto design boutique specialising in the nonprofit sector. She helps consultants build cohesive brands - from visual identity to client experience - and hosts the Brand Party podcast.

Resources + Links

• CL Designs: https://www.christineldesigns.com
• Brand Party Podcast
• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• Christine on Instagram
• Handwrytten
• SugarWish

Connect with Christine: Website | 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

Kayla Meyers built Bridgepoint Evaluation around one insight: her expertise didn't need 40 hours a week. After going in-house to build a nonprofit evaluation system from scratch, she turned that role into her first fractional client.

This episode covers how fractional evaluation works month-to-month, how she pitched the transition to her employer, and how to position evaluation as strategy rather than compliance.

• Fractional consulting works in specialised fields - the model applies wherever organisations need senior expertise without a full-time hire
• Turning an in-house role into your first fractional client is possible - frame it around what's best for the organisation
• The cost of a person is different from their salary - framing pricing that way creates a genuine win-win
• When you do good fractional work, the ED stops thinking about your function - so you have to proactively communicate your value
• One-time evaluation projects can convert to ongoing fractional clients when clients experience what an evaluative learning culture feels like

Kayla Meyers is the founder of Bridgepoint Evaluation in Minneapolis, providing fractional evaluation management, coaching, and impact reporting to nonprofits. She teaches program evaluation at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

• bridgepointevaluation.com
• linkedin.com/in/bridgepointkayla
• https://buildingbettertogether.co/ [URL to confirm]
• consultants4good.com
• eval.org
• Minnesota Evaluation Association [URL to confirm]
• Rising Tide Society [URL to confirm]
• Strengthen the Strong [URL to confirm]

Website | LinkedIn

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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