The Biz of Nonprofit Consultants

Last fall, a client told me she would have paid $10,000 for an experience I had only ever offered inside my year-long mastermind. I could not stop thinking about that comment. It led to a decision I'm announcing in this episode.

For the past several weeks, I have been quietly inviting current clients, former clients, and a few select consultants to something I have never done before. The room is almost full. Five seats remain, and today I'm opening them to you.

Compass Live is a two-day, in-person strategic planning experience for nonprofit consultants, happening September 24-25, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. Over two days, I'll share more of my intellectual property than I ever have in a single container: my frameworks for scalable offers, scalable operations, scalable team, and scalable mindset.

We will review your entire business, surface the gaps holding you back, and you will leave with a one-page strategic plan for 2027. Real decisions made: what to sell, what to charge, and what to stop carrying. All of it finished in September, before the craziness of Q4, so you start January already knowing exactly where you're going.

Your seat includes a kickoff call on Zoom before the event, two full days of facilitated planning and masterminding with me and a hand-selected room, catered lunches from The Café at Thistle Farms, and a post-event accountability call to keep your year-end sprint on track.

This room is specifically for nonprofit consultants with $200K to $1M in revenue who have a consulting firm, or the desire to build one, and who want a 2027 fueled with growth. Everyone in the room is already selling, already serving multiple clients, and brings 10 to 20 years of career experience to the table.

In this episode, I also share my insider secret about why attending the FIRST time someone hosts an event is one of the smartest moves you can make, two real decisions that came out of our mastermind planning retreat last fall, and why my team's decade of hosting live events (15 retreats and a multi-day conference we grew year after year) is a skill our friend AI cannot replicate.

🧭 Learn more about the event here

📞 Want to talk it through first? Book a 25-minute call with me

Have a question? Send me a DM on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalieeckdahl/

🎙 Podcast home: nataliemba.com/The-Biz-of-Nonprofit-Consultants-Podcast

You built a team. So why does everything still run through you?

A year ago, Frances Roen was so stretched she had to step out of an Impact Collective Mastermind retreat session to cover client work. In this returning-guest episode, she comes back to share what happened after she made the hard calls: rebuilding her team, her systems, and her offer around the firm she actually wants. This year she is on track to more than double her revenue. Here is how.

Where are you in your journey right now? DM me on LinkedIn and tell me.

Work With Coach Natalie

🎯 Book a 90-Minute Intensive. Let's build your scalable offer together. You will leave with a clear Game Plan and my Sales Forecast Tool. https://nataliemba.com/intensive

💡 Private 1:1 Coaching. Six months of high-touch support with Slack access between calls. Limited spots.

💫 Apply to the Impact Collective Mastermind. The year-long program Frances was part of. Two in-person retreats, group calls, a training library, and private coaching. New members invited to join in September and January.

☀️Connect With Frances:

LinkedIn Fundraising Sol Website

Related Episodes #61: Frances Roen's first appearance #94: The Loop - Maxed Out, Pipeline Thin, and Stuck in the Middle #95: Why Your Clients Are Too Small 🎙 The Biz of Nonprofit Consultants Podcast home. https://nataliemba.com/The-Biz-of-Nonprofit-Consultants-Podcast

You know your retainers have a ceiling. You have even picked your specialty.

But your calendar is full, your fractional clients still need you, and you are stuck on one question: how do I actually start to move to a scalable offer?

Fractional retainers feel safe, but that steady monthly model is the thing capping your business. Moving to scalable high-ticket projects sounds like a leap you cannot afford while clients still depend on you.

This episode is the practical one. The three steps to take to begin the transition. Send me a DM on LinkedIn. Tell me where you are in your journey to a scalable offer!

Work With Coach Natalie

🎯 Book a 90-Minute Intensive ($997) Let's build your scalable offer together. You will leave with a clear Game Plan and my Sales Forecast Tool. [no risk, 100% refund if you are not satisfied with the intensive]

💡 Private 1:1 Coaching Natalie currently has one opening available.

💫 Apply to the Impact Collective Mastermind (for Sept 2026 or Jan 2027) A high-touch, year-long mastermind for nonprofit consultants earning $200K and above. Applications are open now. Includes two in-person retreats, group calls, training library and private 1:1 coaching.

🎙 The Biz of Nonprofit Consultants Podcast Home https://nataliemba.com/The-Biz-of-Nonprofit-Consultants-Podcast

If you've been quietly wondering whether the shifts you're feeling in your business are temporary, or something bigger, this episode names it.

All markets mature eventually and push generalists to specialize, but AI is speeding this process up at breakneck speed.

In this episode, you'll hear the 5 things that happen in every commoditizing market, why being stuck in the middle is the most dangerous place to be right now, and the 3 moves to AI-proof your consulting business before AI eats the bottom and middle of the market.

Work With Coach Natalie

🎯 Book a 90-Minute Intensive Let's AI proof your business. You will leave with a clear Game Plan and my Sales Forecast Tool. [no risk, 100% refund if you are not satisfied with the intensive]

💡 Private 1:1 Coaching Natalie currently has one opening available.

💫 Apply to the Impact Collective Mastermind (for Sept 2026 or Jan 2027) A high-touch, year-long mastermind for nonprofit consultants earning $200K and above. Applications are open now. Includes two in-person retreats, group calls, training library and private 1:1 coaching.

🎙 The Biz of Nonprofit Consultants Podcast Home https://nataliemba.com/The-Biz-of-Nonprofit-Consultants-Podcast

You keep saying yes to small organizations whose missions you love.

The dollars are precious. The ED is exhausted. You have the exact skill set they need.

And every yes is keeping you stuck.

In this episode, I share why you need to shift upmarket and the difference it will make in your own company as you build a scalable consulting firm.

Work With Coach Natalie

🎯 Book a 90-Minute Intensive Let's build your scalable offer together or solve a team issue. You will leave with a clear Game Plan and my Sales Forecast Tool. [no risk, 100% refund if you are not satisfied with the intensive]

💡 Private 1:1 Coaching Natalie currently has one opening available.

💫 Apply to the Impact Collective Mastermind (for Sept 2026 or Jan 2027) A high-touch, year-long mastermind for nonprofit consultants earning $200K and above. Applications are open now. Includes two in-person retreats, group calls, training library and private 1:1 coaching.

🎙 The Biz of Nonprofit Consultants Podcast Home https://nataliemba.com/The-Biz-of-Nonprofit-Consultants-Podcast

You are at maximum capacity. Your calendar has no whitespace. You know you need help, but you cannot justify hiring yet.

This is the loop.

It is not a discipline problem. It is a structural bind almost every consultant building a scalable firm hits at some point.

In this episode, our fictional consultant Fiona is experiencing THE LOOP, and we uncover two real paths through it. If you are feeling the loop in your own business, the best first step to working with Natalie is a 90-minute intensive. You bring the loop. You leave with a clear next move and a focused game plan. If it is not worth every penny, Natalie will refund you.

One-on-one coaching spots are also currently open.

🎯Book a 90-Minute Intensive Let's build your scalable offer together or solve a team issue. You will leave with a clear Game Plan and my Sales Forecast Tool. [no risk, 100% refund if you are not satisfied with the intensive]

💡Private 1:1 Coaching Natalie currently has one opening available.

💫Apply to the Impact Collective Mastermind (for Sept 2026 or Jan 2027) A high-touch, year-long mastermind for nonprofit consultants earning $200K and above. Applications are open now. Includes two in person retreats, group calls, training library and private 1:1 coaching.

🎙The Biz of Nonprofit Consultants Podcast Home https://nataliemba.com/The-Biz-of-Nonprofit-Consultants-Podcast

What if you could go from GENERALIST fundraising consultant to a FOCUSED firm with a SCALABLE offer - in just five months?

That's exactly what Robin Engle, CFRE, founder of Abundance Catalyst, has done. In this client success episode of the Fractional to Scalable series, Robin shares how she built a scalable Major Gifts offer, narrowed her niche to movement organizations, climbed "Cringe🏔Mountain" on LinkedIn and why she chose to invest in coaching early rather than spend years figuring it out alone.

If you've been stuck in the messy middle of multiple services and too many client types, this one is for you.

• Website: abundancecatalyst.org
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/robin-engle
• Join Robin's email list: fundraising tips built for social justice and advocacy organizations

• Ep 62: Land Clients on LinkedIn with Sara Royf's Relationship-First Method
• Connect with Sara Royf, LinkedIn DM strategy
• Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell
• Joe Sacco, graphic novel journalism (Palestine, Safe Area Goražde on Sarajevo)
• Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis
• Ann Rule, true crime author

🎯Book a 90-Minute Intensive Let's build your scalable offer together or solve a team issue. You will leave with a clear Game Plan and my Sales Forecast Tool. [no risk, 100% refund if you are not satisfied with the intensive]

💡Private 1:1 Coaching Natalie currently has one opening available.

💫Apply to the Impact Collective Mastermind (for Sept 2026 or Jan 2027) A high-touch, year-long mastermind for nonprofit consultants earning $200K and above. Applications are open now. Includes two in person retreats, group calls, training library and private 1:1 coaching.

🎙The Biz of Nonprofit Consultants Podcast Home https://nataliemba.com/The-Biz-of-Nonprofit-Consultants-Podcast

Building a scalable consulting firm means making moves that grow your business. It also means saying goodbye to people and clients you genuinely love.

This episode is about that grief. And why it is a sign you are building something that matters.

🎯Book a 90-Minute Intensive If you are facing big decisions about your clients or team and need clarity on your next move, this is the fastest way to get there. You will leave with a clear Game Plan and my Sales Forecast Tool.

💡Private 1:1 Coaching Natalie currently has one opening available.

💫Apply to the Impact Collective Mastermind (for Sept 2026 or Jan 2027) A high-touch, year-long mastermind for nonprofit consultants earning $200K and above. Applications are open now. Includes two in person retreats, group calls, training library and private 1:1 coaching.

🎙The Biz of Nonprofit Consultants Podcast Home https://nataliemba.com/The-Biz-of-Nonprofit-Consultants-Podcast

Here is what nobody tells you about building a scalable consulting firm: it gets harder before it gets easier.

In this episode, I walk you through what I call the messy middle, the transition phase where you are straddling two business models at once, still delivering inside the old one while trying to build the new one. I share why progress feels invisible even when you are doing everything right, and the moment almost every consultant hits where they wonder if it would just be easier to go back.

If you have been feeling pulled in every direction and questioning whether this is all worth it, this episode will name what you are experiencing, remind you why you started and encourage you to go the distance.

➥ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalieeckdahl/

Let's Work Together

🎯 Book a 90-Minute Intensive: Decide on your scalable offer, get out of overwhelm, and leave with a clear Game Plan. nataliemba.com/intensive

💡 Private 1:1 Coaching - A six-month customized program that guides you on the next best steps for your business.

💫 Apply to the Impact Collective Mastermind (next enrollment Jan 2027): A high-touch, year-long mastermind for nonprofit consultants earning $200K and above. Applications are open now. Includes two in-person retreats, group calls, training library, and private 1:1 coaching.

Natalie's Website https://nataliemba.com/

You're fully booked. Your clients rely on you. Your revenue looks strong.

So why does it still feel like you can't grow?

In this episode, I share a story about Fiona, a fractional fundraiser, and her friend Steph, who built a capital campaign firm with a team. Their conversation reveals what's really keeping many nonprofit consultants stuck and why it's not a time or capacity issue.

If you've been thinking about hiring, reorganizing your calendar, or just "working more efficiently," this episode will challenge that approach and help you see a different path forward.

➥Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalieeckdahl/

🎯Book a 90-Minute Intensive Decide on your scalable offer, get out of overwhelm, and leave with a clear Game Plan.

💡Private 1:1 Coaching Natalie currently has one opening available.

💫Apply to the Impact Collective Mastermind (for Sept 2026 or Jan 2027) A high-touch, year-long mastermind for nonprofit consultants earning $200K and above. Applications are open now. Includes two in person retreats, group calls, training library and private 1:1 coaching.

🎙The Biz of Nonprofit Consultants Podcast Home https://nataliemba.com/The-Biz-of-Nonprofit-Consultants-Podcast