Case Study
New England Nonprofit Consultant Directory
A site for nonprofits to discover and hire consultants by specialty area, using a custom algorithm.
Overview
In 2018, I was asked to create a directory where nonprofits across New England could find consultants organized by specialty area.
The Challenge
Nonprofits often struggle to find specialized consultants with sector experience. Consultants who have worked only in the private sector sometimes struggle to relate to the experience of working within a nonprofit, and so we needed a directory that was focused on nonprofit work specifically. Prior to this directory, no such product existed. I began this work using only an Excel spreadsheet of consultants that had been maintained by a few individuals for a decade. At the same time, the organization didn't want to recommend any one consultant over another. The goal was to create a trustworthy resource that allowed nonprofits to set their unique search criteria and be rewarded with the best match.
The Solution
Using travel sites such as Expedia or Hotels.com as our model, we created a directory that allowed nonprofits to choose an initial specialty area, such as HR or board development, and then refine their criteria from there. Nonprofits could filter by geography, consultant experience, organization size, and many other factors to find their best match. Consultants could create a profile and enter their experience both by selecting from a list of options as well as writing in their own descriptions, offering a qualitative and quantitative assessment of their background. To match nonprofit needs with consultant experience, we had to create a custom, weighted algorithm. I worked with a freelance developer who, 8 years later, called this the most challenging code he's ever written. (He meant this as a compliment.)
Outcome
The directory became a go-to resource for New England nonprofits seeking specialized expertise, with strong adoption from both organizations and consultants. Nearly a decade later, this site is widely used within the sector and geography. A few years ago, I met with a Pittsburgh-based foundation that had come across our site, and shared the source code with them so that they could build their own local version. While I do regular maintenance on this site, the original concept has worked so well that we haven't needed any significant improvements for 8 years. I am now about to begin the site's first significant upgrade; in 2027 we will add a beta "smart search" to harness the ability of AI and allow nonprofits to do more efficient question- and keyword-based searching.