Southwest Connecticut Nonprofit Consulting

Teams of NESC consultants for several decades have been helping nonprofit organizations in the Southwestern Connecticut area. As a nonprofit organization itself, NESC repeatedly has demonstrated its sensitivity to the budget, staffing and other resource constraints of its Southwestern Connecticut clients, many of whom are in education, the arts, community services, religion and in government.

NESC Southwestern Connecticut Services

Board Development Board Retreat & Meeting Facilitation Branding Business & Strategic Planning Executive Coaching & Mentoring Executive Search Facilities Management & Space Planning Financial Management

Human Resources & Organizational Analysis Marketing & Market Research Operations Review Risk Assessment Shared Services Social Enterprise/Earned Income

Southwestern Connecticut Clients

Easton, Redding and Region 9 School Districts Mill River Wetland Committee New Canaan Public Schools Newtown Youth & Family Services Norwalk Grassroots Tennis Salvation Army, Stamford Corps Senior Services of Stamford

Shelter for the Homeless St. John's Episcopal Church, Stamford Stratford Public Schools Town of Wilton Board of Finance Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra Westport Public Schools Wilton Public Schools Zion Lutheran Church

How NESC Helps Southwestern Connecticut Nonprofits

Interim Financial Management
After the abrupt departure of a community service organization's financial manager just before the annual audit, an NESC consultant stepped in to prepare for the audit and to oversee finances until a new financial director was hired.

Executive Search
For a municipality, NESC conducted an exhaustive search for a new Chief Financial Officer.

Inaugural Newsletter for a Public School System
A local school system, with a budget to launch a constituent's newsletter but no newsletter experience, engaged an NESC team of public relations and project management specialists to design and edit the inaugural newsletter and to create a template for future issues.

Help for an Agency Planning to Move
When a social service agency was perplexed by the many potential problems posed by a possible move to a new building, it called on NESC for assistance. With a veteran architect on its team, NESC analyzed the agency and its clients to determine space requirements, then exhaustively surveyed the new premises being considered, ultimately submitting a detailed assessment and plan which allowed the agency to make a solid, data-driven decision about relocation.

Improved Efficiency for a School District
Retained by the central office of a school district seeking to cut costs and boost efficiency, the NESC team interviewed the central office staff and other chief stakeholders, identified wide areas for improvement and then submitted extensive recommendations to the Superintendent, School Board and the town's Board of Finance.

Blueprint for Independence
For many years a youth orchestra operated as an arm of a local Symphony, offering youngsters a chance to receive orchestral training and to perform publicly. Increasingly, the youth orchestra began operating independently, ultimately concluding that it should separate completely from the Symphony. NESC helped it navigate this process of becoming an independent organization -- with a new logo and a new name.

Board Planning Assistance
After the board of a service organization for senior citizens asked NESC for help in updating its long-term plan, NESC interviewed key board members about all aspects of the organization's operations and then submitted a detailed report. To help the board evaluate the recommendations and update the long-range plan, NESC ran a two-day planning session with the board.

Budget Planning
The NESC team undertook a six-month strategic planning process for a Connecticut town's Board of Finance to assist the board in the establishment of an integrated budgetary planning and oversight function for the town and for its schools. This study was the result of the board's ongoing concern that major capital expenses were often identified late and unexpectedly in the town's budget deliberations.

Plan for Growth
Launched more than a dozen years ago by a Norwalk attorney as a way to use tennis instruction and competition to keep local disadvantaged kids off the streets, the project recently increased in size to more than 300 participants, with similar programs started in nearby towns. Hoping to build on this success, the program's founder and board concluded that they needed a systematic plan for growth. And for this, they called on NESC.

Organizational Analysis
For a Connecticut public school system, the NESC consultants conducted an organizational audit and made suggestions for fully implementing the recommendations for computer technology usage made by NESC in a previous year.