I recently was baffled when I arrived at the headquarters of a nonprofit organization where I serve as a consultant; one of the accountants had left me a copy of some incoming mail. It was a check made out to the nonprofit, with a note from a fellow consultant to effect that this was a donation in my honor.
It so happens that this nonprofit organization doesn't solicit donations from individuals, so this incident provided some novelty and amusement to the accounting staff, which is accustomed to dealing with grants and endowments.
My fellow consultant, of whom I have a very high opinion, had not mentioned her plans to make this donation in my honor, so I sent her an email - not merely to thank her, but to learn more about what inspired this charming gesture. Her response was that I had referred someone to her who turned out to be a very good client.
Ahah! It began to make sense. I make no apology for the fact that I am paid by nonprofit organizations for the work I do, but I always work for and behalf of my clients, and never take any commissions from those who sell them products or services. This consultant chose a way of thanking me that put no money in my pocket but pleased me very much.
Meanwhile, I was on the receiving end of a lot of teasing from the recipients, who asked for instructions as to how the money should be spent. However, if this was a donor-advised fund, I was not the donor. I declined (both jokingly and seriously) to tell them how to use the gift.
I've been thinking about this incident in the last day or two, in the context of questions about the relationships between consultants and nonprofit organizations.
When I make a referral, it's for a combination of reasons: 1) I have an irresistible compulsion to bring resources and needs together, and 2) I'm convinced that the person or organization I'm recommending is a strong choice, though perhaps not the only possible choice. If I have a financial or personal connection with the other party, I'm careful to disclose that to the nonprofit client. Moreover, I have sometimes accrued billable hours by arranging advantageous alliances between two or more client organizations - but I make sure that everyone at the table knows who's paying me for that particular piece of work. Perhaps the strangest disclosures are the ones in which I refer a nonprofit to an superlative provider of products or services, but preface it by saying that the professional in question despises me, and that I can't really do much more to facilitate the nonprofit organization's relationship with him or her.
In the situation that inspired this unsolicited donation to my nonprofit client, I was convinced that the consultant I was recommending would be of great assistance in facilitating a project that was under consideration, and I turned out to be correct. The buddy to whom I had recommended her was happy, the consultant was happy, and I received the kind of kickback that I can condone.
