Hiring a messaging consultant is easy to get wrong, because almost everyone in branding says they do messaging.
A few things worth checking before you sign anything.
Do they understand the nonprofit world from the inside?
Messaging for a nonprofit is not the same as messaging for a product. Your reader might be a major donor one minute and a skeptical board member the next. That takes someone who has sat in those rooms.
Do they start with strategy or jump to deliverables? If the first conversation is about logos and color, be cautious. The words come first. The look follows.
Will they build it with your team, or hand you a document? The best messaging gets made with the people who have to use it. A consultant who disappears and returns with a finished brand often leaves a team that does not believe a word of it.
And will they push back? You are not paying for a yes. You are paying for someone who will tell you when your message isn’t working and commits to helping you fix it.
Good messaging work changes how your whole team talks about your work. Hire for that, not for a nice-looking website or slide deck.
