Michael Allison Consulting

Consulting Expertise

• Nonprofit Management Consulting
  • Strategic Business Planning
  • Organization Development
  • Management and Governance
• Design and Execution of Capacity Building Initiatives

Experience

Principal, Michael Allison Consulting
Independent consulting practice working with nonprofits and foundations to achieve greater organizational effectiveness in support of progressive social change. Current/recent clients include Hawai’i Community Foundation ($15M annual grants: strategic planning), Lambda Legal ($10M legal advocacy organization for LGBT community: strategic planning), and Sports4Kids ($4M youth services program: governance implications for national expansion).

Director of Consulting and Research
CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, 1990 – 2004. (concurrently served as Associate Director 1994-2004) Staff of 35. Budget of $5 million. Managed full service management consulting practice with individual nonprofits as well as foundation and government sponsored capacity building initiatives. Managed group of 12 staff consultants and upwards of 30 affiliate consultants serving over 300 organizations each year. The consulting practice grew from less than $100,000 in revenue in 1990 to $3.0 million in revenue by 2003. Consulted individually in areas of strategic and business planning, governance, and organizational development. Designed and led 14 capacity building initiatives sponsored by both foundation and government funders.

Graduate Level Instructor
Taught Program Evaluation at California State University of the East Bay to Masters in Public Administration students from 1998 – 2001.  Taught Strategic Planning in the Nonprofit Management Certificate program at California State University – San Jose in 2000 and 2001.

Independent Organization Development Consultant
Kaiser External Consulting Group, 1989 – 1995. Worked with over 50 clients throughout the Northern California region. Sample project: consult to the management team of a medical center to develop an organizational vision, articulate corporate values and develop coordinated short-term operational priorities. Process involved participation from all 400 staff members at the site.

Executive Director
Hartford Areas Rally Together, Hartford, CT, 1980 – 1986. Accomplishments of this community organizing coalition of seven neighborhood organizations during this period include: renovation of over 200 housing units, negotiation of increased bank investment in targeted neighborhoods through the Community Reinvestment Act, and passage of city ordinances governing commercial development and protection of low-income housing. We also passed the first “Pooper-Scooper” ordinance in New England!

Education

Kaiser Permanente
Organization Research and Development Intern, 1990
9 month, post-graduate, salaried, internship program.

Stanford University, Graduate School of Business
Graduate Seminar Facilitator, “Interpersonal Dynamics,” 1989

Yale University School of Management
Master’s of Business Administration, 1988

Colgate University
BA, Economics, 1979. Member, Omicron Delta Epsilon.
Honor Society in Economics.

Publications

Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations, 2^nd Edition, A Practical Guide and Workbook, with Jude Kaye, eds. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2005

“Into the Fire, Boards and Executive Transitions.” Nonprofit Management and Leadership vol. 12 no. 2 2002, Wiley Periodicals

A First Map: Exploring the Market for Consulting to Nonprofit Organizations in the Bay Area, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, 2000. Research team included staff from CompassPoint and Harder+Company Community Research.

Leadership Lost: A Study on Executive Director Tenure and Experience, with Tim Wolfred and Jan Masaoka. San Francisco: Support Center for Nonprofit Management/NDC, 1999

“Seven Characteristics of Nonprofit Organizations.” with Jude Kaye. Vision/Action. Bay Area OD Network, 17. (3) 1998

Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations: A Practical Guide and Workbook, with Jude Kaye, eds. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997

The Collaboration Continuum, with Jan Masaoka. Washington, D.C.: National Minority AIDS Council, 1996

Managed Care and Community-Based Organizations, co-editor. San Francisco: Support Center for Nonprofit Management/NDC, 1995

Strategic Planning for AIDS Service Organizations, with Jude Kaye. Washington, D.C.: National Minority AIDS Council, 1994

“Why Boards Don’t Govern.” with Jan Masaoka. In Taking Trusteeship Seriously. Indiana University Center on Philanthropy, 1994

“Management Challenges for ASO’s in the 90’s.” ASAP Newsletter. AIDS Service Providers Association, 4. (9) 1992

“AIDS Project New Haven: Marketing AIDS Education to High Risk Youth,”
Published case study used in graduate marketing course. CT: Yale University, 1988

Community Affiliations

Hillcrest Elementary and Middle School, Oakland Unified School District, PTA President 2008 – 2010

LeaderSpring, Leadership Council Governing Body 2002- present; Vice President, 2004-2008

Swords to Plowshares, Development Advisory Board, 1999 – 2003.

Maitri AIDS Hospice, Treasurer, Board of Directors, 1993 – 1998.

Health Initiatives for Youth, Advisory Board, 1994 – 1996.

United Connecticut Action for Neighborhoods, Board of Directors, 1986 – 1988.

BIO

Mike Allison, Principal of Michael Allison Consulting, works with nonprofits and foundations to achieve greater organization effectiveness in the nonprofit sector. Mike served as Director of Consulting and Research at CompassPoint Nonprofit Services for 15 years. Mike led the development of CompassPoint’s consulting practice into one of the country’s leading nonprofit consulting groups, serving over 300 organizations each year with $3 million in revenues. A major aspect of the CompassPoint consulting practice was the design and delivery of capacity building initiatives; typically one funder providing support to a group of nonprofits. Mike designed and led 14 of these projects including the widely recognized Organization Capacity Grants Initiative with the Schwab, Sobrato and Peninsula Community Foundations (see for description and evaluation; the project was cited as a prime example of creative grantmaking in the article Leading Boldly, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2004. Prior to this role, Mike worked with several activist organizations and served as the executive director of a community organizing project in Hartford, CT.

As a private consultant for the past seven years Mike has worked with several national organizations and served as one of the core consultants in the Haas Jr. Flexible Leadership Award initiative. He has conducted research studies for both nonprofit and government agencies and has been a frequent speaker at nonprofit sector conferences on topics of governance and organization effectiveness. He received his MBA from the Yale School of Management, and his published work includes numerous nonprofit management manuals, the most recent of which is Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations, second edition published by John Wiley and Sons, 2005.