Monthly retainer advisory built for Executive Directors of small, local, and state-run nonprofits — where the mission is real, the ED is doing five jobs, and there is nobody in the office to think out loud with. Two to ten hours a month with someone who has done work design at scale, focused on the three questions you're carrying alone: how do we run leaner, how do we reduce grant dependence, and how do we turn our expertise into a revenue stream the funders don't control.
You have credentials. You have the mission. You have a board that believes in you. What you don't have is another operator in the room — and the day-to-day is eating the strategy.
Your calendar is organized around funder deadlines you don't control. Every quarter is a scramble, and the strategy conversation gets pushed to "after this round closes." It never happens.
Your board is asking. Peers are experimenting. You know it matters, but there is no space to figure out what to try, what to skip, and where it actually saves your two-person team meaningful hours.
You're a credentialed clinician, educator, or subject-matter expert. You get asked to speak, train, and advise — usually for free, sometimes for a stipend. That's a revenue channel the org is leaving on the table.
Most nonprofit advisory sells a specialty — grants, fundraising, HR, tech. What EDs actually need is a generalist thinking partner with the range to move between all of them, plus the discipline to translate ideas into a workable plan on a small team.
"We fundraise, we deliver programs, we report to funders. Repeat. Board meets quarterly. Nothing changes structurally between them."
"We have three named revenue streams, an operating rhythm, one AI capability in production, and the ED's own expertise is a fourth income channel with a rate card and a booking process."
Every tier includes the same three workstreams — strategy and operating rhythm, an AI capability worth having, and monetizing your own expertise as a revenue channel. What changes is time, depth, and how directly I'm involved in the work between calls.
For sole-staff EDs, chapter leaders, and nonprofits under $500K in annual budget. Small group; one live session and structured async.
Ten EDs in the room, one topic per month — the one you're all working on. Structured; not a support group.
Send me a question by Friday, get a considered answer by Monday. Real answers, not "let's schedule a call."
Group workshop on turning your credentials into a booked, priced, and repeatable revenue stream — from speaking to licensing your programs.
For mid-size nonprofits ($500K – $3M) with an ED plus a small leadership team. 1:1 advisory, plus room for one deputy on quarterly sessions.
One on strategy and operating rhythm, one on whatever is on your desk that week. You set the agenda; I keep us to it.
We pick one thing AI can genuinely take off your team's plate — grant drafting, donor communications, board reporting, program intake — and I help you get it into production. Not a pilot. A working capability.
We build the pricing, the outreach language, and the calendar system for you to be booked and paid for speaking, training, and licensed programs. Within ninety days you have a working second income line for the org.
Every quarter I help you produce one clean document your board actually wants to read — the plan, the picture, the ask.
For nonprofits $3M+ or state-run programs where the ED needs a working partner rather than a monthly advisor. Real hours, embedded rhythm.
I show up on a schedule you can plan around. Standing agenda, standing decisions, standing accountability. Everything the Executive Circle includes, at a working cadence.
Not just advice — I help draft the board deck, review the funder proposal, structure the operating model. Your team gets real leverage, not just guidance.
Where useful, I show up on your board calls or in funder conversations as your named advisor. Positions you as an org that punches above its weight.
The tier that fits usually isn't the one you think — most EDs undersize. If you're on the fence, tell me on the intake form what you're carrying and I'll say honestly which tier matches. Sending you to the wrong one wastes both our time.
Short intake. I read every one within 48 hours and reply with either a fit call, a waitlist confirmation, or an honest "not yet — here's what you'd need first."
The form action below is a placeholder — replace with your Kit form endpoint, a Google Form embed, or your Calendly booking link before publishing.
Most nonprofit consultants sell one skill — grants, marketing, HR, tech. Coaches sell accountability. This is neither. It's an operating thought partner with a work-design method, focused on making the org run leaner and finding revenue outside the grant cycle. Includes AI where it saves you real hours, and coaches you on monetizing your own expertise as a distinct income channel.
No. You need a laptop and — for Executive Circle and above — a paid ChatGPT or Claude account so we can build actual capabilities rather than talk about them. If you don't have one yet, we set it up in the first session.
Mission Advisor is one seat. Executive Circle includes the ED plus one deputy on quarterly sessions. Fractional Chief of Staff is embedded — the whole leadership team benefits.
Consider the classes and the cohort on the nonprofits page instead. Those are one-time enrollments and get you the same thinking at a much smaller commitment. Ongoing advisory is a real cost — better to be in a class you can afford than a retainer that pinches.
Yes. If three or more organizations from the same coalition or association want to enroll together, email info@trellisusher.com. Group rate and shared cohort available.
Mission Advisor is month-to-month, cancel any time. Executive Circle has a three-month minimum then month-to-month. Fractional Chief of Staff has a six-month minimum given the depth of embedding. Moving between tiers is easy either direction.
No. Retainer only. Percentage-of-money-raised arrangements are prohibited under most funder standards for good reason.