Association of Consultants to Nonprofits upcoming events

2026 ACN New Consultants Circle (09/08/2026)

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 19:00:00 GMT

ACN New Consultants Working Circle Dates

May 19, 2026

July 21, 2026

September 8, 2026 - new date

November 17, 2026

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm CST

ACN Members Only

The New Consultants Working Circle is for new consultants to nonprofits who are looking to connect with others who are in the same stage of business-building. It will be great for anyone who has less than five years of experience in consulting. The group allows for new consultants to share their wins, ask for advice, and problem solve..

This group is run by ACN member, Allison Wong Grant. Please email Allison if you have any questions.

Feedback Fluency: Building the Culture Conditions That Make Feedback Work (09/14/2026)

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Monday, September 14, 2026 | 10 am - 10:30 am CST

Free Webinar - Registration Required

REGISTER HERE

Feedback culture is one of the most powerful and underutilized performance and retention strategies available to nonprofit leaders. Sustained practice requires more than skill-building: it depends on the psychological foundations and organizational conditions that make it possible. This session outlines those conditions and introduces the essential elements of a feedback-fluent organization, from self-knowledge to structural design.

Presenter:
Megan Mahoney
Cambian + Root

Megan Mahoney is the founder of Cambium + Root, an organizational culture consultancy at the intersection of social work and organizational psychology—a combination of scientific rigor to understand systems and human depth to understand the people operating within them. She spent two decades as a leader in mission-driven organizations, navigating the challenges this audience knows firsthand: leadership transitions, funding crises, political headwinds, and the gap between stated values and lived culture. Her MSW from Columbia University and certificate in IO Psychology from the Chicago School are one integrated lens. She believes most culture challenges are design problems, and that organizations willing to look honestly at root causes are the ones that do the most transformative work.

ACN has partnered Nonprofit Learning Lab (NLL) to help serve the sector by providing quick, 30-minute webinars featuring ACN members. The Nonprofit Learning Lab is a national nonprofit that connects, supports and trains individuals in the nonprofit sector. NLL offers daily online nonprofit trainings. with workshops that focus on fundraising, board development, social media, marketing, volunteer management, and organizational leadership.

Know Your Client: Using the Nonprofit 990 as a Consulting Tool (09/18/2026)

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 15:00:00 GMT

ACN New Member Q&A Session

Friday, September 18, 2026

10:00 - 11:30 am CST
Note: this is a two-part series with the second one on
October 2, separate registration is required

Before your first client meeting, what can you learn from a nonprofit's Form 990? Quite a bit. This workshop introduces consultants to one of the most valuable—and often overlooked—tools for understanding a nonprofit organization. Using real examples and hands-on exercises, we'll explore how the 990 reveals an organization's business model, funding strategy, governance practices, and overall financial condition. You won't need an accounting background, and this isn't a class in financial analysis. Instead, you'll learn how experienced nonprofit consultants use the 990 to ask better questions, identify important patterns, and begin every engagement with a stronger understanding of the organization they're serving.

Free to ACN Members. No finance or accounting expertise required.

Takeaways: You'll leave the workshop with a practical framework for using a nonprofit's Form 990 to quickly gain insight into the organization's business model, governance, funding, and financial position—so you can begin client engagements with greater confidence and insight.

Please send an email to execdirector@acnconsult.org with questions.

2026 ACN AI Circle (10/01/2026)

Thu, 01 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT

ACN AI Circle Dates

February 5, 2026

April 2, 2026

June 4, 2026

August 6, 2026

October 1, 2026

December 3, 2026

10:00 am - 11:00 am CST

ACN Members Only

This collaborative group will meet every other month on the first Thursday of the month. We use a model that provides value to new and longstanding attendees, allowing for group members to flow in and out of the group.

Whether you’re curious, skeptical, or ready to integrate AI into your practice, this workgroup provides a supportive space to learn, share, and experiment-- helping you and the nonprofits you serve thrive in the digital age.

This group is run by ACN member, Cathy Yen. Please email Cathy if you have any questions.

Spotting Financial Risks in Nonprofits - A Guide to Red Flags and Mitigation Best Practices (10/02/2026)

Fri, 02 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Spotting Financial Risks in Nonprofits -
A Guide to Red Flags and Mitigation Best Practices

Friday, October 2, 2026

10:00 - 11:00 am CST

Note: this is a two-part series with the first one on
September 18, separate registration is required

Are you looking for guidance on how to better understand the financial risks facing your nonprofit clients? Join Aiesha Williams the Market Leader for the Illinois region from Your Part-Time Controller (YPTC) for an informative session designed specifically for strategic planning consultants.

This session will provide practical tools and insights to help strengthen the financial discovery process at the outset of a nonprofit engagement. Participants will learn which key financial documents to request and review, the critical questions to ask leadership and finance staff, and how to identify common financial and operational indicators that may signal areas requiring deeper exploration.

In addition, we'll discuss how financial findings can be incorporated into strategic planning conversations, helping consultants develop more informed recommendations and uncover opportunities to strengthen organizational sustainability. Whether you're new to nonprofit financial analysis or looking to enhance your existing approach, this session will equip you with actionable strategies to better assess risk and add value to your client engagements.

Please send an email to execdirector@acnconsult.org with questions.

2026 ACN Working Parents Circle (10/13/2026)

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 18:00:00 GMT

ACN Working Parents Circle
Second Tuesday of Every Other Month
1:00 - 1:45 pm CST

2026 DATES
February 10

April 14

June 16

October 13

December 15

ACN Members Only

Parents with kids still living at home, balancing work and life, and sharing experiences and perspectives about the unique challenges from peers who are “in the season with you.” Contact Lidia Varesco-Racoma for more information.

ACN Circle Groups are intended to be forums for like or complementary groups of professionals to empower each other with a diversity of thinking, knowledge, shared experience, perspective, support, intentional networking, business development, and inspiration. The groups will be member-driven and self-directed in terms of content, frequency of meetings, duration, number of participants, and general meeting objectives. Participation in ACN Circle Groups is open to all ACN members.

Meeting links are included in your registration confirmation email. Please contact the ACN office if you need assistance - 312-940-4008

Connect. Collaborate. Catalyze. 2026 (10/27/2026)

Tue, 27 Oct 2026 18:00:00 GMT

Connect. Collaborate. Catalyze. 2026

Tuesday, October 27, 2026
1:00 - 4:30 pm CST

Impact House
200 W. Madison Street, Chicago IL

In today’s rapidly changing environment, nonprofits are under increased pressure to deliver impact with fewer resources and more uncertainty. Join us at ACN’s annual symposium as we unpack how to use data for strategic decision-making, fundraising, and allocating resources more effectively. Hear current expectations from nonprofit funders, learn proven strategies from consultants, and connect with your peers as we explore how to sustain nonprofit impact in a changing landscape. You won’t want to miss this opportunity for knowledge-sharing as we collaboratively prepare the nonprofit sector for long-term sustainability.

More information and registration coming soon! Please send an email to execdirector@acnconsult.org with questions.

ACN is committed to making our programs and events accessible. We hold our in-person events in wheelchair-accessible spaces and are happy to make other reasonable accommodations upon request. Please contact us to request dietary accommodations, large print materials, sign language interpretation, captioning, or other needed accommodations. We appreciate at least two weeks advance notice if possible. Please contact execdirector@ACNConsult.org to request accommodations.

ACN New Member Q&A Session (10/29/2026)

Thu, 29 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT

ACN New Member Q&A Session

Thursday, October 29, 2026

11:00 - 11:30 am CST

Join us on the last Thursday of every other month for a 30-minute session designed for new ACN members, or if you've been a member for a while and have some questions. We'll start with quick introductions, then open the floor for your questions about the Association of Consultants to Nonprofits. It's a chance to connect with fellow newcomers and established members, build your network, and get oriented to ACN.

Please send an email to execdirector@acnconsult.org with questions.

Contracting with Confidence: Best Practices for Contracting with Clients (11/16/2026)

Mon, 16 Nov 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Contracting with Confidence:
Best Practices for Contracting with Clients

Monday, November 16, 2026
10:00 - 11:00 am CT
Virtual Zoom Event

There are so many ways to approach contracting with clients. And so many questions to consider. Questions like:

Is your contract language adequately protecting you?
Should you bill by the hour or the job?
How do you handle a client’s preferred contract?
What if an engagement goes wrong? How will you untangle things and still get paid for what you’ve done?
What if the engagement goes so right that the client wants more of you, and more, and more?

Come get the answers to these and other questions from Kelly Kleiman of NFP Consulting, Kelly was once a lawyer and nonetheless has made every contractual error imaginable. Some people can only learn from painful experience, but you can skip the painful part while benefiting from Kelly’s experience. Come prepared with questions.

Kelly Kleiman

Kelly Kleiman, a lawyer educated at the University of Chicago, has spent more than 30 years in the nonprofit sector. She founded NFP Consulting in 1988 after serving as Executive Director of the Chicago Children’s Choir and Assistant Dean of IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. Earlier in her career she practiced real estate and zoning law with the firm of Rudnick & Wolfe, now DLA Piper. Through her consulting practice Kelly helps nonprofits with fundraising, strategic planning, Board development and the use of high-skills volunteers. She also frequently serves as interim Executive Director for nonprofits undergoing leadership transition. Details at NFPConsultingChicago.com/

Kelly co-founded the Association of Consultants to Nonprofits, ACNConsult.org, and served for several years as its President. She has taught professional development courses for the Axelson Center, the Association of Volunteer Administrators, the United Way of Lake County, the College of DuPage, and other educational and professional organizations. She wrote advice and commentary for nonprofits online as The Nonprofiteer from 2010 to 2014.

Please contact ACN Association Manager, Jennifer Heffernan, at execdirector@acnconsult.org if you have any questions.

2026 ACN New Consultants Circle (11/17/2026)

Tue, 17 Nov 2026 20:00:00 GMT

ACN New Consultants Working Circle Dates

May 19, 2026

July 21, 2026

September 8, 2026 - new date

November 17, 2026

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm CST

ACN Members Only

This group is run by ACN member, Allison Wong Grant. Please email Allison if you have any questions.

2026 ACN AI Circle (12/03/2026)

Thu, 03 Dec 2026 16:00:00 GMT

ACN AI Circle Dates

February 5, 2026

April 2, 2026

June 4, 2026

August 6, 2026

October 1, 2026

December 3, 2026

10:00 am - 11:00 am CST

ACN Members Only

This group is run by ACN member, Cathy Yen. Please email Cathy if you have any questions.

2026 ACN Working Parents Circle (12/15/2026)

Tue, 15 Dec 2026 19:00:00 GMT

ACN Working Parents Circle
Second Tuesday of Every Other Month
1:00 - 1:45 pm CST

2026 DATES
February 10

April 14

June 16

October 13

December 15

ACN Members Only

Meeting links are included in your registration confirmation email. Please contact the ACN office if you need assistance - 312-940-4008

Association of Consultants to Nonprofits upcoming events

2026 ACN New Consultants Circle (09/08/2026)

Feedback Fluency: Building the Culture Conditions That Make Feedback Work (09/14/2026)

Know Your Client: Using the Nonprofit 990 as a Consulting Tool (09/18/2026)

2026 ACN AI Circle (10/01/2026)

Spotting Financial Risks in Nonprofits - A Guide to Red Flags and Mitigation Best Practices (10/02/2026)

2026 ACN Working Parents Circle (10/13/2026)

Connect. Collaborate. Catalyze. 2026 (10/27/2026)

ACN New Member Q&A Session (10/29/2026)

Contracting with Confidence: Best Practices for Contracting with Clients (11/16/2026)

Contracting with Confidence: Best Practices for Contracting with Clients

Monday, November 16, 2026 10:00 - 11:00 am CT Virtual Zoom Event

2026 ACN New Consultants Circle (11/17/2026)

2026 ACN AI Circle (12/03/2026)

2026 ACN Working Parents Circle (12/15/2026)

Contracting with Confidence:
Best Practices for Contracting with Clients

Monday, November 16, 2026
10:00 - 11:00 am CT
Virtual Zoom Event