How to Start a Nonprofit Consulting Business: Lessons from a $300K Firm

Catalina Parker, Co-Founder & CEO of Relatable Nonprofit, joins the Contagious Culture Podcast to talk about a gap so many mission-driven professionals face: nonprofit jobs teach you how to do the work, but not how to run a business.

After leaving a senior foundation role in 2021, Catalina and her business partner Julia learned firsthand that consulting requires more than expertise. It requires clear positioning, practical pricing, steady client acquisition, and healthy boundaries. Once they built the right foundation, they scaled their consulting firm to $300,000 in annual revenue and created a business that felt structured, sustainable, and aligned with real life.

In this conversation, Catalina shares the mindset shift from nonprofit employee to business owner, why referrals feel good but can’t be your whole plan, the most common pricing and boundary mistakes consultants make, how nonprofit consultants can build a predictable pipeline, and what “support that actually supports you” looks like in coaching and mentorship.

If you’re a nonprofit professional thinking about consulting or already consulting and tired of inconsistency, this episode is packed with practical wisdom and real talk.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE