Episode Summary
Wondering whether decades of nonprofit experience can become a business you own? This episode answers that directly. After 25-plus years leading healthcare philanthropy, arts, and community development organizations, Ashley Kasprzak launched her own nonprofit fundraising consulting practice, AK Consulting / Partners for Purpose, in late 2023 — and this conversation walks through exactly how she did it.
Host Janine Vanderburg and Ashley cover the practical mechanics most people skip: finding a first client through old professional relationships, setting up an S-Corp and payroll through QuickBooks, projecting cash flow, handling late-paying clients, and getting free bookkeeping through a Small Business Development Center partnership. They also talk honestly about self-doubt, the temptation to go back to a "real job," running a solo business through a health crisis with no paid leave, and why AI cannot replace an expert who knows what documents a nonprofit is missing. Ashley also shares Purpose Framework, the SaaS product she is building with her son to help nonprofits store policies and follow best practices.
Key Takeaways
- Your first client often comes from your existing network, not marketing. Ashley announced her new practice on Facebook and a former client from 15 years earlier reached out to become her first customer — a reminder that relationships built over a career are a founder's most reliable pipeline.
- Set up the "boring" financial infrastructure early. Ashley recommends forming an S-Corp, putting yourself on payroll through QuickBooks, projecting cash flow weekly, and budgeting for estimated taxes so a year-end tax bill never catches you off guard.
- AI cannot replace expert judgment in nonprofit fundraising. Ask AI to build a fund development handbook and it may return 3 of the 20 policies a nonprofit actually needs (gift acceptance, in-kind donation, term limits, and more). Expertise is knowing what is missing — "you don't know what you don't know."
- Self-doubt is recurring, not a one-time hurdle. Even 2.5 years in, life events — an injury, surgery, a family death, no PTO — brought the "maybe get a job" voices back. The fix is time, support people, and evidence of client wins, not pretending doubt disappears.
- Strong policies protect organizations and create real business value. Ashley's Purpose Framework SaaS lets nonprofits store policy documents, track version history, and support succession planning — turning "boring" governance into a safeguard against risks like founder embezzlement.
About the Guest: Ashley Kasprzak
Ashley Kasprzak is a nonprofit leader, fundraiser, Certified Grant Professional (GPC), trainer, and facilitator with more than 25 years of experience across healthcare philanthropy, the arts, and community development. She created the Longs Peak Hospital Foundation at UCHealth from the ground up and has helped raise more than $30 million for nonprofit organizations over her career. In late 2023 she founded AK Consulting, LLC (doing business as Partners for Purpose), where she supports a wide client base — mental health, Meals on Wheels, paleontology, pollinator conservation, family resource centers, and more — with resource development, board governance, strategic planning, grant writing, and capital campaigns. She also teaches at the college level and is building Purpose Framework, a nonprofit policy SaaS platform, with her son Brody. Ashley holds a background in art history, which shapes her distinctive approach to the field.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you get your first client when starting a consulting business?
Often through your existing network rather than cold marketing. Ashley announced her new practice on social media, and a client she had worked with 15 years earlier reached out to hire her first. Long-standing professional relationships tend to become a founder's most dependable source of early work.
Can AI replace a nonprofit fundraising consultant?
No. AI can draft a few standard policies but typically returns only a fraction of what a nonprofit actually needs — and it doesn't know what it's missing. An experienced consultant knows the full set of governance, fundraising, and risk-management policies required and can guide the board discussion that must accompany them.
What legal and financial setup do you need for a solo consulting practice?
Ashley recommends establishing an S-Corp, putting yourself on payroll (she uses QuickBooks), planning ahead for estimated taxes, and reviewing your balance sheet and cash flow projections regularly — at least weekly — so tax bills and slow periods don't surprise you.
How do you handle self-doubt as an entrepreneur in midlife?
Treat it as recurring rather than a single obstacle. Ashley leans on supportive people (her sister, her husband), inspiring reading and music, and concrete evidence of client wins to work through low periods, especially when they coincide with personal hardship.
Where can you get affordable help with bookkeeping when starting out?
Look to your local Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Through the SBDC, Ashley connected with a community college accounting class that maintains her books for free while students gain real practice — a resource many new founders overlook.
Is the nonprofit sector in danger right now?
Ashley wouldn't call it "in jeopardy," but says traditional funding models are being questioned as foundations face far more proposals than they can review. She encourages relationship mapping with funders and building earned-income streams through social enterprise for more unrestricted, controllable revenue.
Resource Stack
Where to Find Ashley Kasprzak
About Build Your Own Boat
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