The CSC
Contractor Playbook
Everything you need to know before your first day — and a reference to come back to whenever you need it.
Welcome
Welcome to CSC. Here's what you need to know.
If you're reading this, Cat has brought you into the CSC contractor network. She's selective about who she works with, and she chose you based on your expertise, your judgment, and your ability to do this work well.
This playbook is not a legal document or a policy manual. It's a practical overview of what it means to work with Cat Slack Consulting — what we expect from you, and what you can expect from us.
Read it thoroughly. Refer back to it whenever something is unclear.
"Our mission is to embed fundraising in your mission."
That mission isn't just Cat's — it's yours too when you work with us. Every project, every client call, every deliverable is an opportunity to improve a fundraiser's work and strengthen a nonprofit's impact.
About Cat Slack
Consulting
Fundraisers are a bridge between those with care + capacity and the change they wish to see in the world.
Cat Slack Consulting is a nonprofit fundraising consulting firm with a clear mission: to embed fundraising in your mission. CSC works with nonprofit executives, fundraising professionals, and board members to build stronger systems, sharper skills, and more joyful cultures of giving.
We stand out by creating a process of collaborative questioning, storytelling, and laughter. When you work with CSC, clients gain the skills and confidence to implement a more joyful, efficient, and ethical approach — building stronger pipelines, closing more asks, and making fundraising more sustainable.
Vision
Meaningful causes are supported by strong fundraising habits.
Values
Service. Joy. Connection. These values guide how we make decisions and how we show up for each other and for clients.
Voice
Warm, wise, and clever. The tone is direct and human — not corporate, not overly casual. Humor belongs here.
What We Do
We consult for nonprofits.
Cat Slack Consulting partners with nonprofit organizations to strengthen their fundraising — the systems, the strategy, the culture, and the people doing the work. That can look a lot of different ways depending on what a client needs. Our work is always rooted in service, joy, and connection.
CSC's 3 Signature Offers
Tell From a Scar, Not a Wound®
Based upon a deep reverence for dignity, healing, and agency. This offer teaches ethical, powerful storytelling that builds donor relationships. You may facilitate workshops or help develop storytelling policies for a client.
The Fundraising Field Guide
Based in clarity and team-wide agreements, and built around an implementation that actually scales. You may be asked to lead goal-setting sessions, facilitate rock meetings, or contribute to Field Guide deliverables for a client.
Fundraiser Impact Method
Rooted in tactical skills that the greatest fundraisers wish they knew at the start of their careers — and that deliver tangible change to grow revenue when implemented.
The Full CSC Service Menu
Fundraising Activation
- CEO & Executive Strategic Advisory
- Data Analysis
- Donor Tiering & Ranking
- Portfolio Creation
- Case for Support Development & Design
- Pipeline Management
- Ask Coaching & Prepping
Training & Enablement
- Fundraiser Impact Method Course
- Tell From a Scar, Not a Wound™ Workshops & Policies
Strategic Services
- CEO & Executive Strategic Advisory
- Board Facilitation
- Feasibility Studies
- Campaigns
- Strategic Planning
The Mindset
Shift
Leaving a nonprofit staff role to do consulting work is a real transition — even when the subject matter feels familiar.
Most people who come to this work are deeply competent. The harder adjustment is navigating a completely different set of professional dynamics. The section below describes what that shift looks like in practice.
Staff World
- One organization, one function
- One team, mostly consistent
- Manager-directed work
- One primary source of feedback
- Learning happens in spurts
- Role is fairly static
- Fear of failure is common
- Limited growth trajectory
Consulting World
- Many clients, many functions
- Multiple teams, always shifting
- Self-directed work
- Ongoing feedback from multiple directions
- Continuous learning across engagements
- Your role shifts with each engagement
- Courage is expected
- Significant growth potential
Four Things to Hold Onto
Clients hire you because you know things they don't. Your value isn't in having every answer — it's in bringing structure, clarity, and confidence to situations that feel chaotic for them.
You take direction from Cat, not from the client. You make recommendations — you don't receive orders. Your time is bounded by agreed scope. When a client asks for something outside of that scope, flag it to Cat and/or your Advisor immediately.
This is collaborative consulting. You work within CSC's culture, methods, and standards. Cat has a brand to protect and clients who trust her name. Your work reflects her. Surface questions and challenges early.
Consulting rarely comes with a clear answer. Clients are often asking you to help them figure out what the question even is. We can't guarantee anything: your job is to show up with a process, a structure, and a calm presence.
How We
Work
CSC is a growing team of talented people working together toward shared outcomes for our clients.
How Roles Work at CSC
CSC uses a contract-specific role model. Before diving into what each role does, understand how the system works:
Roles Are Contract-Specific
Your role is assigned per engagement — not a fixed title. You may be an SME on one contract and a Client Lead on another.
One Person, Multiple Roles
Depending on contract size and scope, one person may fill more than one role simultaneously.
Roles Assigned Before Kickoff
Every contract must have clearly defined role assignments prior to kickoff. If yours isn't clear — ask before the work starts.
The Five Delivery Roles
All team members should be familiar with every role — even if you're only filling one on a given contract.
Client Lead
Primary owner of the client relationship and contract delivery. Serves as the main interface for client communication, is accountable for all deliverables, coordinates closely with the PM, and plans work several weeks ahead.
Advisor
Provides strategic oversight and accountability for the engagement. Ensures overall quality, offers experience-based guidance to the team, identifies future opportunities, and maintains high-level relationship alignment.
Project Manager (PM)
Operational owner of execution and coordination. Owns Asana integrity, manages timelines and deliverables, runs weekly client check-ins, facilitates project health discussions, and supports contractor onboarding. This is most often held by Megan Allen.
Subject Matter Expert (SME)
Provides specialized expertise for specific deliverables. Leads development of assigned work, provides deep-dive insights and recommendations. More than one SME may be assigned per contract.
Facilitator
A meeting-specific role — may be filled by the Lead, PM, or SME depending on context. Prepares and delivers agendas, leads meeting flow and time management, and ensures clear next steps and outcomes.
If ownership over a task or decision is ever unclear, the Client Lead is accountable. When in doubt, flag it to the Lead.
How Roles Get Assigned
Roles are assigned by Cat within 7 business days of contract negotiation and execution. Here's how the process works:
Define Scope & Complexity
Cat assesses what the engagement requires during the sales process. She may invite you to join a sales call to listen to the client and advise on how to help them. After scope is determined, Cat assigns the roles.
Assign the Client Lead
The first and most critical assignment — this person owns the relationship and all deliverables.
Assign the Project Manager
Required for larger engagements. The PM owns operational coordination and Asana.
Identify SMEs
Any specialized deliverables get a named SME who is accountable for that work.
Confirm Advisor Involvement
Determined based on contract complexity and client relationship needs.
All role assignments are documented in Asana and the kickoff notes. If you haven't seen your assignment documented there, ask before work begins. Facilitator assignments happen per meeting — the Lead, PM, or SME takes this role depending on context.
The Tools We Use
You'll need to be comfortable in all of these. If something is unfamiliar, flag it early — not the day a deliverable is due.
Microsoft Teams is where the CSC team communicates internally. Email is appropriate for client-facing communication. For internal conversation — go to Teams first. Check it regularly throughout the workday.
Open Asana every day, first thing in the morning, to make sure the highest-priority items are being addressed. All communication about tasks and projects should live in Asana — not just in emails or Teams messages that will disappear. Tag people when you need their eyes on something. Work that isn't tracked in Asana is invisible to the rest of the team.
CSC uses Granola as an AI note-taker for meetings where the client has approved it during partner kickoff, in addition to notes taken by the Facilitator. If you're facilitating a meeting, you take notes in OneNote and also start Granola and save the notes to OneNote.
Client Work
Norms
How we show up for clients is how they experience Cat Slack Consulting. That standard applies to every team member on every engagement.
Below is the operational standard for client-facing work. If you're in the Lead or Facilitator role for a project, this is your playbook. If you're a supporting team member, understanding this flow makes you a better collaborator.
The Lead determines whether contract work fits into the client's existing Monday Check-in Meetings or requires its own dedicated 30-minute weekly meeting. The Lead is responsible for gathering the client team, understanding current state, reviewing Asana, and ensuring upcoming deliverables are met by their due dates. The Project Manager updates the Asana board during meetings — if the PM is absent, the Lead steps in and updates the board.
Before a Client Meeting
Review Asana Before You Walk In
The Facilitator needs to know the current state of all projects before the meeting starts. Know what's on track, what's off track, and what's due soon. Be ready to speak to all of it.
Build the Agenda in OneNote
The PM creates the OneNote page for each client meeting and builds out the detailed agenda there. The Lead or Facilitator then sends an abbreviated version to attendees. Each week, the PM confirms with the team who is responsible for sending the agenda — this may be the Lead if they're facilitating, or another team member if they're in the Facilitator role. Use this standard structure for all clients. Add notes that are with the client under "client meetings," internal prep calls under "internal meetings," etc.
--[CONTRACT DATE]-- · Contract date at the top
--LINKS-- · Meeting links & shared doc links
--PARKING LOT-- · Future items to return to; review weekly with internal team
--RECOMMENDATIONS-- · Running list of ideas for mid- or end-of-contract delivery
--CLIENT MEETINGS-- · All client-facing meeting notes (separate Strategy vs. Pipeline Management)
--INTERNAL MEETINGS-- · Notes from internal prep calls
Send the Agenda 3 Days Out
Send an abbreviated version of the agenda to all attendees at least three days in advance. Keep it short — enough for attendees to prepare, not a full transcript of the OneNote page.
Always use YEAR-MONTH-DATE format: 2026-03-18. This keeps everything sortable and consistent across the whole team.
During a Client Meeting
- Open the meeting and let client guests in.
- Start Granola if it was approved during the client's partner kickoff.
- Host a brief friendly connection before diving in — this is standard practice at CSC.
- Start on time, or when the majority of required attendees have arrived. If a key person is absent, assess whether to reschedule or continue. Communicate clearly either way.
- Verbally review the agenda and paste it into the meeting chat. If the client surfaces a new topic not on the agenda, determine if it is urgent. If so, you may adjust the agenda. If not, note it and add it to a future agenda.
- Facilitate through agenda items. Close each topic cleanly and move on.
- End with a verbal summary of next steps — who owns each one, and by when.
- End on time. Ideally, 2–3 minutes early.
After a Client Meeting
Ideally immediately — but no longer than 24 hours after the meeting — send a summary of next steps to all attendees. Include who owns each item and the due date. You can ask Granola for a draft follow up email with next steps. Edit this - AI often makes mistakes.
- Copy AI notes from Granola into the client's OneNote meeting section.
- Add action items to Asana — or send them to the Project Manager to add. Confirm with Cat which approach applies to your project.
- If anything came up that is out of scope or needs Cat's attention, flag it in Teams right away. Don't let it sit.
Weekly Client Status Updates
The PM sends a simplified weekly update to the client. Pull directly from Asana. Use these four categories:
Completed
Work that wrapped up this week.
On Track
In progress and on schedule.
Not Started
Hasn't kicked off yet.
Off Track
One sentence on why — and the plan to course-correct. No surprises.
Weekly status updates are not required for reactive training or coaching contracts. Confirm with the Advisor at the start of the engagement whether this exception applies.
Lead Accountability for Deliverables
The Lead is responsible for tracking and ensuring delivery of all project deliverables — even those owned by other team members. This does not apply to pipeline management meetings. All team members must update their tasks in Asana as they work on them, and all project communication should live in Asana. Tag team members to make sure they see updates.
Communication
Standards
Two things Cat cares about most: communication and turnaround time. Everything else builds from there.
If a CSC colleague sends you a Teams message, try to respond in the same day. This is not always possible as you may have limited hours with CSC or are out of the office. In that case, mention that to the team and add to a Teams auto-response.
If someone reaches out — Cat, a team member, or a client where you're client-facing — acknowledge it within 24 hours. You don't have to have the full answer yet. "Got this, I'll have something to you by tomorrow" is a complete and correct response. If something requires more time, communicate that proactively — don't wait for someone to follow up with you. Add the follow-up task to Asana.
Deadlines for project deliverables are agreed on at the start of each engagement. There are no implied deadlines — if you're unclear when something is due, ask and write it down in Asana.
What "Good" Looks Like
- You respond to Teams messages the same day, even if it's just to confirm receipt.
- You don't let deliverables go silent — if something is veering off course, you say so early, not the day it's due.
- You update your Asana tasks as you work on them — not in a batch at the end of the week.
- You over-communicate context on deliverables: include a short note about your approach, any assumptions you made, and where you'd welcome feedback.
- You ask questions before starting work.
Keep Cat and the team informed early and often. Problems flagged early are manageable. Problems flagged the day they're due often aren't.
Getting
Paid
You are an independent contractor. Your engagement with CSC is a 1099 relationship — not an employment relationship.
A few things to keep in mind as a 1099 contractor:
- You are responsible for your own taxes, including self-employment tax. If this is new territory, consult an accountant before your first payment arrives.
- You should have — or be setting up — your own business entity (LLC, sole proprietorship, or other) and invoice from it.
- You are not entitled to benefits, PTO, or other employee protections. You are a business owner in partnership with another business.
CSC pays via ACH. To get set up, please complete your banking info using the link below — this is required before your first payment can be issued.
Submit your invoice at the end of each month. CSC pays net 30 from receipt.
Reach out to Cat or the operations contact before a billing question becomes a billing problem. We want you to get paid accurately and on time.
Your First
Month
The first 30 days are about getting oriented, building trust, and establishing good working habits.
Here's a general template for what your first month with a CSC engagement tends to look like. Your specific project will have its own scope and kickoff — this is just the rhythm to expect.
Get Set Up & Oriented
Get into your tools: Asana, Teams, OneNote. Read through any existing client documentation Cat shares. Ask questions freely — this is the right time to do it. Confirm project scope, timelines, and deliverables with Cat before any client-facing work begins.
Attend or Shadow Your First Client Interaction
Depending on your role, you may observe before you lead. Watch how Cat (or the Lead) runs the meeting — the tone, the pacing, how topics get closed. Take notes. Ask for a debrief after. This is how you learn the CSC way, not just the subject matter.
Your First Deliverables
Over-communicate your process. Share a draft early — don't wait until it's "perfect" to get eyes on it. Cat's feedback in week 2 is much easier to incorporate than Cat's feedback the day before the client presentation. Build in time for a round of review.
Check In & Recalibrate
Have a real conversation with Cat about how it's going — both the work product and the working relationship. How are your hours tracking against scope? Are your Asana tasks current? Is there anything you need that you don't have? This is the conversation that sets up a strong month two.
Feedback at CSC
Cat will give you feedback — directly, clearly, and with care. If she's asking you to change something, it's because she wants you to succeed. Take it seriously, apply it quickly, and ask for feedback proactively rather than waiting for it.
This is a culture of healthy, direct feedback. It runs both ways. If a process isn't working, if you're heading toward burnout, if something is unclear — say so. CSC can only address what gets surfaced.
"You can learn this in 30 days. Most of it is confidence — fully believing that what you're saying is right."