Alumni Consulting Team for Nonprofits

The Stanford Alumni Consulting Team’s (ACT) mission is to drive lasting community impact by engaging teams of GSB alumni who apply their expertise and passion for strengthening social benefit organizations.

At Stanford ACT, alumni are our greatest resource. Since its founding in 1987, the ACT program has engaged over 1,750 graduates of the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) to support nearly 1,000 non-profit organizations. The program provides over $5 million in pro bono consulting services annually. Stanford GSB alumni contribute diverse business skill sets and executive management expertise to nonprofits facing unique challenges, including general management, strategy, business and market analysis, financial management, earned revenue, marketing, technology, and more. With a deep understanding of organizational dynamics, including the complexities of planning, decision-making, and change implementation, our alumni play a significant role in helping Stanford ACT clients achieve their most ambitious goals.

Stanford GSB is dedicated to making a lasting, positive change toward eliminating bias and racism both on campus and in the broader community. Stanford ACT’s mission is closely aligned with the University’s racial equity initiatives (REI) to empower underrepresented communities. To support this goal, Stanford ACT is committed to completing 50 consulting projects by the end of 2025 for organizations dedicated to fostering inclusion and racial equity.

Alumni Consulting Team Service Offerings

ACT offers two engagement pathways. Traditional ACT Consulting Projects convene a GSB alumni team for 3 to 6 months annually in the fall focusing on critical strategic issues. Springboard Sessions are 2-hour brainstorming sessions held annually in the spring, where a pre-briefed GSB alumni team works with the client to address specific strategic issues such as joining a new social media channel, marketing a program, identifying big questions for strategic planning, and more. These options are designed to accommodate our diverse alumni, providing flexibility in scope, team size, time commitment, and duration of service.

Traditional ACT Consulting Projects

Traditional ACT consulting projects bring a GSB alumni team together to address critical strategic issues over a 3 to 6-month time frame. Consulting Projects are conducted annually in the fall. Each project is staffed with an ACT Project Leader (or co-Leaders), and fits the size and resources of the client organization, sometimes providing a single consultant and other times a team of up to six.

Springboard Sessions

Springboard Sessions are two-hour brainstorming sessions with a GSB alumni team that is pre-briefed on the client’s specific strategic issue. Sessions are held annually in the spring. Each Springboard Session includes 4-6 volunteers who generate ideas for addressing a specific, focused challenge facing an organization.

 

Key Dates
January 9, 2024 Springboard Sessions: Nonprofit application deadline
February 22, 2024 Springboard Sessions: Volunteer sign up begins
March 15, 2024 Springboard Sessions: Volunteer sign up deadline
April 2–25, 2024 Springboards take place
June 30, 2024 Fast track and full team Projects: Nonprofit interest form deadline

Our Impact

Created by Stanford GSB alumni in 1987, ACT is now one of the largest pro bono resource providers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since its inception, ACT has served nearly 1,000 clients for an estimated consulting value of over $100 million. For nonprofits advancing racial equity, ACT has broadened its geographic scope to all regions of the US. In a typical year, ACT works with about 30 nonprofits, providing roughly $5 million in value annually.

Our Clients

ACT clients range from small, community-based nonprofits to university and hospital departments, government agencies, and programs. Regardless of size, clients are drawn to ACT because they recognize the tremendous value of partnering with Stanford GSB’s talent network. Our alumni consultants bring expertise in various domains, such as general management, corporate strategy/planning, financial management, and resource planning. Stanford ACT often cultivates multi-year relationships with our clients through phased engagements. In order to ensure impactful partnerships, prospective clients must meet eligibility requirements and qualify through a screening process so that we can identify organizations that can most benefit from the unique collaboration with Stanford ACT.

Spotlight
Deputy Director, LeaderSpring

“ACT team’s analysis of our work and its place in a market in which we had not been, is not only broadening our reach and impact, it is allowing us to increase our revenue for general operations.”

Stories of Impact

Browse the articles below to see some of the ways that ACT volunteers have helped Bay Area nonprofits increase their impact.

School Story & News Search
August 15, 2019

Dream Team: How Stanford GSB Alumni Helped Refocus a Struggling Nonprofit

Stanford GSB’s ACT program sends alumni into social impact organizations to strategically solve problems and plan for growth.
Illustration of people holding up a school. Credit: Linn Fritz
June 23, 2017

Stanford ACT Celebrates 30 Years of Pro Bono Impact

Hundreds of Stanford MBA volunteers donate more than $3 million of consulting value annually.
ACT volunteers | Stacy Geiken Photography