The Bridgespan Group

Last updated
The Bridgespan Group
Formation2000
FoundersThomas Tierney, Jeffrey Bradach, Paul Carttar
31-1625487
Headquarters2 Copley Place
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
ServicesManagement consulting, Philanthrocapitalism
Website www.bridgespan.org

The Bridgespan Group is a U.S. nonprofit organization in Boston, Massachusetts that provides management consulting to nonprofits and philanthropists. [1] [2] In addition to consulting, Bridgespan makes case studies freely available on its website and publications. [3]

Contents

Bridgespan was launched in 1999 by Thomas Tierney, formerly managing director of Bain & Company, professor Jeffrey Bradach, from Harvard Business School, and Paul Carttar, formerly a vice president at Bain & Company. [1] [4] The organization has received substantial support from Bain, with whom it has maintained a close relationship. The firm has six offices worldwide. [5]

History

Bridgespan grew from a desire by Bain & Company to expand their support of nonprofits. [6] The idea started by doing occasional pro bono work for nonprofits. Bain consultant Thomas Tierney had been involved with nonprofit work since the 1980s, but after becoming worldwide managing director, Tierney began to focus his attention on consulting for charities. Between 1995 and 1999, three studies about the nonprofit market were conducted. Establishing an industry concentration was considered and rejected, instead the decision was made to create an allied, yet still independent, entity called the Bridgespan Group. [2]

In 1996 co-founder Jeff Bradach, a business professor and former Bain consultant, joined the company. In 1998, co-founder Paul Carttar, also a former Bain consultant, joined. Tierney pitched the idea of forming Bridgespan to his partners in 1999. He emphasized his desire for an ongoing partnership with Bain, which would accrue benefits (e.g., recruitment as well as public relations). Bain provided Bridgespan with a one million dollar grant for the first three years, in addition to administrative support and several loaned employees ("externs"). [2] [7] The organization was also initially supported by grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation and the Atlantic Philanthropies. [1]

It has advised Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Rockefeller Foundation, YMCA of the USA, The Salvation Army, and the Sesame Workshop. [5] [8]

The group launched its first website, www.bridgespan.org, in 2000 and started operations from a Boston-based office. By fall of 2000, the organization had 27 employees and had opened an office in San Francisco. Their services emphasized analytical consulting. Even with substantial subsidies, the assignments were too expensive for charities. [2]

In 2003, Bridgespan created the "Bridgestar" initiative that focused on leadership development and professional's transition into nonprofit careers. [9] The Bridgestar.org site merged with Bridgespan.org in 2012. [6]

In 2005, it received 1,700 applications for 18 positions while claiming that they can only serve 10% of the domestic US demand. [4]

Current operations

The Bridgespan Group's website is organized into several learning centers, focusing on particular aspects of nonprofit management, such as hiring, strategy and funding. The site is interactive and includes free access to resources—articles, podcasts, videos, Q&A sessions, as well as several Bridgespan case studies. [1] [3] [10] The website also features an online job board. [1]

The organization claims it specializes in helping clients to effect the greatest possible change with their charitable donations. It advises clients against spreading donations too thinly so "that they have no real impact." [11]

Related Research Articles

Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultants for a number of reasons, including gaining external advice and accessing consultants' specialized expertise regarding concerns that call for additional oversight.

A consultant is a professional who provides advice or services in an area of specialization. Consulting services generally fall under the domain of professional services, as contingent work.

A foundation is a type of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that usually provides funding and support to other charitable organizations through grants, while also potentially participating directly in charitable activities. Foundations encompass public charitable foundations, like community foundations, and private foundations, which are often endowed by an individual or family. Nevertheless, the term "foundation" might also be adopted by organizations not primarily engaged in public grantmaking.

Omidyar Network is a self-styled "philanthropic investment firm," composed of a foundation and an impact investment firm. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, Omidyar Network has committed over US$1.5 billion to nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies across multiple investment areas. According to the OECD, Omidyar Network's financing for 2019 development increased by 10% to US$58.9 million.

Blackbaud is a cloud computing provider that serves the social good community—nonprofits, foundations, corporations, education institutions, healthcare organizations, religious organizations, and individual change agents. Its products focus on fundraising, website management, CRM, analytics, financial management, ticketing, and education administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinton Foundation</span> American non-profit organization

The Clinton Foundation is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was established by former president of the United States Bill Clinton with the stated mission to "strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence." Its offices are located in New York City and Little Rock, Arkansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Bain (consultant)</span> American businessman

William Worthington Bain Jr. was an American management consultant, known for his role as one of the founders of the management consultancy that bears his name, Bain & Company. Prior to founding Bain & Company, he was a vice-president at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Mercer is an American consulting firm founded in 1945. It is one of the four operating subsidiaries of global professional services firm Marsh McLennan. Mercer is headquartered in New York City with offices in 43 countries and operations in 130 countries. The company primarily provides human resources and financial services consulting services to its clients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Consulting Group</span> Global management consulting firm

Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the Big Three along with McKinsey & Company and Bain & Company. Since 2021, the consultancy has been led by the German executive Christoph Schweizer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mouchel</span> UK business services company

Mouchel Group, originally known as L. G. Mouchel & Partners Ltd, was an infrastructure and business services company headquartered in Woking, United Kingdom. It provided advisory, design, project delivery and managed services associated with infrastructure and business services across the highways and transportation, local government, emergency services, property, health, education and utility markets across the world.

Candid is an information service specializing in reporting on U.S. nonprofit companies. In 2016, its database provided information on 2.5 million organizations. It is the product of the February 2019 merger of GuideStar with Foundation Center.

The Big Three or MBB is the name colloquially given to the three large strategy consulting firms. They are considered to be the most prestigious firms in the management consulting industry. In terms of employees, McKinsey & Company is the largest and leads by revenue. McKinsey is followed by Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Company, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bain & Company</span> Global management consulting firm

Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and non-profit organizations. One of the Big Three management consultancies, Bain & Company was founded in 1973 by former Group Vice President of Boston Consulting Group Bill Bain and his colleagues, including Patrick F. Graham. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the firm grew rapidly. Bill Bain later spun off the alternative investment business into Bain Capital in 1984 and appointed Mitt Romney as its first CEO. Bain experienced several setbacks and financial troubles from 1987 to the early 1990s. Romney and Orit Gadiesh are credited with returning the firm to profitability and growth in their sequential roles as the firm's CEO and chairman respectively.

Global Philanthropy Group is a consulting firm that provides philanthropic services for high-net-worth individuals, charitable foundations and corporations. Their clients include John Legend, Avril Lavigne, Madonna, Tegan and Sara, Miley Cyrus, Eva Longoria, Gucci, Task Rabbit and Tory Burch. They have offices in Los Angeles and New York.

GivingTuesday, often stylized as #GivingTuesday for the purposes of hashtag activism, is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States. It is touted as a "global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world". The organization of the same name is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports the global movement.

The Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF) is a Broomfield, Colorado-based nonprofit philanthropic venture capital fund that identifies the country's best public charter schools, funds their expansion, and helps to increase their impact. CSGF is driven by a conviction that all children deserve great public schools in their communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas J. Tierney</span> American business magnate (born 1954)

Thomas J. Tierney is an American business executive and corporate writer, who is the co-founder of the nonprofit Bridgespan Group that provides management consulting to nonprofits and philanthropists. He has been chairman of eBay since July 2015.

Susan J. Ellis was an American trainer, presenter, researcher and consultant regarding volunteerism. She founded the largest publisher of volunteer-related books, Energize, Inc., which has published more than 25 books and provided consultancy and training services for organizations worldwide that involve volunteers, including the Everyone Ready Online Volunteer Management Training Program. She wrote or co-wrote 14 books, wrote more than 100 articles for various publications and is cited in more than 150 articles and books re: volunteerism. She was frequently called on by national media outlets for commentary regarding volunteerism and was quoted in stories in The New York Times,Fortune Magazine, the Chronicle of Philanthropy and many others. She is considered a pioneer regarding the promotion of the management of volunteers as a profession. She was based in Philadelphia.

EY-Parthenon is Ernst & Young's global strategy consulting arm. The firm was established as The Parthenon Group LLC in 1991 by former Bain & Company directors William "Bill" Achtmeyer and John C. Rutherford. In 2014 The Parthenon Group merged with professional services firm EY forming the new entity EY-Parthenon. The move was viewed as part of the continued efforts by the Big Four to move up the value chain from their traditional audit services into more lucrative areas of business, as well as to provide new points of entry to clients.

A nonprofit consulting firm is a professional service organization that specializes in providing strategic guidance, capacity building, and other management services to nonprofit organizations. It aims to help nonprofits address challenges, optimize resources, and achieve their mission more effectively. The primary goal of nonprofit consulting firms is to help organizations improve their operational efficiency, increase their impact, and better serve their target communities.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Want a Business Plan? Log on for Free Advice", The New York Times , November 10, 2008, retrieved August 21, 2013
  2. 1 2 3 4 The Bridgespan Group (PDF), Bain & Company, November 1, 2000, archived from the original (PDF) on November 1, 2013, retrieved August 21, 2013
  3. 1 2 "Doing Well and Doing Good A Conversation with Jeff Bradach and Tom Tierney, co-founders of Bridgespan", Wellesley Weston Magazine , August 6, 2010, retrieved August 21, 2013
  4. 1 2 "Virtue's intermediaries", The Economist , February 23, 2006, retrieved August 21, 2013
  5. 1 2 "Bridgespan Group: the most powerful consultants you've never heard of". The Economist . December 22, 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2021. A non-profit consultancy, Bridgespan was spun out of Bain & Company, a management consultancy, around 21 years ago by three people, including a former worldwide managing partner.
  6. 1 2 "Bridgespan Non-Profit Consulting Interviews and Culture". Management Consulted. 2014-12-07. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  7. ↑ The Transformers, HBS Alumni Bulletin, December 2010, retrieved September 3, 2013
  8. ↑ Kulish, Nicholas (2021-11-15). "The Consulting Firm Billionaires Turn to When They Give Away Money". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  9. ↑ "Wanted: nonprofit leaders", The Christian Science Monitor , August 13, 2007, retrieved August 21, 2013
  10. ↑ "Federal Cuts Likely to Shut Down Some Charities, Report Warns", The Chronicle of Philanthropy , January 15, 2012, retrieved August 21, 2013
  11. ↑ "Helping Make Clients' Philanthropy Count", The Wall Street Journal , April 13, 2011, retrieved August 21, 2013
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.