T. Scott Smith Bio

T. Scott Smith, M.A. / Managing Partner

T. Scott Smith, M.A. is a management and organizational development consultant with over 40 years of professional experience working with local, regional and national nonprofit organizations. Scott is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Stonehill Consulting Group, LLC.

Prior to creating Stonehill, as a nonprofit executive for 25 years Scott held every senior management position in a nonprofit, including: Executive Director/CEO, Program Director, Director of Operations and Director of Development. Scott also created and served as co-director of the first legislator development program for the Legislative Assembly, Government of Nigeria

Scott is a recognized expert in Executive Director/CEO transitions. Since 1996 he has specialized in providing emergency and transition management services. He has served as interim executive director or senior consultant/director to transition projects in 26 nonprofit organizations. He has conducted over 20 successful nonprofit executive director searches.

As a trainer, Scott specializes in working with nonprofit Boards in such areas as: Board governance roles and responsibilities, Board committee organization and operations, strategic planning, and Board/CEO relations.  He frequently designs and conducts Board orientation programs, and facilitates Board strategic planning retreats. Scott has served as a coach to several nonprofit Executive Director/CEOs.

As a fundraising professional, Scott has developed programs for nonprofits in comprehensive fundraising program development, annual fund development, grantsmanship, and major gift cultivation and solicitation.  He has conducted feasibility studies and served as a senior professional in Capital Campaigns at three educational institutions. In 2009 Colorado Nonprofit Association selected Scott and Stonehill to conduct a series of teaching workshops on fundraising program building in five locations throughout the state of Colorado.

For 10 years Scott was a member of the affiliate faculty at Regis University’s Master of Nonprofit Management graduate program. During this time Scott created and taught four in-classroom and on-line courses in Resource Development and in Grantsmanship. Scott has also taught fundraising at the University of Colorado in Denver’s Graduate School of Public Affairs and at the annual summer training conference sponsored by Rocky Mountain College and Montana State University.

Click here to read Scott’s articles & publications.

Scott has made major presentations or conducted workshops at the Colorado Nonprofit Association’s Annual Fall Conferences, the Association of Fundraising Professionals International Conference and the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) National Conference. Scott’s presentations include:

  • “Rushing Toward Burnout:  Tools for Taking Care of Yourself As An Executive Director”. Workshop presentation for the Colorado Nonprofit Association Colorado Nonprofit Association’s 2010 Fall Conference.
  • “Theory and Practice of Transition Management”. Presentation of paper at Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) National Conference, Denver, CO. (paper available upon request)
  • “Envisioning Your Organization’s Future”. Workshop presentation for Colorado Nonprofit Association’s Annual Fall Conference. Denver, CO
  • “Fundraising During Organizational Transitions”. Workshop presentation for the Association of Fundraising Professionals 2005 International Conference.  Baltimore, MD

Scott is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and has served as a Board member and President of the AFP Colorado Chapter. He has served as a Board member of several nonprofits in Colorado.

Scott is a graduate of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, where he received his master’s degree in Political Science, specializing in American politics. He received his bachelor’s degree in English Literature from The University of the South, and holds a certificate in management from the University of Colorado.