Asking for skilled help: how to scope a request a volunteer expert can finish

This guide is for anyone at a small charity who needs help from someone with skills you don't have: a bookkeeper, a designer, a lawyer, a grant writer, someone who understands websites. Maybe you've asked before and heard nothing, or the help started well and then faded. Most of the time, the problem isn't the expert. It's the size and shape of the ask. After reading, you'll be able to turn "we need help with our finances" into a request a busy professional can say yes to, finish and hand back.

Why small, clear requests get help

A volunteer expert is giving you time they could spend on paid work, family or rest. Before saying yes, they quietly ask themselves three questions:

• Can I picture what "done" looks like?
• Can I fit it in?
• Will I be able to finish it, or will this follow me around for months?

A request like "Help us with marketing" fails all three. A request like "Review our two-page fundraising letter and suggest edits, about two hours, by November 15" passes all three. Same charity, same need, very different answer.

Step 1: Write down the real problem

Before you think about the expert, write two or three sentences about the problem in your own words. Don't name a solution yet.

• Weak: "We need a new website."
• Better: "People who call us say they couldn't find our food pantry hours online. Our website is five years old and only one volunteer knows how to change it."

The second version tells an expert what is actually wrong. They may suggest something simpler than a new website, like fixing the home page and teaching two more people how to edit it.

Step 2: Cut it down to one piece of work

Big needs are made of smaller pieces. List the pieces, then pick one to start with. A good first piece usually:

• has a clear finish line ("a reviewed budget", "a one-page plan", "a working donation page");
• takes a few hours to a few weeks of the expert's time, not months;
• doesn't depend on decisions your board hasn't made yet;
• leaves you with something you can use, even if you never get help with the other pieces.

Here's how one need breaks down:

Step 3: Say what "done" looks like

Write one sentence that starts "This is done when…". Be specific about what the expert hands back.

• "This is done when we have a marked-up copy of our volunteer handbook with comments on anything that creates legal risk."
• "This is done when our donation page takes a gift and sends a receipt, and two of us know how to change the amount buttons."

If you can't finish that sentence, the request isn't ready yet. Go back to Step 2.

Step 4: Estimate the time honestly

Guess how many hours the work will take the expert, and say so. If you don't know, say that too, and ask the expert to tell you once they've looked. People are more likely to say yes when they know the size of what they're agreeing to.

Also name your side of the time: who will answer questions, how quickly, and when you can meet. An expert can't finish if they wait two weeks for your reply.

On the Golden Hint Exchange, one hour of help is worth 1 credit, whatever the skill. A piece of work with a clear finish line, like a document review, can instead be priced as a fixed-scope task at an agreed number of credits (between 0.5 and 20), agreed before work starts. See the credit rules for how credits are held and moved.

Step 5: Gather what the expert will need

Before you post, collect the things an expert would ask for in the first conversation. It shows you're ready, and it saves a week of back and forth.

• The document, file or account they'll work on (or a copy).
• Any background: your mission in a sentence, who you serve, your budget size.
• What you've already tried, and what happened.
• Who decides. If the board must approve the result, say so now.
• Any limits: no budget for software, must work on a phone, must be in Spanish.

Step 6: Write the request in five parts

A good request fits on one screen. Start with a plain title that names the work, like "Review our first-year budget before our board meeting", and a sentence or two about who you are. Then use these five parts, which turn Steps 1 to 5 into a scope: the agreed description of the work.

1. Goal: the problem, and what you hope will change.
2. What's included: the piece of work you're asking for.
3. Not included: anything nearby that you're not asking for. This is what stops the job from quietly growing.
4. What we'll have ready: the files, people and answers you'll provide.
5. Done when: your "This is done when…" sentence, plus the time estimate and any deadline.

Here's an example:

Review our first-year budget before our board meeting. We're a volunteer-run after-school reading program in our second year, with a budget of about $40,000.

Goal: Our treasurer built this year's budget from scratch and nobody on the board has a finance background. We want to catch anything unrealistic before the board votes.

What's included: Review our one-page budget and point out costs that look too low, too high or missing.

Not included: Rewriting the budget, setting up our bookkeeping, or tax advice.

What we'll have ready: The spreadsheet, last year's actual figures, and our treasurer for questions by email.

Done when: We have written comments on the spreadsheet and a 30-minute call to walk through them. About two hours in total, before our board meets on the 12th.

The same five parts, for each kind of help

Help on the Exchange comes in five formats. Here's what each part can look like for each one:

Taproot Foundation, which runs a pro bono matching service, gives similar advice: describe the activities and deliverables you want, break the work into chunks, include any estimates you already have, name the final goal, and explain how your team has prepared.

Step 7: Post it where the right people will see it

On Golden Hint, a verified charity can post a request on the Exchange in one of the 13 areas of expertise. Pick the area that matches the skill you need, not the topic of your mission. Another member charity can then propose an exchange, and you both agree the scope, time, format and credits before any work starts.

Other places to look, depending on the skill:

• Legal help: many state and local bar associations run pro bono programs for charities. Our legal basics guide explains where to start.
• Business planning and finance: SCORE, a nonprofit and a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration, offers free mentoring from volunteer business experts. It's aimed at small businesses, so it suits questions like pricing a program or planning earned income.
• People you already know: board members' workplaces, your donors and your volunteers often have skills you haven't asked about.

Step 8: Make it easy to say no, and to say yes

End your request by saying it's fine to decline, and fine to suggest a smaller or different piece of work. Experts who feel they can shape the request are more likely to take it on. When someone says yes, thank them, and confirm the scope in writing before you start. Our guide on working with a volunteer expert covers what happens next.

Your request checklist

• I've described the real problem in two or three sentences, without naming a solution.
• I've picked one piece of work with a clear finish line.
• I can finish the sentence "This is done when…".
• I've estimated the expert's time, or said I need their estimate.
• I've named who on our side will answer questions, and how quickly.
• I've gathered the files and background the expert will need, without anything private.
• I've said who decides, and whether the board must approve the result.
• My request has a plain title and the five parts: goal, what's included, not included, what we'll have ready, done when.
• I've posted it in the area that matches the skill I need.

The best requests feel like a gift to the expert: a clear, useful job they can finish and feel proud of. Ready to ask? Post a request on the Exchange.