With the presentation of the Good Consultant Guidelines and the pilot implementation of a new method for recognizing specialist skills in the Third Sector across Italy, Spain, and Bulgaria, the European project NPC Skills – Non Profit Consultants’ Skills has successfully concluded.
A shared competency framework, a transnational research initiative, a system for skill recognition, and an innovative pilot training model – are the key deliverables of NPC Skills, a project co-funded by the European Union. These results were recently presented at the final event, Making a Difference: The Consultant at the Service of the Third Sector, held in Rome at CSV Lazio.
Organised by project lead EUconsult Italia, the event welcomed representatives from partner organisations SMe System (Italy), STP Europa (Spain), Universe 8 (Bulgaria), and EUConsult (Netherlands), alongside experts and stakeholders from across the non-profit landscape.
“Consultants, trainers, and sector professionals joined us to reflect not only on the tools and achievements from 18 months of work, but also on the real potential these have to enhance the daily practice of professionals working across the evolving Third Sector,” said Annalisa Lalumera, newly elected President of EUconsult Italia.
Introduced by Daniela Fiori, the Good Consultant Guidelines will soon be translated into several languages and shared with institutional stakeholders both in Italy and at the European level.
The guidelines seek to answer core questions:
How do we identify the most qualified consultant for a non-profit organisation?
What competencies are needed to navigate periods of crisis or strategic development?
And how can consultants stay current with the skills required to support the sector effectively?
These questions arise from a sector undergoing constant transformation. Non-profit organisations in Europe have seen a shift toward professionalisation and more participatory structures. In parallel, consultants face increasing demands for targeted, context-aware expertise. The pandemic has only accelerated this evolution, highlighting the need for adaptable, holistic consultancy.
The first phase of NPC Skills involved pan-European research to define a shared competency profile tailored to non-profit consultants – distinct from the skills typically required in the for-profit sector. The findings reinforced the importance of flexibility, adaptability, and above all, transversal and soft skills.
While hard skills remain essential, it is the ability to navigate complex human systems and diverse organisational contexts that defines effective consulting in the Third Sector. This marks the first time that non-profit consultants have been the focus of an Erasmus+ VET (Vocational Education and Training) initiative.
“We developed a set of European and national indicators, and introduced a ‘European label’ for the recognition of specialist skills in the Third Sector,” noted Silvia Prati, CEO of SMe System.
To support this framework, the team also designed and piloted an innovative training programme aimed at strengthening both integrated and transversal skills. This model was tested in Italy, Spain, and Bulgaria with encouraging feedbac
The event included a roundtable discussion, moderated by EUConsult member Francesca Mineo, exploring how the tools developed through NPC Skills can support non-profit organisations in practice.
Danijela Babic (AIF Lazio) affirmed the alignment between the project’s findings and the ongoing work of the Italian Association of Trainers. Maddalena Arlenghi, President of the Banking Law and Third Sector Commission at the Milan Bar Association, emphasised the importance of legal competence and lifelong learning for consultants.
Francesco Monticelli (Confprofessioni) addressed the critical need for professional recognition at both national and European levels. Massimo de Meo (Confassociazioni) and Enzo Morricone (CSV Lazio) spoke to the role of networks in supporting professionals and organisations alike.
Finally, Michela Gaffo (ASSIF) underlined how fundraisers – among the most in-demand professionals in the sector – must pair technical expertise with cross-functional capabilities to fully understand and meet the needs of non-profit clients.
All project resources are publicly available at: www.nonprofitskills.eu
