About Now This Consulting

Nel Taylor is your guide through organizational growth 

Photo by Bremen McKinney, bolo tie by Bone China Designs

Nel Taylor, they/them/theirs (Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation), is a nonprofit development, HR, and fundraising strategy consultant with over 10 years of nonprofit experience, bringing a strong justice lens to indigenizing fundraising, systems, and strategies in the nonprofit sector.

Their introduction to nonprofit work came out of their transition from houselessness when they were 18 years old, advocating as a program participant in fundraising efforts. After experiencing exploitation at the hands of the nonprofit industrial complex, they set out to shift traditional harmful practices in fundraising, and later the internal systems that perpetuate harm throughout the nonprofit sector.

They have served as Interim Co-Executive Director at Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon, as well as the Individual and Corporate Giving Lead; served as Board Chair at the Circus Project, and graduated the Art of Leadership program through Regional Arts and Culture Council, the certificate in nonprofit fundraising course at Willamette Valley Development Officers, and the Certificate of Managerial Resilience course at The People’s Nonprofit Accelerator, where they also serve on the Board of Directors. Their fundraising highlights include The Circus Project: Donor Relations Specialist, Major Gifts Officer, Development manager; Artists Repertory Theatre: Annual Fund Manager; Clinton Street Theatre–The Resistance Series: Program Director.

Their firsthand experience working within non-hierarchical organization structures, co-leadership models, and shared power systems, as well as being an impacted community member with lived experience of relying on the support of nonprofits, uniquely position them to guide organization leaders through the reckoning required for systems-change. 

Nel, born and raised in Portland, OR, is an active participant in social justice and activism in their community, and also a musician, fire performer, and NBA fan.

Land Acknowledgment

Now This’ home office is based in what we currently know as Portland, OR, but was stolen from its true stewards, the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Tumwater and Mollala bands of the Chinook peoples, the Tualatin band of the Kalapuya peoples, in addition to the many tribes currently fighting for federal recognition status. As an Indigenous-led organization, the harms and sacrifices forced upon these people are felt deeply, and inform my practices. The Umatilla in me honors the ancestors of this place, and the whiteness in me seeks forgiveness and offers accountability to my Indigenous siblings. A percentage of Now This Consulting’s revenue will be contributed to the Indigenous communities and causes upon whose labor I have built my strategies and practices. Now This Consulting centers the goal of Indigenizing the nonprofit sector in the forefront of all its work.

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Testimonials

  • “My experience working with Nel is that they asked the questions we weren't thinking of that were needed in that moment to bring us back into focus on our values and goals. Holding shared values front and center enables policies and practices to be built that are values-aligned and ensure accountability.”

    Marianne G.

  • “Nel is an excellent human. The needs and humanity of communities are always at the forefront in all the work that they do. They are always committed to ethical and intersectional justice-focused fundraising, storytelling and decision-making. This approach is not something that just applies to their work, but also to how Nel moves through the world."

    Etta O.

  • "Over the past several years I've known Nel as a fundraiser, a social justice advocate, a fellow non-profit board member, and a board chair. From even this partial perspective I can attest to Nel's clarity of purpose, their analytic skills, and their ability to identify injustice and dysfunction and succeed in spite of those conditions. More than anyone I know, Nel embodies the aphorism 'Be the change you want to see'."

    Linda M.

  • "We worked with Nel to offer 3 DEIJ trainings to our non profit's small board and staff. Throughout our time working with Nel we were continually impressed with how flexible and adaptable they were. Nel put together a very thoughtful and comprehensive series of trainings for our group, which they then adapted to fit the ever evolving needs of the group. Nel embodies so much of what is important in DEIJ work, both in the content they are knowledgeable in and the approach they take to working with clients. Our work felt mutually beneficial as Nel helped our board and staff grow in their knowledge and we helped Nel test out different training strategies. We would hire Nel again in an instant!"

    Rachael W. - Farmers Market Fund