Fractional Leadership

FRACTIONAL LEADERSHIP

Senior leadership, sized to the job.

Your team is capable. What’s often missing is someone who has led marketing and strategy through growth, setbacks and everything between. We step in part-time, set the direction, and help your people do the best work of their careers.

Book a Conversation How it works

Experience

Nearly 30 years leading marketing, strategy and fundraising

For

Small and mid-sized businesses, charities and social enterprises

Based in

Hamilton, Ontario, working across Canada

Is this you?

Fractional leadership tends to fit when one or more of these sounds familiar.

You’ve outgrown doing it yourself.

You’re a business owner or ED carrying marketing or fundraising on top of everything else, and it shows.

Your team is good, but on its own.

Talented coordinators and managers are working hard without senior guidance, and they can feel it.

A senior role sits empty.

A director has left, or is on leave, and the work can’t wait for a long search.

Something has stalled.

A campaign, a revenue line or a team has lost momentum. A stall is a crisis whose scope hasn’t landed yet. It’s a smouldering fire, and the next move decides whether it goes out or catches.

You’re about to take a big swing.

A launch, a campaign or a new market is coming, and you want experienced hands on it from day one.

Why a full-time hire isn’t always the answer

Most organizations already have good people. What they often lack is the conditions for those people to succeed.

A typical senior marketing role

~25%~75%

Executive leadershipTactical, day-to-day work

Not every charity or small business needs a senior leader full-time. There’s often full-time work to do, but most of it is tactical: posts to schedule, campaigns to run, donors and customers to answer. In many organizations, the senior job is only about a quarter executive work.

Pay someone with decades of experience to handle day-to-day execution, and you’re paying many times over for it. They’ll also want to spend their days on strategy, while the daily work keeps pulling at them. Hire someone junior or mid-career instead, and they’ll do their best while feeling lost without qualified support.

Fractional leadership keeps your investment in the right places. You pay for the work being done, and for the leadership needed to keep it moving forward. Your team members grow with a leader who’s there for them. And no one ignores the comment on your Facebook page because they’re too deep in strategy and KPIs.

How it works

Fractional doesn’t mean distant. Here’s what working together looks like.

01
We start with clarity.

Before anything else, we agree on expectations, how success will be measured, and the shared tools everyone will use to track progress.
02
Your team can reach us every day.

Team members can text, email or call whenever they need a sounding board or a decision.
03
We meet your team weekly.

Regular one-on-ones and team check-ins keep work moving and people supported.
04
We meet your leadership every two to four weeks.

Sooner when something is pressing.
05
Every team member gets goals.

We set clear, fair goals with each person and help them reach them. If a role isn’t the right fit, we handle that with care so everyone else can succeed.
06
We automate what we can.

Reporting and routine tasks get streamlined, so people spend their time on the work that matters.

Plan it, then lead it

Fractional leadership works on its own, or alongside project work. Many organizations start with a strategic or marketing plan to set the wheels in motion, then keep us on as fractional leaders to move it forward. Others bring us in to lead and add a project along the way, such as a campaign, a brand refresh or a plan for what’s next.

Either way, the person who helped build the plan is there to see it through. Your team never has to guess what the plan meant.

Project

Set the direction

A strategic or marketing plan, a campaign, or a brand refresh.

Fractional leadership

Move it forward

Ongoing leadership that turns the plan into results, with your team.

What changes

For your organization

A clear marketing or fundraising plan, grounded in what your customers, donors and market are telling you. Work that meets your audience where they are, instead of asking them to come to you.

For your team

A leader who has their back. Clear goals, real coaching, and the confidence that comes from knowing what good looks like.

For you

Fewer late nights carrying work outside your expertise, and a trusted partner for the big decisions.

When it’s time

A stronger team and a well-defined role, ready for a permanent hire if that’s the right next step. We’ll help you find the right person.

Conor Tapp, Founder and Lead of Know Good Consulting

Who you’d be working with

For nearly 30 years, Conor Tapp has been the person organizations bring in to lead high-stakes strategy and campaigns, or to lead the repair when things have gone sideways.

He has served as an Executive Director, a Director of Fund Development and a Chief Advancement Officer, and has led marketing, communications and fundraising teams across business and charity. Over his career, programs he has led have influenced more than $1 billion in revenue.

When the work calls for more hands, we bring in trusted specialists.

Results from past fractional engagements

ADVAS, fractional leadership for 4+ years

Leading fundraising, marketing and brand for a victim services organization, revenue grew 40% within two years. Along the way, the team secured grants for much-needed technology upgrades and published a community resource book.
Property services company, temporary contract leadership role

Sales had stalled despite a superior product. Sales grew nearly 17% year over year, with a 28% smaller sales team and no added marketing spend.

How we choose the work

Fractional leadership means stepping inside your organization and leading your people. We take that seriously, so we’re selective.

We work through an equity-forward lens, always. That’s a condition of how we work, not an add-on. In practice, it means pay equity for anyone we hire or work with, fair hiring practices, and storytelling that cares for both the subject and the reader.

We’re glad to help organizations grow and profit. We look for work where people, planet and profit can all do well, and we optimize revenue rather than maximize it at any cost. If an organization’s success depends on ignoring harm to people or community, we’re not the right fit.

Questions people ask

What’s the difference between fractional leadership and consulting?

A consultant advises. A fractional leader leads. We take responsibility for direction, manage and coach your team, and answer for results alongside you.

Which roles do you step into?

Marketing and strategy leadership at director or executive level, including fundraising and brand. That includes interim cover while a senior role is vacant or a leader is on leave.

How long do engagements last?

It depends on what you need. Some organizations want a steady hand for a defined stretch, such as a leave or a campaign. Others keep fractional leadership in place as their long-term model.

How much does it cost?

Every engagement is scoped to the hours and outcomes you need, so pricing is set together after a first conversation. Fractional leadership usually costs a fraction of a full-time senior salary and benefits.

Do you work with businesses or charities?

Both, along with social enterprises. The principles of good marketing and fundraising hold across sectors.

Are you local?

We’re based in Hamilton, Ontario, and work with organizations across Canada, in person and remotely.

Let’s talk about what your team needs.

A first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Tell us where things stand, and we’ll tell you whether fractional leadership is the right fit, or whether something else would serve you better.

Book a Conversation connect@knowgood.ca 289-680-8980