Buy the next useful decision, not an undefined modernization.

Use this table to match the commercial shape to what the nonprofit actually knows today. The site does not recommend a provider, contract, or procurement method.

Model	Useful when	Decision-ready output	Guardrail
Advisory	Leadership needs an informed choice, risk review, or second opinion without delegating the decision.	Options, questions, decision criteria, and a recommended next decision.	Do not treat a short advisory opinion as completed discovery or implementation scope.
Discovery	The current environment, requirements, data, effort, or solution path is not yet clear enough to price responsibly.	Current-state findings, requirements, constraints, risks, options, and an implementation decision.	Decide whether the discovery firm may compete for implementation and how that affects independence.
Selection support	The nonprofit needs help preparing the request, managing candidates, comparing evidence, or documenting a fair process.	Procurement artifacts, facilitated evaluation, diligence record, and decision support.	Require disclosure of vendor, referral, reseller, implementation, and compensation relationships.
Implementation	The solution path and responsibilities are sufficiently defined to configure, migrate, integrate, test, and launch.	Accepted system changes, migration evidence, documentation, training, and handoff assets.	Tie stages to acceptance evidence and a written change process, not only activity or elapsed time.
Adoption and support	People need structured practice, administration, monitoring, maintenance, or qualified help after launch.	Role-based enablement, operating support, issue handling, maintenance, and review routines.	Keep nonprofit-owned accounts, documentation, renewal visibility, export rights, and an exit process.

Five questions before the engagement expands

What decision or accepted deliverable does the nonprofit need next?
Which records, access, systems, staff time, and assumptions are in or out?
Who owns requirements, procurement, testing, acceptance, training, and support?
Which evidence would justify accepting, revising, narrowing, or stopping?
What must return to nonprofit control when the engagement ends?