Claire Knowlton Biography

Claire Knowlton is the founder and principal consultant at Claire Knowlton Consulting, LLC, where she provides financial consulting to nonprofits and foundations. Her work focuses on helping her clients align their financial strategy to their organizational values.

Claire worked for Nonprofit Finance Fund from 2014-2022. Serving as Director of Advisory Services, she helped lead a national practice of 43 consultants and provided consulting services to hundreds of nonprofits and funders. While there, she designed and led a range of initiatives, including change capital projects for equity-centered arts organizations; long-term efforts to improve government contracting with nonprofits; and the Full Cost Project.

Prior to working as a consultant in the field, Claire worked as: the Executive Director of a community-based art center for eight years; as an auditor and tax-preparer specialized in nonprofits; as co-founder and board chair for a nonprofit working to end extreme global poverty; and in fundraising for a small liberal arts college.

Claire has authored numerous thought pieces for the field, including:

Why Funding Overhead is Not the Real Issue: The Case to Cover Full Costs

The Smartest Way to Promote Diversity: Pay for Overhead at Charities Led by People of Color

Why Grantmakers Need to Break Their Restriction Habit—Permanently