Fractional Ops for an Education Nonprofit
The Context:
A mission-driven education nonprofit with national reach was hiring a Chief of Staff to oversee its legal and operational systems. They needed immediate clarity around contracts, IP, and internal training—and were looking for strategic legal ops support at the leadership level.
The Needs
- Refine outdated contract templates across departments
- Review current IP language + create an actionable internal playbook
- Train internal staff on contract review protocols
- Provide guidance on subsidiary expansion + external partnerships
- Offer ad hoc support and weekly legal system reviews (~30 hrs/mo)
Our Proposed Solution
We scoped a Fractional Legal Ops Partnership to deliver:
- A 3-tiered contract system (Master Templates, Departmental Variations, Review Protocols)
- A custom Intellectual Property Playbook in Notion
- Internal SOPs for contract redlining + AI-enhanced review options
- A 60-day onboarding & training plan for a future Contract Analyst
- Monthly leadership-level legal ops support (via async doc reviews + weekly legal ops digest)
Value Delivered
Even during early scoping, our approach helped the client:
- Identify key contract inconsistencies across departments
- Outline an implementation strategy for internal contract review
- Frame subsidiary expansion as an ops opportunity, not just a legal hurdle
- Create internal clarity without needing to rely on a full-time GC
“Kristina brought clarity and structure to an otherwise intimidating process. She helped us define what we actually needed, then gave us a path to get there.”— [Anonymized from team notes]
Key Takeaways:
- Even nonprofit orgs with experienced leadership benefit from scoped, operational legal support
- Embedding systems before legal emergencies happen creates long-term clarity
- Founder-friendly, async-based support is effective—even in high-accountability orgs
Want to map something similar for your org?