About Ploughshare

A specialist consultancy.

Ploughshare is a spe­cial­ist con­sul­tan­cy work­ing sole­ly with­in the not for prof­it and char­i­ta­ble sec­tor.  Unlike man­age­ment and busi­ness con­sul­tants com­ing from the cor­po­rate are­na, we under­stand you from the very start. We under­stand your val­ues, the pas­sion you have for your cause and the chal­lenges you face around growth and fund­ing. All Ploughshare staff and part­ners come from the NFP sec­tor and have years of expe­ri­ence with­in it.

Steve Tollestrup, founder of Ploughshare brings three decades of expe­ri­ence as suc­cess­ful not-for-prof­it CEO and NFP con­sul­tant in both Aotearoa and inter­na­tion­al­ly, as well an elect­ed local gov­ern­ment rep­re­sen­ta­tive. Steve has con­sult­ed for NGO’s, com­mu­ni­ty groups, char­i­ties, faith-based organ­i­sa­tions and social enter­pris­es across Aotearoa and internationally.

So, Ploughshare clients are able to draw on an exten­sive skillset as strate­gist, social entre­pre­neur, fundrais­er, lead­er­ship men­tor and train­er. These skills are com­mit­ted to empow­er­ing organ­i­sa­tions to devel­op capac­i­ty, plan sys­tem­at­i­cal­ly, and build an inde­pen­dent and secure fund­ing base.

The Ploughshare mission

Ploughshare exists for… Build­ing inno­v­a­tive, resilient and finan­cial­ly sus­tain­able not for prof­it and char­i­ta­ble organ­i­sa­tions.

And today, Ploughshare clients ben­e­fit their com­mu­ni­ties across social sec­tors includ­ing health, bud­get­ing, youth devel­op­ment, recre­ation, envi­ron­ment, coun­selling, peace-build­ing, inter­na­tion­al aid, advo­ca­cy and social work. Sup­port­ing this kind of work is our kau­pa­pa and DNA. We are as pas­sion­ate about this as you are of your organ­i­sa­tion’s vision and mission. 

Services

Strategy development

It’s unlike­ly that sub­stan­tive organ­i­sa­tion­al improve­ment will hap­pen with­out a robust plan at it’s heart. And so the jour­ney to trans­for­ma­tion starts with lis­ten­ing to your team, build­ing on both client and con­sul­tant wis­dom, to devel­op a strat­e­gy for success.

Fundraising

Fund­ing is fuel in your tank. Our wide fundrais­ing expe­ri­ence, from appeals, major donor devel­op­ment, access­ing and prepar­ing grants, to bequest plan­ning –  enable game-chang­ing leaps in organ­i­sa­tion­al capac­i­ty. This kind of input has helped Ploughshare clients reach a com­bined fundrais­ing capac­i­ty of 15 mil­lion dol­lars per year.

Leadership consultancy

Yes, it real­ly can be lone­ly at the top. That’s why Lead­er­ship sup­port­ed by expe­ri­enced pro­fes­sion­al super­vi­sion and men­tor­ship is so impor­tant and valu­able. Ploughshare exec­u­tive men­tor­ing can be key to bed­ding-in trans­for­ma­tion­al change and con­fi­dent organ­i­sa­tion­al leadership.

Better Boards

A smooth run­ning and engaged board that under­stands its roles, respon­si­bil­i­ties and bound­aries is at the heart of an effec­tive organ­i­sa­tion. Ploughshare pro­vides train­ing, upskilling and refresh­er cours­es for exist­ing boards and sup­port for those being estab­lished. We help make good boards even better.

Campaigning

Your mis­sion needs a voice that is heard and respect­ed. Ploughshare and part­ners can assist with devel­op­ing your brand­ing, advo­ca­cy and com­mu­ni­ca­tions strat­e­gy through cost-effec­tive tac­tics that tell your sto­ry con­vinc­ing­ly and with integrity.

Ongoing review

Your out­puts and deliv­er­ables need to be mea­sured.  They are an over­looked key to donor con­fi­dence and ongo­ing sup­port as well as track­ing your organ­i­sa­tion’s growth and devel­op­ment. We pro­vide a sys­tem­at­ic review process to ensure strat­e­gy, imple­men­ta­tion and results remain in sync, as well as intu­itive, effec­tive and easy to imple­ment tools to cap­ture your valu­able data.

Turn around interventions

Even a care­ful­ly man­aged organ­i­sa­tions can face an unex­pect­ed cri­sis or threat to their exis­tence; fund­ing col­lapse, inter­nal con­flict, loss of key lead­er­ship or staff, pub­lic rela­tions cri­sis. Unnerv­ing as these events can be they also offer a rare oppor­tu­ni­ty for coura­geous deci­sion mak­ing that leads to new paths and unex­pect­ed oppor­tu­ni­ties. Ploughshare has exten­sive expe­ri­ence in turn around strate­gies and NFP cri­sis man­age­ment and can be count­ed on to be a trust­ed part­ner and guide in nav­i­gat­ing crisis.

Discover and connect

If this approach speaks to your organ­i­sa­tion’s kau­pa­pa, you’re prob­a­bly look­ing for more than just anoth­er man­age­ment consultant.

Dis­cov­er the key ingre­di­ents of the Ploughshare process and con­nect, today – to start a trans­for­ma­tive conversation.

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