Leadership and executive coaching
Focused on personal effectiveness, communication, confidence and leadership presence. Sessions help leaders clarify goals, manage complexity, and lead with authenticity and impact.
Nonprofit consulting services
The right kind of support for each organization
Real capacity building starts with understanding each organization's situation and matching it with the right kind of support. From one-to-one consulting and coaching to group training, small grants, cohorts and peer learning, these are the building blocks.
For foundations
Every partnership starts with listening
When a new foundation comes to us, our first step is to listen. Then we co-create a support program with you, of any form or size, built around what your grantees need most.
Our flagship service
One-to-one consulting
The most direct way for grantees to get expert support on their real-world challenges. Whether it's clarifying strategy, strengthening teams or improving internal systems, our consultants work side by side with grantees on an area that matters to them.
What makes it different
- Quality at every stage, from consultant vetting to project check-ins and post-project reviews.
- Several ways to find the right project, from self-guided exploration to facilitated assessments.
- Flexible formats. Most projects run 5 to 10 consulting days, where we add the most. We also offer 10-hour coaching packages and multi-expert projects.
- A global and diverse expert pool, offering local understanding and fresh international perspectives.
- Grantees in full control. They choose the topic, duration, timing and consultant, which keeps ownership and success high.
Our consultants
- Close to the people they work with. Grantees want someone who understands their culture and context, so our pool is large and spread across every region.
- Known and followed closely. We track each consultant's performance, with a feedback report after every intervention. Foundations get the same information we do.
- Nonprofit professionals. Full-time professionals committed to working with nonprofits, or with significant nonprofit experience.
We have greatly valued the support we received through Nonprofit Builder which covered organisational development, creating a fundraising strategy and coaching for the co-Directors. This has had a hugely positive impact on the charity.
Consultants by region
- 253Europe
- 157Asia
- 152Africa
- 118North America
- 49Latin America
- 18MENA
- 11Pacific
The grantee is in the driving seat
We're happy to help grantees think through their needs, point them in the right direction and suggest a match. Then the grantee takes the initiative: they contact the consultant and book the first meeting themselves. Many interview more than one consultant, so they're sure to find someone they like. This keeps ownership, and success, very high.
The matchmaking process was seamless; the platform recommended three consultants who all responded promptly. After interviewing two candidates, we selected Tend Consulting. They truly went above and beyond, even traveling to Paris to facilitate an in-depth training workshop for our team.
Training and capacity building
Short courses with tools you use the next day
A curated selection of training courses designed for nonprofit leaders and teams who want to strengthen their skills and apply new tools immediately.
- Delivered by our best consultant-trainers, selected for their expertise and facilitation skills.
- A four-part workshop format that fits busy schedules and keeps momentum.
- Highly interactive and practical, with tangible takeaways such as customized plans or templates.
- Suitable for organizations at different stages, and an ideal entry point before consulting projects.
- Very cost-effective, typically around the price of a single day of consulting.
- Topics include leadership, strategic planning, fundraising, advocacy, communication and resilience.
Through this course, I have received actual tools that are simple to implement which I can see will raise our productivity and strengthen our organisation.
Coaching for leaders and organizations
Leadership can be a lonely place
Many nonprofit leaders carry heavy responsibilities without a safe, experienced sounding board. Coaching offers that space: a confidential, reflective partnership that helps leaders think clearly, make better decisions, and grow in confidence and self-awareness.
Capacity and organizational coaching
For leaders who want to strengthen their organizations from within: how to structure the team, work with the board, manage growth, or adapt the culture as it evolves.
Why coaching works so well
- It goes beyond technical advice to address the mindsets and relationships that shape real progress.
- It offers continuity: most coaching relationships last several months.
- It's highly cost-effective, with long-term impact at a fraction of the cost of traditional consulting.
- Most of our coaches are professionally certified, and all follow the International Coaching Federation (ICF) Code of Ethics.
- Coachees can pause or stop at any time, so the process stays relevant and voluntary.
Lakshmi's coaching and expertise has helped me grow and build a global team more equitably and thoughtfully. She has been an incredible resource during difficult moments, with really tangible ways to apply our sessions to my work day-to-day.
Cohort-based programs
Learning together when grantees share a challenge
When several grantees share similar challenges or opportunities, a cohort can be the most powerful way to support them together, building shared learning, peer exchange and collective capacity.
Our cohorts follow a cost-effective funnel model: every grantee benefits from the group learning, and those showing the most interest and readiness can add one-to-one consulting.
Ideal for
- Early-stage grantees in incubators or accelerators
- Organizations working on the same theme or geography
- Foundations preparing to exit a region and seeking to strengthen local partners
Program design
- A custom mix of 3 to 5 expert consultants covering strategy, fundraising, leadership, communications and MEL
- Group workshops combined with one-to-one coaching or peer-learning sessions
- The same trainers follow the group throughout, for continuity and depth
Helping grantees understand their needs
Start with the right question
Before any project begins, organizations need to understand what kind of support they actually need. Here are four ways we help them get clear.
Discovery calls
A 45-minute conversation with our team, using motivational interviewing, to reflect on aspirations and goals, what's holding the organization back, and the kind of support that could help.
Organizational health check and OD roadmap
A facilitated assessment led by an expert consultant, using methods such as the Bridgespan Organizational Assessment System. It produces a confidential report on strengths and weaknesses and an OD roadmap the grantee can share with its foundation.
Symptom and solutions browser
A simple self-service tool that connects common organizational symptoms to relevant project types and trainings. Ideal for grantees new to organizational development.
Open the cataloguePortfolio-wide survey
We help foundations survey their whole portfolio and analyze the results, so support goes where it's needed most. We usually do this as part of our cohort programs.
We highly recommend Solomon Makuza to our colleagues and friends for his exceptional expertise in organizational health assessments.
Grow step by step, with the right help at each one
Together, these services help nonprofits grow from understanding their needs to finding the right support, learning from others, and turning insights into action.