(October 2025) The Advocacy Project has undertaken a review of the way we support our community-based partners. Our new approach is set out on this page and takes effect immediately.
We believe that direct investment in marginalized communities and their leaders is more important than ever, at a time when the traditional top-down model of development aid is under assault. The crisis also presents opportunities for innovative approaches, building creative partnerships and making more use of networking tools like social media.
While we embrace innovation, it is also important to restate our commitment to good practice. We owe this to the many individuals who have donated to our work.
The FAQs on this page are the result of a process of deliberation by our Board and draw on twenty years of working with communities and sending students to volunteer with partners. They are also offered in a spirit of partnership and equality. Partnership means learning from each other. In this spirit we welcome feedback and suggestions about how our services can be improved. Inquiries should be directed DCOffice@advocacynet.org.
Mission
The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, strengthen their organizations and achieve social change.
Partners
We respond to requests for partnership from communities, and work through leaders who have emerged from the community and are determined to seek social change.
Projects
We support three types of project:
a) Start-ups (6 months to a year): We offer $1,000 to support creative initiatives conceived and designed by partners. We ask partners to set clear goals, develop a simple budget, track expenses, and identify a path to eventual social change.
b) Medium-term (1-2 years): If a start-up meets short-term goals, we will do what we can to support a follow-up project with up to $2,500 from AP funds; help with fundraising; the services of a student volunteer (Peace Fellow); and an appeal on the GlobalGiving portal. (See below)
c) Long-term (3-5 years): We help partners to put their project on the path to sustainability with technical support from one or more Peace Fellows, intensive networking and fundraising (below). The path to sustainability will very from partner to partner, and AP recognizes that these efforts must be partner-led. Based on needs and context, outcomes may include strengthening relationships, building reliable funding sources, or organizing day-to-day operations.
Omnibus work plan
All medium-term projects supported by AP should set out clear goals, expected outcomes, and activities. We offer a template that can be adapted to the different requirements of donors. We recommend a 2-year time frame and suggest an omnibus work plan/budget that can be submitted to multiple donors.
Monitoring and evaluation
All donors expect their grantees to measure results, and we help partners do this in a way that does not impose an excessive burden. Our model is built around an online “output tracker” that allows partners to upload data on deliverables regularly to Google Drive, where it can be accessible to donors, partners and auditors. The tracker also generates data for end-of-year reporting, which can be burdensome for community-based organizations (CBOs).
Money
We provide partners with a budget template and ask that they follow this procedure:
a) Identify a point person to handle accounts.
b) Create a budget showing expenses and expected income.
c) Enter expenses in the budget as they occur.
d) Keep physical receipts where possible, for use in the event of an audit.
e) Update income and transfers regularly.
All transfers from AP will be made to the partner’s bank account. We will not make transfers to personal accounts.
Fundraising through AP
We encourage partners to start looking for sources of income as soon as they launch a start-up, with a view to taking over fundraising by year 3. We will help as follows:
a) Provide an initial $1,000 of direct support for start-ups.
b) Donate up to $2,500 in year 2 and help partners to raise funds in two ways.
– First, help partners to post a project page on GlobalGiving which holds three fundraisers a year and offers partners an opportunity to develop their own network of donors. We offer to take on reporting during the first year.
– Second, we post pages for partners on the portal of the World Bank’s Community Connections Campaign (CCC), which matches donations by Bank staff members to charities every November. We also help partners reach out to Bank staff from their nationality.
c) AP will support fundraising by the partner in years 3-5. This can involve identifying new donors; building a database of donors; helping to write proposals; reaching out to potential donors using videos, news bulletins and social media; and helping with reporting.
d) We strongly recommend that partners designate a fundraising point person on their team, so as to ensure eventual self-sufficiency.
AP charges 5% on all funds that we hold in the capacity of a fiscal sponsor, and 10% of all funds raised directly by AP through proposal-writing.
Networking and partnerships
2025 has seen a dramatic fall-off in funding for development and peace-building. This makes it more important than ever that we build synergies with other like-minded organizations, and help partners to do the same, so as to cut costs and attract joint funding. With this in mind, our Board has recommended the following:
a) AP will make a good faith effort to seek partners for all projects.
b) AP’s partners in the Global South should also make a good faith effort to work with others.
c) AP will connect partners who are doing similar work (such as fighting malaria in Uganda and India). In addition to building synergies, this should also improve their chances of raising funds.
d) AP and partners will acknowledge partners on their websites and through social media.
Social media
Social media is an excellent tool for networking and building partnerships, and AP is expanding our use of Linkedin, Instagram/Reels, Facebook, Tiktok, Substack, and Pinterest. (We do not use X). In addition to expanding our outreach, we hope this will build demand for social media and help both organizations to become more proficient in our use of social media.
a) We will ask all partners to designate a team member who is comfortable with social media and will serve as a point person.
b) We will suggest that partners post regularly on at least one platform, allowing us and others to like and share their posts.
c) We will ask all Peace Fellows to support their host’s social media during deployment.
Information products
AP offers several ways for partners to spread their message:
a) Monthly news bulletins through our online news service advocacynet (4,700 subscribers). Our bulletins are opened on average 2,100 times.
b) (Coming in 2026) a quarterly newsletter.
c) Social media.
d) Videos.
e) Blogs by Peace Fellows (weekly) and partners.
f) High quality photos by AP staff, Peace Fellows and partners. We ask partners and Fellows to upload their best photos to our Drive, with captions. We will then post them to the online library Flickr.
g) A new AP website/portal that is expected to go live in the Fall of 2026.
Since 2007 we have offered partners an opportunity to spread their message and earn an income through stitching and embroidery. Our website carries hundreds of embroidered stories and profiles of 80 quilts from 24 countries. We also support an online store (Southern Stitchers) where we sell embroidered products by partners online. In all we support these six different activities:
a) Support training for women and girls in stitching and story-telling. (Participants receive a stipend of $15 for each finished block made during training).
b) Arrange for Northern quilters to assemble the blocks into quilts.
c) Organize quilt exhibitions at major venues and museums.
d) Connect the fiber artists in the South with the Northern quilters.
e) Support start-ups by partners that emerge from stitching and aim to produce social change.
f) Income generation for the story-telling artists through our Sister Artists project; through our online store; and through the sale of woven products like tea towels.
Since 2003 we have deployed over 330 students from the Global North to volunteer with partners under our program Fellows for Peace. Fellows continue to play a key role in helping partners launch start-ups, tell their stories and develop good practice. Our website carries blogs from all past Fellows.
The following sets out the features of our 2026-2027 fellowship program:
a) Given current resources, we expect to recruit between 3 and 6 Fellows in 2026.
b) Recruitment will be driven by demand from partners and Fellows. We will favor applications from students or young professionals who are creative, can improvise, have a deep commitment to the work of the partner, and can flourish in a difficult environment.
c) We will follow US government guidelines in selecting countries, and follow USG protocols to ensure that Fellows are fully prepared, supported in the field and kept safe.
d) Fellows will be deployed for periods of between six weeks and six months, depending on the available resources.
e) Fellowships will be available year-round.
f) Fellows will arrange for their own visas, insurance and medical policy.
g) AP will require a written liability waiver from all Fellows.
h) All Fellows will be required to produce a weekly blog; high quality photos; video footage; and social media posts.
i) Host organizations and Fellows will decide together on the Fellow’s goals and share the work plan to AP.
j) Fellows will communicate with the home base every day for the first 2 weeks and regularly thereafter.
k) The estimated cost of a 10-week fellowship is $5,500. AP will contribute $1,000 for fellowships of 5-7 weeks, and $2,000 for fellowships of 8-10 weeks. Fellows will be expected to cover remaining costs with help from their school. Fellowships of more than 10 weeks will be covered through project funding.
l) Monitoring: Fellows are asked to submit a paragraph about their experience at the end of their fellowship for posting on the AP site. Starting in 2026, AP will also ask Fellows and their hosts to complete a short questionnaire.
AP support
As a general principle, the procedures described on this page will be subject to the resources available to AP and may change accordingly.
AP staff set clear goals for each day’s work and focus on no more than one project/partnership a day. This may mean that partners have to wait longer than expected for follow-up. We ask for your understanding!
AP will make every effort to visit medium and long-term programs in person once a year.
MOU
An MOU will be drawn up between AP and the partner before any transfer of funds is made.
Please direct all questions to DCOffice@advocacynet.org
