Volunteer: Build Fundraising Strategy and Launch Plan

About the role

Platform Justice is seeking an experienced nonprofit fundraising professional to conduct a fundraising readiness assessment and help determine what must be strengthened before pursuing significant institutional and individual funding.

Over the past year, the volunteer team has developed Platform Justice’s organizational foundation, program concepts, website, impact deck, and early-stage technology and research initiatives. The organization is now preparing to transition from volunteer-led development into a sustainable, funded organization.

The volunteer will review existing fundraising materials, organizational positioning, internal capacity, and systems to identify key gaps affecting fundability. The project will assess:

• The clarity and strength of the mission, programs, and theory of impact
• The current impact deck and organizational narrative
• Whether programs are clearly defined and fundable
• Readiness to approach foundations, major donors, and institutional partners
• The strength of the current case for support
• The proposed budget and funding needs
• Internal capacity to manage fundraising, donor relationships, grants, and reporting
• Governance, measurement, documentation, or organizational gaps
• Which fundraising materials and systems should be developed next

The primary deliverable will be a written fundraising readiness assessment identifying strengths, gaps, priorities, and recommended next steps. A prioritized action plan will distinguish immediate tasks, short-term improvements, and longer-term goals after initial funding is secured.

Responsibilities

• Review existing fundraising materials, organizational positioning, and internal systems
• Assess mission clarity, program fundability, and theory of impact
• Evaluate the impact deck, organizational narrative, and case for support
• Identify gaps in governance, measurement, and documentation
• Develop a written fundraising readiness assessment with actionable recommendations
• Create a prioritized action plan for immediate, short-term, and long-term next steps

About Platform Justice

Platform Justice exists to make the harms caused by powerful digital platforms visible, understandable, and actionable. Workers, consumers, hosts, small businesses, and other platform users often face unfair fees, unexplained account suspensions, unsafe working conditions, algorithmic discrimination, and inaccessible appeals processes. These experiences are usually handled as isolated complaints, leaving affected people without meaningful support and preventing broader systemic awareness.

The organization develops tools and initiatives—including harm documentation, community reporting, public education, research, and resources for workers and consumers—to identify systemic problems and strengthen accountability across the digital economy. A sustainable fundraising strategy is essential to achieving this mission.

Over the past year, volunteers have built the organizational foundation, program concepts, impact deck, communications materials, and early-stage tools. However, volunteer labor alone cannot sustain the level of research, technology development, community engagement, verification, and coordination required to serve affected communities responsibly.

This project will help secure the resources needed to transition from planning and volunteer-led development into consistent public service, including:

• Strengthening and launching tools to document platform harms
• Responsibly collecting and analyzing reports of platform harm
• Publishing useful findings and creating accessible resources
• Supporting community participation and collective action
• Building partnerships with journalists, advocates, researchers, and policymakers
• Transitioning critical organizational roles from unpaid volunteer work into paid positions

Impact of this project

The volunteer’s expertise will help create the financial foundation for Platform Justice to:

• Provide a trusted place for workers and consumers to document their experiences
• Identify recurring patterns that individual complaint systems may conceal
• Produce research and public-interest information to support advocacy and policy reform
• Connect affected communities with practical resources and opportunities for collective action
• Build technology that serves the public rather than reinforcing platform power

Organizational readiness

Platform Justice has spent the past year building its mission, programs, volunteer team, and organizational foundation. Core program concepts include public-interest tools and initiatives focused on documenting platform harms, supporting workers and consumers, and increasing accountability within the digital economy.

An active group of volunteers contributes across research, communications, product development, and community engagement. The organization has prepared an impact deck explaining its mission, the harms addressed, proposed tools and programs, target communities, and the broader public-interest need.

The founder will serve as the primary point of contact, providing background information, making decisions, attending meetings, and completing follow-up tasks. The team is prepared to collaborate on clarifying the case for support, strengthening the organizational narrative, identifying funding prospects, and establishing a practical fundraising system.

Recommendations will be actively implemented, with clear responsibilities assigned for prospect research, proposal preparation, donor outreach, relationship tracking, and follow-up. The project outcomes will guide a shared fundraising calendar, prospect pipeline, and future grant and donor communications.