Advocate guide

An advocate is an independent supporter of the organisation presenting at an event. It is someone who is neither a paid staff member, nor a family member of that organisation, but someone who has first hand knowledge of the organisation’s work. An advocate might be a voluntary board member, a previous funder, or even a beneficiary.

In the application stage, the advocate provides their contact details and a short written testimonial endorsing the applying organisation. If the organisation applying is selected, then the advocate plays an important supporting role at the TFN event:

Guests arrive at TFN events about 5.30 and are served food and drinks before the presentations. Presenters and their advocates use this time to meet guests and discuss their work. After drinks the advocate sits in the audience just like everyone else, while each presenter pitches for 6 minutes and has a Q&A session with the audience. Once all have finished, the presenters are asked to leave the room temporarily.

At this point each advocate is invited in turn by the MC to stand at their seat and kick-off the pledging session by making the first pledge of $300 or more. They are also able to speak for one-minute max in support of the organisation, similar to their statement on the application form. This provides independent advocacy and credibility to the audience

What to speak about as an advocate:

Advocates only have one-minute max to speak. You can really only make a single statement in that time and we encourage you not to cover any more. In our experience, focusing on one of the following is the best way to achieve maximum impact:

To discuss your role as an advocate, contact Lauren Tuck, lauren.tuck@thefundingnetwork.com.au