New Opportunity: #FundHerNow

Calling all Digital Ambassadors and Changemakers! Tell us, what happens when women are funded to create change?

As authoritarianism rises and international aid budgets are cut, frontline communities and women-led movements are left with even fewer resources to sustain critical work making progress toward gender equity and other pressing local and global problems.

Already, women-led movements and organizations receive less than 1% of global development assistance despite their proven track records. Yet, women continue to lead change work, proving that we hold the answers to many of the complex issues our communities face if only we received the funding and support we need.

Building on calls from our recent #ShiftThePower campaign and report, it is now even more urgent to explore new and alternative solutions that shift power and put more funding in the hands of women.

World Pulse wants to hear from Digital Ambassadors and Featured Changemakers: Tell us your stories to illustrate what happens when women receive the funding needed to make change happen in the world. You can share your personal experiences — positive and negative! — as well as insights and ideas for flipping the script on philanthropy.

To participate, you can write your story, upload a video or audio clip, or share an artistic expression. Be sure to tag your post with #FundHerNow. Eligible submissions could receive a Story Award, which includes a $300 USD honorarium.

Need inspiration? Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Have you ever received funding that made a difference for your change work? What made it different from other funding experiences?
• Have you been impacted by recent funding cuts to international aid, lack of funding, and/or difficulty securing funding for your change work? Tell us about your experience. 
• Think back to a moment when funding (or lack of it) for your change work impacted you. What happened? What did you learn from the experience?
• Women often work for free or with minimal funding to achieve change. Why is it important to fund women? Why now? Share why it matters for you and examples from your own work. 
• Write a letter to a donor. If you could speak directly to someone with the power to fund your change work, what would you tell them? What do you wish they understood?
• Women-led movements require large financial investments. But sometimes, seemingly small amounts of money can have huge ripple effects. If you had $300, $500, or even $1,000 right now for your change work, how would you use it? What difference would it make?
• Have you ever faced frustrating restrictions on funding? Tell us about a time when you had the vision but not the freedom to use the funds in the way your community needed.
• Who has supported your work in ways beyond money? Sometimes resources come in unexpected ways—tell us about a moment when support, encouragement, or a different kind of investment made a difference to your efforts.
• Tell us about a time you kept your work going despite a lack of traditional funding. What creative solutions, community support, or unexpected resources helped you sustain your impact?
• Can you think of alternative ways of organizing and funding development work? What examples of this do you see in and beyond your community (e.g., mutual aid, El Cambalache, feminist economic recovery plans, circular economies, sumak kawsay, buen vivir)?
• If you could design a funding process that truly worked for and sustained women-led movements, what would it look like? Describe your dream funding model or experience. 

Ready? Share your story today.

This call for stories is part of a research project led by World Pulse’s Research and Evaluation Group (REG). They are supported in this effort by Jasmine R. Linabary, Ph.D. (University of Arizona), Meghana Rawat, Ph.D. (Utah Valley University), and Danielle Corple, Ph.D. (Wheaton College). Stories received by 10 March 2025 may be highlighted in our International Women’s Day Event. Stories will continue to be accepted through 30 April 2025 for consideration for Story Awards and may be highlighted in reports and advocacy efforts.