Building Nonprofit Advocacy Capacity

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Focus

Description of field

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Select your location

Description of field

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Building Nonprofit Advocacy Capacity is a part-time, free virtual program designed to support US-based organizations working in the public interest – such as nonprofits, direct services providers, or university and research centers – who want to grow the policy and advocacy capabilities of their organization. Participants will learn how to educate and persuade potential partners on policy issues that impact the communities your organization serves, and how to obtain the resources – including staffing – to support having impact in the policy space. This course will include an overview of how to be strategic in advocating for policy changes at your organization with its current staff; and how to bring on additional staff to work on policy change.

Strong applicants will currently work at a US-based nonprofit that is new to thinking about policy impact and advocacy. This course will introduce less experienced policy advocates to a framework for engaging in advocacy, and develop the skills they need to build a policy-focused arm of their organization. We will prioritize admitting registered nonprofit organizations (or individual programs within larger such organizations). If space allows, we will also consider other public interest organizations such as public benefit corporations and unions.

Before applying, please carefully review the details and eligibility below, and review the short course frequently asked questions at the bottom of this page.

Application Deadline
Sunday, November 16, 2025, at 11:59pm PT

Timeline
October 14 – November 16, 2025: Application window is open.

By November 21, 2025: Participants are notified of their acceptance.

December 8-12, 2025: Building Nonprofit Advocacy Capacity runs, with daily sessions from 9 – 11am PT / 12 – 2pm ET.

Eligibility
We are looking for representatives of US-based organizations working in the public interest – such as nonprofits, direct services providers, or university and research centers – with limited prior policy experience that show potential to affect policy and social change. This course is for individuals who want to build their organization’s capacity to do policy and advocacy work.

Because this program is for people who want to impact US policymaking, you must either live or be able to work in the United States. Applicants must be at least 21 years of age and able to commit to 5 daily 2-hour virtual sessions during the course dates.

Organizations that already have full-time policy or advocacy staff will very likely have too much experience for this course. You must be part of a public interest organization to participate. If you are an individual with nonprofit experience but do not currently work at an organization, we encourage you to keep an eye out for future opportunities.

Where and When
This virtual course is scheduled for December 8-12, 2025.

Participants will attend daily 2-hour sessions from 9 – 11am PT / 12 – 2pm ET.

Application Schedule
Admitted applicants will be notified by November 21, 2025.

Apply Now

Short Course FAQs

We will update the following FAQs as we receive additional questions about our program. If your question is not answered here or in the materials above, please contact us.

What is policy?

Great question, and one we will overview during each short course. In general, policy is defined as a “course or principle of action adopted or proposed by an organization or individual.” It is a set of rules that an organization or individual agrees to follow. Both governments and companies (and many other actors) set policies, and those policies have the potential to affect all of our lives.

Who is eligible for short courses?

Our short courses are open to subject-matter experts who are interested in impacting policy but have little prior policy experience. Depending on the topic, each short course may have additional eligibility criteria. Please see the course-specific eligibility criteria above.

For all short courses, applicants need to also meet the following eligibility requirements:

Applicant(s) must be at least 21 years of age by the start of the course.
Applicant(s) must be fluent in English.
Applicant(s) must be able to commit to 5 daily 2-hour virtual sessions during the course dates. You can find the dates for each open course above.
Applicant(s) must either live in the United States or be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident living abroad.

How is policy writing different from writing generally?

We will cover this in-depth in our policy communication short courses. Policy writing is all about successfully convincing a stakeholder to adopt a solution that you propose. In general, policy writing includes an argument and gets to the point faster than academic or creative writing. Policy writing also occurs in unique formats, such as memos and public comments. Policy writing follows a unique set of norms; for example, emails written in the policy world follow different norms than emails written in other professional contexts.

Why is policy writing important?

Writing is the currency of policy communication, so strong writing skills are essential to impacting policy. Our writing short courses will provide participants with a toolkit for effectively communicating with decisionmakers in writing, along with opportunities to practice.

What is the exact timing of each short course?

Short courses typically require daily 2-hour sessions from 8:30am – 10:30am PT / 11:30am – 1:30pm ET. Each course will also require you to complete assignments outside of the daily sessions. You can see the dates and specific details of each course above.

Will the short courses be run in person or remotely?

All short courses will be run remotely.

What is the attendance policy?

Since all of our short courses are run free-of-change, we require that participants abide by our attendance policy to miss no more than 1 hour of programming over the course of the week barring an emergency or medical illness. Participants will also be required to complete assignments outside of class hours.

If participants miss more than 1 hour of programming or do not complete required assignments, they will be required to pay a $500 fee to cover staff time for running the course.

How much does each short course cost?

All of our short courses are free of charge for all participants. However, if you enroll in the course and miss more than the required time or fail to complete required assignments, you will be required to pay a $500 fee to cover staff time for running the course.

Can I continue to work while participating in a short course?

Each short course is part-time (typically daily 2-hour sessions). We expect your full attention and attendance during the sessions, and you will be required to complete assignments outside of class. As long as you are able to fulfill these obligations, we welcome your participation while continuing to work.

I am on a visa. Am I eligible to apply to a short course?

Yes. Because our short courses are for people who want to impact U.S. policymaking, you must either live in the United States now or be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident living abroad. If you are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and will be abroad during the course, you are eligible to apply if you are available to attend the course daily from 8:30am – 10:30am PT / 11:30am – 1:30pm ET.

I am a student/recently graduated. Am I eligible to apply to a short course?

You are able to apply to our short courses as long as you are 21 and meet all the other course-specific criteria listed in the eligibility section of the course(s) you want to apply to, above.

I would like to join a short course to learn more about policy, but I don’t have experience in the course topic. Can I still apply?

Yes, you can still apply but we will prioritize admitting applicants who meet the specific preferred criteria for each course. Each course will have a desired audience with subject-matter expertise in science, technology, AI, nonprofits, or climate. You can review the course-specific eligibility criteria above.

I already have significant policy experience. Am I eligible to apply to a short course?

Short courses provide an introduction to policy work and the policy writing process. Applicants who have significant policy experience (e.g., past experience working in a government policy role) may be too experienced for most of our short courses. If you have a significant policy background, we encourage you to explain in your application how you will benefit from the course you’re applying to. Please note that we may prioritize applicants with less policy experience if the course is oversubscribed.

If you feel you have too much experience to enroll in a short course, we may have opportunities to engage you as a policy mentor or on future in-house projects. Please contact us.

What is the application timeline?

Each course has a different application deadline, which you can see above. Applicants are typically admitted 3-4 weeks before the start of the course.

Aspen Policy Academy