Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

We get asked about Advocate a lot. Here are some of the things people want to know. ->

What is Advocate?

Advocate is a software platform that helps nonprofits to coordinate programs.

What does Advocate do?

Advocate connects families & individuals with nonprofit programs powered by direct sponsorship.

What's a Direct Sponsorship?

A direct sponsorship program is one where a family or individual submits a need request & a donor or organization provides money of physical goods to meet that need.

What are some examples of Direct Sponsorship Programs?

Holiday Adopt-a-Family or Giving Tree types of programs, bike drives, holiday food drives, back-to-school programs, diaper banks or care packages for new moms, little league / youth sports equipment sponsorships, utility assistance, rental assistance, and much more!

What kinds of Organizations do you partner with?

At Reciprocity we build software for the public good. That means we work exclusively with organizations that exist to make life better for the communities that we serve. Those partners often include nonprofits, human service agencies, local governments, grassroots organizers and faith organizations. We have a set of community standards that we ask our clients, customers and partners abide by.

What is Reciprocity?

Reciprocity is the company that makes Advocate.

How did you get started? Where did this idea come from?

Here's our Origin Story. Advocate, like many other of our products & projects come from the nonprofits we work with to better serve our communities.

What are the requirements for signing up for Advocate?

You must be a US-based 501c(3) nonprofit committed to serving the public good via direct service to individuals & families in your community, running a direct service / direct sponsorship program. In order to sign up you must also agree to our Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy & Code of Conduct.

Why all the Requirements?

We could probably make more money in the short-run by cutting corners, but because we are building for the public good, values like trust, safety, empathy, and quality of service are a high priority. We'd rather a smaller number of organizations subscribe, but have everyone in the network doing good work than to have to constantly monitor for bad-faith actors.

How do I do [fill in the blank] on Advocate?

We prepared this handy documentation site to answer those questions.

Please see the left menu bar for instructions on how to navigate each function within Advocate.

How do Items, Item Templates, Wishlists, Household Wishlists, Program Level and Invididual Donations relate to eachother in Advocate?

See this handy quick reference guide here.

I have a question you didn't think of! How do I ask it?

Please write us, we love hearing from our enthusiastic collaborators. There's more that we don't know than we know, and more work ahead of us than behind us. We have a feedback form here: