Every engagement starts with a conversation — about what you are working on, where you are in the process, and what kind of support would actually move things forward. From there, we work together to shape an approach that fits the initiative and the people it’s designed to serve.
When Organizations Typically Connect
Organizations often reach out at the moments when design decisions matter most — before structural patterns get locked in, or when existing ones are no longer serving the communities a program was built for.
Common entry points include:
- Preparing a proposal for a complex, multi-partner funding opportunity
- Launching or scaling an initiative that must function across diverse communities and settings
- Recognizing that outreach and messaging are not closing the participation gap — and that the gap may be structural
- Coordinating work across multiple partners, sectors, or countries where alignment is critical to success
- Reviewing an active program to identify where design decisions may be creating unnecessary burden or limiting reach
- Building community trust and stakeholder ownership into an initiative from the start — not after the fact
This list reflects common entry points, not a checklist. If you’re working on something that feels related but doesn’t fit neatly — that’s often exactly the right moment to connect.
How Engagements Are Structured
Engagements are designed to fit the partner and the stage of the work — not the other way around.
Project-Based A defined scope with a clear beginning and end. Proposal development, stakeholder convening, program design, or systems review. Most common entry point for new partnerships.
Retainer and Ongoing Advisory Sustained strategic support over time — staying engaged across phases, providing continuity as an initiative moves from design through implementation and refinement.
Embedded within Funded Initiatives A defined senior advisory or design lead role written into the proposal budget. This model keeps Choate Advisory involved through implementation, not just at the proposal stage.
Engagements may combine elements of all three, and scope is defined collaboratively based on what the work actually requires.
The goal is not to add complexity. It is to reduce it — aligning stakeholders, simplifying systems, and building the ownership structures that allow initiatives to sustain themselves.
Equitable design can be significantly more efficient — removing barriers at the design stage reduces the need for repeated outreach, rework, and the trust-rebuilding that becomes necessary when communities are brought in after decisions are already made.
Equity-Aligned Options
For nonprofits, NGOs, and global health organizations working with limited budgets, equity-aligned engagement options are available. These are not discounted services. They are the same quality of work, structured differently — because access to high-quality strategic design support should not itself be conditional on having resources to pay for it upfront.
A sliding scale makes initial support accessible. Costs beyond what that contribution covers are recovered if and when funding is awarded, through a defined role built into the proposal budget.
One Principle Runs Through Everything
The goal is always to work toward handoff — building the ownership structures, relationships, and systems that allow communities and partners to lead once outside support steps back. If a program still requires an outside advisor to function once the work is done, it was not designed for sustainability from the start.
Ready to Start a Conversation?
Whether you have a specific opportunity in mind or are still figuring out what kind of support would help most, the best next step is a conversation.
Want to share this with your team?
Download a concise overview of Choate Advisory’s services and approach.
An Overview of the Work (PDF): Services, the Equity by Design™ framework, and how engagements are structured.
Proposal Development & Funding Strategy (PDF): How Choate Advisory supports proposal development — engagement models, examples, and what working together looks like.
Choate Advisory 