ABOUT PACIFIC FEMINIST FUND (PFF)
The Pacific Feminist Fund is for and by Pacific feminists and the Pacific feminist movement, responding to needs as defined by them. We deliver swift, responsive and impactful support and we advocate transforming the broader funding landscape so that more resources can reach Pacific changemakers at the frontlines. We are focused on building wealth and resources for feminist, women and gender nonconforming human rights defenders’ movements in the Pacific. We will explore the world of gender lens investment to create our investment portfolio.
OUR VISION
Our vision is that Pacific women, girls and people of gender non-conforming Pacific identities in all their diversity, advance their human rights and gender equality achievements in a time of climate crisis. Our key strategies include:
- Grantmaking and accompaniment to support and amplify the work of Pacific women, girls and people of gender non-conforming Pacific identities in all their diversity.
- Cultivating Pacific feminist practice to nourish Pacific ways of being, knowing and doing–including governance, organisational development, learning and accountability, influencing, grantmaking and accompaniment practices.
- Influencing and disrupting the funding ecosystem in the Pacific to increase the flow of flexible resources to women’s groups and feminist movements in the region.
As part of our efforts to increase our visibility and access to defenders, we are in the process of ramping up our communications, so that it capably supports our grantmaking, knowledge-generation, and resource mobilisation efforts. A key initiative towards realising this aim is the design of our website – to better reflect who we are and what we support, how we do it, and how to access our support networks and knowledge products.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
PFF is inviting proposals for a team of feminist web designers and developers in the Pacific and Asia region to collaboratively ideate on, design and build a fully functional website that:
- Features a layout that prioritises clear messaging, best practices for digital safety, and accessibility for marginalised persons, such as non-English speaking defenders, and activists with disabilities, who are among our constituents.
- Effectively showcases our work, including our grant-making and an overall ecosystem of support not limited to financial grants.
- Communicates to the grantees, potential grantees, and external audiences the work that PFF does and our feminist principles of partnership and collaboration. Our audiences include Pacific women, girls and gender non- conforming activists, such as those involved in grassroots work, persons with disabilities/disability rights activists, climate justice activists/workers, and other activists.
- Serves as a repository of resources and knowledge products emerging from our work in the Pacific.
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR IN OUR WEBSITE?
- Flexible content and layout to accommodate translation into 1 language with the potential to increase languages year on year.
- Accessibility elements that respect the navigation requirements of people with disabilities. While the focus will be on barrier-free readability, our website should also have simple signposting, accessible text and instructions on all forms, and accessible sub-heading and spacing.
- Optmised performance with short loading times and compatibility with multiple browsers and devices (especially with respect to the Pacific region we work in).
- Robust digital safety settings that will reflect and build upon our privacy and confidentiality policies, including any payment gateways.
- SEO-optimisation and data analytics on the backend, so that PFF can track insights related to visibility, especially of its author-backed blog posts.
- A Content Management System (CMS) that is easy to update by PFF personnel Easily accessible ‘call to action’ buttons, downloads, sign-ups, and multimedia resources. Also, visible social media presence of PFF.
- Develop an Internet Payment Gateway that will allow PFF to receive donations. We require strong security protocols and firewall add ons.
- A visually appealing landing page that displays more dynamic content such as new blogs, catchy project updates, latest publications and recent achievements, and social media activities in a more intuitive manner.
- Design website in accordance with PFF’s brand guidelines including colour pantones.
- A site that supports tools such as AI enhanced chat functionality for real-time support.
- User friendly – easy to use.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND WEBSITE LEGACY
As part of our commitment to documenting and safeguarding feminist ‘herstory’ of the region, the selected candidate will be expected to contribute strategically to the knowledge management vision for the PFF website. Applicants are invited to present their experience and ideas for ensuring the website’s role as a long-term repository of feminist stories, updates, reports, and collective learnings.
Key considerations include:
- Proposals for how website content (e.g. event updates, reports, stories, outcomes) should be archived over time to support institutional memory and intergenerational learning.
- Mechanisms for content ageing, including how older content might be curated, preserved, or transitioned (e.g. into archives or knowledge hubs) without being lost.
- Suggestions for building and sustaining the long-term ‘herstory’ of PFF through thoughtful design, metadata, tagging, archiving practices, and future-proof content strategy.
- Practical strategies to ensure digital sustainability and accessibility of content across the life of the website (and beyond individual program cycles).
This component stems from lessons learned from other long-term feminist programs, where weak archiving hindered reflection, knowledge sharing, and visibility over time.
THE APPROACH WE SEEK
We believe in a feminist design approach that aligns with feminist principles of web design and development. We are looking for a design and development process that:
- Centres accessibility.
- Holds privacy and safety as priority.
- Has an inclusive and representative design.
- Advocates for open-source tools and technologies while democratising knowledge.
- Follows ecofeminist digital principles and advocates for ecologically just and digitally sustainable formats.
- Is intersectional and based in perspectives and experiences from the Pacific and Asia.
- Centres care about its design and is adaptable to crises.
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR IN A WEB DEVELOPER?
PFF requires a well-thought-out proposal that addresses the following key requirements:
- Background and experience of the members of your design team, highlighting any specific experience with website development for women’s rights, human rights, or social justice projects or organisations, backed by examples (at least 3).
- Examples (more than 1) of graphics design/branding and suggestions on how to incorporate translations for key parts of the content in multiple languages.
- A detailed note on how you would incorporate elements of accessibility to ensure easy website navigation for multiple kinds of disabilities.
- A note on digital safety features highlighting your experience in building secure and confidential website features.
- A timeline detailing each development phase: A plan on how you would engage PFF Co Leads, Board members team and community at each step of the process. A detailed breakdown of the proposed budget specifying costs for design, development, security features, translations and post-launch support Descriptions and bios of members on the team and the experience and expertise they will bring on board.
ASSESSMENT CONSIDERATIONS
- We encourage teams with prior experience in working with non-profit organisations/funds, especially with organisations focused on women and non-binary persons, to apply.
- Applications from teams that are either led by women or non-binary persons, or whose composition and decision-making includes women and non-binary persons, will be prioritised.
- Applications from persons/teams based in the Pacific and Asia region will be prioritised.
HOW TO APPLY AND TIMELINES
Please send your proposal to applications@pacfemfund.org with the subject line “Proposal for Website Design and Development” by 16 May 2025. The proposal must include:
- A cover letter introducing your team and its motivation for applying.
- A comprehensive proposal addressing all key requirements outlined above.
- Portfolio links to previous work relevant to this project. Contact details for two references from previous clients.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 16 MAY 2025
