Interested in starting an affiliate?

Are you looking to bring a Dress for Success affiliate to a community near you?

Please click here to see if we are already operating in your area. We hope you will get involved locally if there is already a Dress for Success affiliate in a neighborhood near you since we are unable to accept applications if there is one in the region.

If you do not have a Dress for Success a location near you and you are interested in learning more about starting one, please be sure to read about our affiliate model below.

The current application cycle is closed.  Please check back again in 2024, when we will open the next one.

What is an affiliate?

An affiliate is a community-level non-profit that serves a specific area and fulfills the Dress for Success mission locally. Each affiliate is independent and responsible for its own fundraising efforts, programs, referral agency relationships, volunteers and so on.

Affiliates are formed by individuals or an organization who want to support women in their communities. Having identified regional needs and resources, they determined that Dress for Success programs would benefit their areas.

To date, we have Dress for Success sites in 141 cities and 24 countries, including organizations in the United States, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Central and South America, Asia, Africa and Jamaica.

What is Dress for Success Worldwide?

The Worldwide office oversees and provides support to our global affiliate network.  Worldwide also focuses on strengthening and promoting the Dress for Success brand across the world, including developing relationships with corporations, media and other sponsors.

Please click here for more information about Dress for Success Worldwide.

What should you consider before starting an affiliate?

Starting a Dress for Success is an exciting and rewarding experience but also a serious endeavor.  You would become a valued member of an internationally-renowned non-profit organization, gaining access to a wide variety of resources, expertise and support from Dress for Success Worldwide and affiliates around the world.

A few things to bear in mind as you consider whether to pursue this project further:

• You must be passionate and committed to our mission.
• Opening an affiliate requires large amounts of time and energy, something for which founders must be prepared.
• Starting a non-profit also requires funding.  The Worldwide office does not provide seed money nor we can offers estimates of what local expenses might be for a new affiliate; budgets vary based on local communities, resources and currencies.
• You must have the ability to carry out different elements of the start-up process including legal, financial and fundraising tasks.
• Familiarizing yourself with the affiliate locations nearest you–and any other similar organizations in your community–is important.  We will consider your proximity to other affiliates and the size of the population you wish to serve.
• You will need to obtain equipment and a suitable space for your affiliate, secure funding from a diverse array of sources to cover costs, recruit a reliable board of directors and volunteers, build relationships with referral agencies, generate coverage in the press, establish accounting and inventory tracking systems, begin collecting clothing, launch programs and much, much more.

Benefits and responsibilities

Affiliates enjoy many advantages as part of our network yet also have a number of shared responsibilities.

All affiliates:

• are separately incorporated non-profits that have their own boards of directors and raise their own funds. Affiliates are independent from each other and from Dress for Success Worldwide;
• provide business attire and support services to disadvantaged women seeking employment by referral from agencies with job training programs;
• are members of Dress for Success Worldwide and therefore must pay an annual licensing fee of $515 USD and abide by trademark and membership agreements and policy guides; and
• have the right to use the name “Dress for Success” as approved by Dress for Success Worldwide.

There are significant benefits to being part of the Dress for Success network:

• Joining Dress for Success means becoming aligned with a well-respected non-profit that for 25 years has established an excellent reputation among the women we serve, volunteers, donors and the global corporate community.
• You will be part of global organization and will have an identity—a logo, brand and mission—that is both recognized and esteemed throughout the world.
• Membership—and the benefits associated with it—is free.  Affiliates pay only a licensing fee each year.
• You will have access to—and can benefit from—materials, best practices and programs that have proven successful in other locations.
• Colleagues from affiliates around the world will support you and lend their expertise and experience any time that you need assistance.
• You will have free space on the highly visible Dress for Success website. Each year, more than 1.3 million people access the site.
• Cause-marketing campaigns with prominent and well-known companies benefit all affiliates by increasing awareness about the organization.
• Affiliates also can leverage the relationships that Dress for Success Worldwide builds with national and international corporations to establish partnerships on the local level.
• Dress for Success Worldwide hosts a leadership conference that provides the opportunity for affiliates from around the world to network with each other and to share information and ideas.
• Additional resources—databases, internal communication portals—are available to affiliates to encourage communication among the network and the sharing of best practices.
• You will be supported by a full-time professional staff at Dress for Success Worldwide in New York, people with extensive experience in fundraising, public relations, non-profit management and law. We are here for the explicit purpose of supporting our affiliates and strengthening the Dress for Success brand.

The next application window will open in the first half of 2024.  Please check back at that time for more information and to submit a request.

Frequently Asked Questions

When will Dress for Success Worldwide accept application requests?
The next cycle will begin in the first half of 2024.

Does Dress for Success Worldwide provide start-up funds?
No. Each affiliate is a separately incorporated non-profit. Therefore, each location is expected to raise all of funding needed for its launch and operations.

How will I be paid? And how much?
Dress for Success Worldwide does not provide salaries to affiliates. In most cases, founders and executive directors of new affiliates receive no compensation during the first two years of operations.

Can I visit another Dress for Success location before I decide if I want to submit an application?
We ask that prospective candidates not contact existing affiliates but rather to reach out to Dress for Success Worldwide for information. Once approved, however, the entire affiliate network is there to support each new location!

Do I have to have non-profit experience?
Of course it’s helpful, but it’s absolutely not required.  You will not be penalized if you do not have a background in the non-profit sector.  Obviously, this type of experience is valuable in the start-up period.  Founders often supplement their own knowledge by recruiting start-up committee members who have worked in a similar organization previously and who can provide assistance in relevant areas.