Post-graduate fellowships provide a unique opportunity to create your ideal job and provide guaranteed funding for a one or two-year period following graduation.  Fellows have made great strides in public service and have an incredible impact in the communities they serve.  Fellowship programs can also serve as a launching pad to a long-term public interest career as a significant percentage of fellows remain in the field after the fellowship period ends.  The two best known fellowship programs are Equal Justice Works and Skadden.  Many non-profit organizations seek out candidates to apply to these and other funding organizations.  Most organizations who are volunteering to sponsor a fellowship candidate will set their deadlines in July in order to give them and you time to develop an application packet.  The information the sponsor will need is very similar to, but doesn't need to be quite as detailed at this stage, as the fellowship application materials. Therefore, before contacting one of these sponsors, it is a good idea to have your project idea fully developed so that they can add input and evaluate your candidacy.