The JDP works in two different ways. The first way that we work is through foundation grants sought for by and given directly to the JDP. When we receive foundation support to work in a region, we determine the universities and research institutions that will benefit from JDP support, often with the help of the funding foundation and knowledgeable advisors. The number of institutions selected depends on the amount of available support and the available donations. The grant support enables us to purchase highly discounted subscriptions for the libraries. Some subscriptions to requested journals are given to the JDP as donations by the publishers. Libraries continue to receive subscriptions that are donated by the publishers, even after the funding ends.

The JDP works in many regions across the world and is continually looking for new sources of funding to expand our reach. JDP has worked in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bashkortostan, Belarus, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burma, Cambodia, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Ghana, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Nigeria, Palestine, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Yugoslavia. 

The second way we work is to offer libraries the opportunity to take advantage of our very deep discounts (over 50 percent) by purchasing journals directly through the JDP. When we work in this way, institutions are required to provide the JDP with a modest administrative fee, 20 percent of the total discounted subscription costs, in order to cover a portion of the costs we incur. If interested, these institutions also receive subscriptions to journals that are donated by the publishers to the Project.