Fundraising & Communications Associate, Mumbai

Room to Read seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments, we develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond.

We are non-governmental, non-religious and work with many local NGOs and community based organizations to implement our programs. We currently work in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Zambia – countries with a desperate lack of resources to educate their children. Since our inception, Room to Read’s worldwide team has impacted over 6 million children by constructing more than 1,500 schools, establishing over 13,000 libraries, publishing 700 new children’s book titles in 11 local languages, and rewarding over 16,000 girls with long-term, holistic scholarships.

Room to Read has an annual budget of approximately US$44 million and our global staff numbers over 600. Our global headquarters is located in San Francisco, and we have smaller fundraising offices in Delhi, New York, Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, Sydney, and Tokyo. We have an Asia Regional Office located in New Delhi, a Southern Africa Regional Office in Pretoria, and program offices in Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Dhaka, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Kathmandu, Lusaka, New Delhi, Pretoria, Phnom Penh, and Vientiane.

Position Overview:

This newly created full-time position is part of our Mumbai based fundraising team that focuses on raising funds for our work in India and helping to implement a national communications strategy. The Fundraising & Communications Associate, Mumbai is responsible for supporting the day to day administration for the Mumbai office, being a team player in working with Room to Read’s Mumbai chapter and working with a small portfolio of donors in India. The responsibilities of this position will include, but are not limited to, planning events, supporting media campaigns, supporting corporate and foundation grants, managing the local network of Room to Read volunteers and coordinating efforts around local public relations and communications, managing mailings and running the office. This position will work closely with the chapter leaders in India, the India country office based in Delhi, as well as the Corporate & Foundation team based in San Francisco.  This position will directly report to the Fundraising & Communications Officer, based in Delhi.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Fundraising:

• Raise $50,000+ by managing a portfolio of existing and new donors, working with Room to Read’s Mumbai chapter
• Liaise with other chapters that are forming around the country (Delhi, Bangalore, etc.)  to support chapter growth in India, providing Chapters with the materials and information they need to be successful
• Support corporate and foundation grants by liaising with the corporate and foundation team based in San Francisco as needed and ensuring that the Corporate and Foundations Officer has support for grant-writing, grant-tracking and reporting
• Support Major Gifts Officer, Mumbai and Corporate and Foundations Officer, Mumbai with preparing materials for meetings, supporting the communication strategy for donors, database administration etc. and the day to day operations of the fundraising team
• Cultivate new donors through introductions from the Room to Read network and proactively research new prospects and leads
• Update and manage records of mailings and implement donor communication strategy
• Conduct and coordinate post-event follow-up as needed, including but not limited to auction follow-up, thank you notes, phone calls and meetings
• Coordinate with Global Fundraising Team staff as necessary to implement Global Fundraising Team processes in the India context, including maintenance of our global databases

Marketing and Communications:

• Support country teams in report writing to external stakeholders and collection of stories from the field as needed
• Respond to inquiries from stakeholders that have contacted Room to Read through various outlets
• Lead effort in our social media efforts and outreach in India, as needed and under direction of the Fundraising and Communications Officer
• Maintain and update our marketing materials and relevant pages on the Room to Read website
• Research India-specific marketing opportunities that the organization might like to engage
• Support Fundraising and Communications Officer on Marketing and Communications duties as needed

Site Visits and Treks:

• In coordination with the appropriate Room to Read team members, help plan and conduct site visits of donors, potential donors, government agencies, media and others
• Conduct on-boarding and on-going trainings for India Country Office colleagues on site visit processes, guidelines and expectations
• Coordinate and implement Trek for Literacy trips for High Net Worth donors and other strategic groups; planning duties include creating itineraries, budgets, and managing logistics

• Work in collaboration with the International Program Operations team in San Francisco to develop site visit related processes and forms based on feedback and growth

General:

• Administrative functions to support the Mumbai Development Office as needed

Qualifications:

Required:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English
• Bachelors degree
• 3-5  years general work experience in a fast-paced, growth-oriented organisation
• Adept at using Microsoft Office
• Prior success working closely and building relationships with volunteers and diverse groups of people
• Effectiveness in working or volunteering in a non-profit organisation that is focused on maintaining high quality work and low overhead
• Proven track record of achieving results
• Ability to juggle multiple priorities simultaneously and take initiative
• Legally eligible to work in India no sponsorship provided

Preferred:

• Fundraising or client services experience
• Prior success in working closely with media outlets and on media campaigns
• Experience working with databases, specifically Raiser's Edge
• Experience in working for global organisations

To be successful as a member of the Room to Read team, you will also:

• Have passion for our mission and a strong desire to impact a dynamic nonprofit organization
• Be an innovative and creative thinker that tries new things and inspires others to do so
• Have a very high level of personal and professional integrity and trustworthiness
• Have a strong work ethic and require minimal direction
• Work well independently as well as part of a team
• Thrive in a fast-paced and fun environment

Remuneration:

Room to Read offers a competitive salary with excellent benefits. The non-monetary compensation includes a unique opportunity to be part of an innovative, meaningful, fun, and rapidly growing organization that is changing the world through literacy and gender equality in education.

Application Procedure:

Please send a cover letter and resume by email, with “Fundraising & Communications Associate, Mumbai” in the subject line, (no letters, calls, faxes, or drop-ins) tohiring@roomtoread.org.  Due to high applicant volume, we regret that we cannot send all applicants personalized responses.  Applications are accepted until the position is filled.

Room to Read is an equal opportunity employer committed to identifying and developing
the skills and leadership of people from diverse backgrounds.