Manager, Donor Communications and Grants Administration

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 7 million children by constructing more than 1,600 schools, establishing over 15,000 libraries, publishing 800 new children’s book titles in 11 local languages, and rewarding over 20,000 girls with long-term, holistic scholarships.

Room to Read has an annual budget of approximately US$43.7 million and our global staff numbers over 500. 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 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:

The Manager, Donor Communications is an integral member of the global Development Department and reports to the Director, Shared Services. This position contributes directly to Room to Read’s ability to grow and implement its programs by producing clear and compelling written communications to raise funds from major donors including corporate and foundation sources, family foundations, individuals and bilateral/multi-lateral funding sources. The focus of the position is to 1) write, develop, and edit major donor communications and written materials—including including but not limited to proposals, reports and marketing materials—and 2) to develop, manage and improve information management and reporting processes for the department.

The Manager, Donor Communications, will work closely with fundraisers and the Marketing department on communications for individual giving, grant writing, cause-marketing and stewardship projects. This position also manages the Donor Communications sub-team consisting of two associates and an analyst. This position liaises regularly with Global Programs staff and remote development offices in Asia, Australia and the United Kingdom with regard to the preparation of content and documentation. This position, along with the three staff members on the Donor Communications sub-team, works to build out and streamline content management, writing, reporting, grants administration, and grant tracking systems.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Contribute to the Development Department’s goal of raising more than $40 million toward Room to Read’s operating budget through the writing of tailored communications pieces for a variety of donors including proposals, concept notes, reports and award applications
• Write letters of intent and concept papers for potential funding opportunities
• Prepare proposals for submission, including assembling all required documentation
• Write and oversee the completion and submission of reports/presentations on existing grants.
• Prepare applications for appropriate awards recognizing the organization for its work.
• Maintain quality control over all proposal and report submissions, ensuring that the information is presented in an accurate and compelling manner
• Work with donor relationship managers and Global Programs staff to manage information, create systems and processes that support timely submission of high quality proposals and reports, and provide succinct and tailored content for a variety of donor audiences
• Work across Room to Read departments (Development, Programs, and Finance) to gather information as needed to ensure accurate presentation of program plans to funders. Responsibilities include determining realistic and measurable goals and objectives for the proposed project, substantiating the need for the program in the community, describing methods and activities for carrying out the program, and explaining evaluation processes.
• Supervise the Donor Communications staff, including two associates and an analyst to oversee tracking of deliverables. For grants, this includes tracking documentation from preparation/submission stage to the grant agreement/payment stage through the reporting/closing stage.
• Supervise associates and analyst to manage and regularly update a Donor Communications calendar and corporate/foundation annual reporting calendar including entering key data related to the “life cycle” grants, preparing reporting templates for each country team to acquire project-specific content, and creating proposal/report writing resources including statistical documents and narratives.
• Work with other development teams to ensure their access to written resources and contribute to information management across the Development Department.
• Serve as the point of contact for nonprofit watchdog agencies such as Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau to keep our profile information up to date while ensuring that Room to Read receives high ratings and is positively represented on agencies’ online platforms. Keep the Development Department and CEO informed of communication with watchdog agencies and their ratings of Room to Read.
• Other duties as necessary

Qualifications:Required:

• Bachelors Degree. Masters Degree in relevant field preferred
• Excellent grant/business writing, research and organizational skills. Experience in information management a plus
• Minimum of 5-7 years relevant work experience in fundraising, nonprofit development, or relevant business experience
• Computer literate in MS Office (specifically Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint)
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English
• Knowledge of donor communications strategies or associated experience writing communications for diverse target audiences
• Knowledge of the grant application process and grant writing experience for various types of funding sources (large/small foundations, corporations, government). Experience writing for funders across diverse geographies a plus.
• Exposure to and/or interest in international development and global education, especially in Asia and Africa
• Prior experience in a fast-paced, growth-oriented global or regional organization
• Prior success working closely and building relationships with diverse groups of people. Experience managing and mentoring direct reports preferred.
• Effectiveness in working or volunteering in a nonprofit organization that is focused on maintaining high quality work and low overhead
• Proven track record of achieving results
• Ability to successfully meet deadlines and work on multiple projects simultaneously
• Legally eligible to work in the United States; no sponsorship provided

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

• Have a passion for our mission and a strong desire to impact an up-and-coming non-profit organization
• Be an innovative and creative thinker – you are not afraid to try something new and inspire 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

Compensation:

Room to Read offers a competitive salary with excellent benefits. Benefits include health, dental, vision, long-term disability insurance, commuter benefits, and a 401K match. 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 the lifelong gift of education.

Application Procedure:

Please send a cover letter with salary expectations and resume by email, with “Donor Comms & Grants Admin Manager” in the subject line (no letters, calls, faxes, or drop-ins) tohiring@roomtoread.org.  Due to high applicant volume you may not receive a response from Room to Read.    

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