Overview

The Business Development Manager (Fundraising & Donor Relations) is responsible for initiating and ensuring follow-up to potential donors across the private sector, private philanthropies, high-net worth individuals, and other donors without prior solicitation. This role involves crafting compelling pitches, cultivating relationships, and following up with concrete proposals to secure support to the organization’s merged strategy. The Business Development Manager (Fundraising & Donor Relations) implements and develops commercial and strategic relationships with partners in alignment with the organizations mission, contributing significantly to the organization's fundraising efforts and long-term sustainability.

Duties and responsibilities

Donor acquisition and relationship development:

•  Actively identify and pursue new prospective donors across philanthropy, private sector, and multilateral funders to expand the organization's donor base and revenue.


•  Ensure regular risk management processes are adhered to (private sector due diligence and Environmental Social Safeguards).


•  Initiate and negotiate the development of MoU’s and partnership agreements in close collaboration with PMU.

Develop tailored outreach material:

• Create compelling pitches, presentation, concepts in coordination with COE, RM and CEO office to effectively tailor and communicate the organizations work to prospective donors.

 Implement and refine the unsolicited fundraising strategy:

• Develop and implement tailored fundraising strategies with a broad base of internal colleagues to solicit support from diverse donor segments and continuously elevate the organizations proficiency and strategy in unsolicited fundraising.


• Engage with relevant colleagues to organize, execute and analyze outreach efforts.

Initiate high-quality proposal development and learning:

• Initiate effective proposal development processes within RM and with research themes and staff to maximize income generation from new engagements.


• Foster a culture of continuous improvement by integrating collective learning and feedback into unsolicited proposal development efforts.


• Negotiate, manage proposals to completion with a focus on large-scale funding to cross-institutional work contributing to strategic objectives. 

Collaborate and contribute to the RM team and CEO Office goals:

• Work closely within teams to support strategic analysis, donor trends, and reporting to the Senior Leadership Team, Management Group and the Board of Trustees.


• Participate in regular team meetings to generate collective alignment.

Education, knowledge and experience

• Advanced degree in relevant field, including but not limited to, Environmental Sciences or Management, Agricultural Development, International Relations, and/or Development Studies.


• A Minimum 10 years’ experience in donor relations and fundraising with a proven track record of raising substantial funds for international organizations, UN agencies, and/or international non-governmental organizations.


• Proven experience with project management and proposal development in a research organization context.


• Demonstrated ability in diplomatic and tactful donor relationship management.