Fundraising Officer at Futurelect

Futurelect is seeking an experienced, dynamic and highly driven Fundraising Officer to join our growing team. The Fundraising Officer will use their expert communication skills and initiative to identify fundraising opportunities, develop and maintain relationships with current and potential donors, and manage Futurelect’s fundraising campaigns.

By coordinating events, writing proposals, as well as tracking and managing grant applications, payments and reporting, the Fundraising Officer will support the Finance & Fundraising Manager to develop strategies that will bring in revenue, as well as strengthen and deploy the financial management systems and processes necessary to support Futurelect’s growing public leadership and civic education programme offering.

The ideal candidate will be motivated, professional, and organised and have excellent research and writing skills. We are looking for someone who believes in Futurelect’s mission and has exceptional drive for furthering our existing fundraising efforts, as well as building strategies for and delivering on new ones.

Reporting directly to Futurelect’s Finance & Fundraising Manager, you will have both internal and external-facing responsibilities, gaining insights into a breadth of activities across the organisation, while also learning about the day-to-day principles of running a growing, pan-African non-profit organisation. Working with a variety of teams – including Communications, Finance, Events Planning, and Programmes, you will conduct research, draft funding proposals, reports and presentations, and support the communications team in producing leaflets and multi-media materials which communicate Futurelect’s mission and impact to prospective funders, partners and other stakeholders.

About Futurelect

Futurelect is an independent, non-profit organisation established in 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Our mission is to make the public service work better for more people throughout the African continent by supporting a new generation of ethical civic, political and government leaders.

To achieve this, Futurelect designs and delivers a series of non-partisan, intensive and interdisciplinary leadership development, and training programmes to diverse groups of ethical and innovative leaders annually – particularly young people and women – in order to prepare them for leadership in the public service.

Women and young people are often limited to participating in political life as voters rather than as elected representatives. We seek to stimulate the creation of a new generation of political insiders from typically marginalised groups in African societies.

Futurelect also supports those who will elect our leaders in the future. We want to empower vibrant and engaged electorates with the knowledge necessary to participate energetically in civic and democratic processes and hold their elected leaders to account both at the ballot and in-between elections.

Role & Responsibilities

Fundraising:
Support the CEO and Finance & Fundraising Manager in executing a multi-year fundraising strategy;

Coordinate the implementation and monitoring of regular funding drives in partnership with the special projects, programmes and the communications teams;

Support the Finance & Fundraising Manager in developing and implementing a revenue strategy through programme partnerships;

Identify potential funders and execute an engagement strategy with both new and existing funders;

Arrange and attend fundraising meetings, programme and operational benchmarking sessions and review processes with grantors;

Maintain a database of new, existing and prospective funders; monitor and update funder communications, meetings and engagements and keep up-to-date records of donor and funder reporting and deadlines;

Keep abreast with trends in the philanthropic sector;

Support the communications team in the arrangement of major fundraising events, including planning thematic areas, selecting venues, engaging event and logistics staff, and developing a marketing plan for attendance and participation;

Effectively convey Futurelect’s mission, vision, and programs to potential donors and funders;

Coordinate the implementation and monitoring of regular funding drives in partnership with the communications team.

Research:
Conduct in-depth donor research and draft funding requests, proposals, grant applications and funder reports in partnership with the programmes and communications teams;

Conduct research on potential donors with an emphasis on identifying new prospects and cultivating existing donors; support the CEO and Executive Director of Programmes in executing an engagement strategy with both new and existing funders;

Conduct information interviews with potential donors to assess their interest in funding Futurelect’s mission and to determine how best they may be engaged as a funder.

Grant Management:
Maintain a database of new, existing and prospective funders; monitor and update funder communications, meetings and engagements and keep up-to-date records of donor and funder reporting and deadlines;

Identify, and oversee the use of appropriate software for funder relations management, including funder tracking, donor reporting and grant management;

Implement financial systems and processes for managing restrictions and programme specific allocations associated with Futurelect grants and funding.

Impact Reporting:
Oversee the preparation of progress reports for donors, tracking and reporting on outputs and outcomes for existing and new programmes, where required;

Work with the Programmes, Special Projects and Finance & Fundraising teams to review and update the monitoring and evaluation process and conduct an impact study after every 5 years to measure organisational impact, programme delivery, successes, challenges, and other applicable metrics;

Gather information and retain updated progress reports on public sector leadership roles and career changes from all Futurelect programme alumni to ensure up to date funder reporting and impact measurement.

General:
Assist the Finance & Fundraising Manager in the initiation and management of all stakeholder relationships;

Manage paperwork and filing effectively and with attention to detail, and ensure documents are properly shared and stored in the company cloud storage service;

Ensure thoroughness and accuracy in all tasks – including monitoring and checking work and information, planning and organising time and resources efficiently.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:
Qualifications:
Minimum qualification: Bachelor’s Degree from a leading University, preferably in Communications, Media, Public Relations, Commerce or related fields.

Experience:
A minimum of 5 years’ professional experience in fundraising, sales, marketing, or related field;

5 or more years’ experience in a non-profit organisation / political organisation, media company, government / multi-lateral agency or public institution;

Demonstrated ability to cultivate and solicit major gifts;

Experience writing grant proposals, press releases, and fundraising letters;

Experience using and managing CRM platforms (e.g. Salesforce or Hubspot) to manage funder and stakeholder relationships and communications;

Proven track record of meeting or exceeding fundraising goals.

Skills:
Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills;

Ability to analyse and prepare high quality reports on financial information and data, especially for non-financial managers;

Competence with donor management systems;

Digitally competent – able to adopt and use new software for operational and project management purposes and troubleshoot IT issues;

Proficiency in Google Suite, iWork Suite and Microsoft Suite.

Attributes:
Excellent and proven organisational skills; paying close attention to detail;

A track record of delivering superior results, commanding respect, and assuming leadership roles;

Excellent written and verbal communication skills;

Outstanding interpersonal skills are essential;

Success in roles requiring the execution of varied tasks while responding to multiple priorities;

Operates with excellence in mind in all matters, with the confidence to defend and debate ideas without the interference of ego;

A creative and imaginative self-starter, who possesses the self-discipline to meet outcomes in a nimble, entrepreneurial working environment;

Remains focused when faced with pressure, delivers against timelines, is not intimidated by major tasks / time limitations;

Proven ability to work with efficiency, flexibility, empathy and good humour;

Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with a wide array of stakeholders – junior and senior, for-profit and nonprofit, from a diversity of backgrounds;

Enthusiastic about building an organisation that runs smoothly, and building the right systems to support this objective;

Passionate about Futurelect’s mission; committed to reforming and diversifying public sector leadership and civic engagement in Africa.

BENEFICIAL / ADVANTAGEOUS:
Additional qualifications or background in Legal and/or Accounting;

Restricted grant management and donor reporting experience (especially for international and institutional donor funding);

Member of an internationally recognised Body;

Fluency in Pan-African languages other than English (French, Kiswahili, Portuguese, Arabic);

Experience in political campaigns, government or public leadership;

High level of proficiency in iWork Suite;

Experience creating or contributing to websites, newsletters, audio and visual content;

Some social media management experience.

Our Work Style

Futurelect values hard and smart work, encouraging creativity and innovation whilst having fun along the way. We respect and support people’s lives outside of work. We are an agile, high-performing team in a flexible and supportive workplace — from location to hours and holidays — asking all members to consider the needs and deadlines of the team. We are committed to building an organisation that is great for Africa and the world, and great for the people who work with us.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy

Futurelect was founded on the principle of diversity and inclusion in the public sector in Africa, where politics and government remain dominated by one gender and age demographic. We believe deeply in the importance of diversity and inclusion, and have these values embedded in our programme selection processes, as well as in our hiring practises. We operate on the principle that a candidate recruitment or selection process can never be considered meritorious unless it is also rooted in diversity.

Futurelect does not and shall not discriminate based on race, colour, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, hiring and firing of staff, selection of volunteers and vendors, and provision of services. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, volunteers, sub-contractors, vendors, and clients.

Futurelect is an equal opportunity employer. We will not discriminate and will take affirmative action measures to prevent discrimination against any employee or job applicant on the basis of race, colour, gender, national origin (ancestry), age, religion, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression in recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment.

Candidates should submit the following by 11 August 2023:
1) A comprehensive Resumé / CV

2) Motivation letter

3) Availability and

4) Salary Expectations