Position Post Date: April 15, 2024

About the Position

In our first decade, Namati’s Resource Mobilization team (RM) was a small but mighty team punching above its weight. Our ambitions for our next phase (2024-2028) are to cultivate a team of superstars with the fundraising chops to drive opportunities with a spirit of initiative and self-motivation, along with the ability to work collaboratively with each other, our cross-cutting staff, and the program teams. Each person on the RM team contributes their outstanding skill sets and fundraising intuition in complementary ways, to form a synergistic, generative whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Within this team, the Officer, Partnerships (Foundations) will support senior RM team members on cultivation and stewardship across our portfolio of existing and emerging private foundation relationships. Drawing on their existing networks and familiarity with the philanthropic space, and by developing a deep familiarity with Namati’s relationship ecosystem and aspirations, the Officer will support the team’s efforts towards securing and stewarding multiple 6- and 7-figure awards. The Officer will collaborate closely with colleagues including fellow Resource Mobilization team members, our finance team, program leads, and others across the organization to meet our revenue requirements each year. 

This is a unique opportunity for a rising non-profit leader to make a mark on a global scale – in the company of a diverse team of dedicated and caring colleagues around the world. The successful candidate may have already served as a fundraising professional, or may have held a programmatic position with revenue responsibility for a program or an organization.  

Responsibilities:

• Cultivation: The Officer will support teammates in researching, identifying, and vetting a pipeline of productive new philanthropic funding relationships. This person will help secure invitations to apply, develop proposals, and manage application processes in coordination with relevant stakeholders.

• Donor stewardship and reporting: Namati’s Resource Mobilization staff pride ourselves on our long-term funder relationships; our relationship-building often leads to engaged partners who renew awards at the highest possible levels. The Officer will support stewardship across these key partnerships – everything from supporting on proposals, reports and other deliverables to ensuring timely communications and thoughtful touchpoints, to guiding coordination across stakeholders, all with an eye to the unique character of the relationship and a strategic sense of how to nurture it through the lifespan of the award and beyond. 

• Internal coordination: The Officer will collaborate closely with a variety of colleagues at Namati to ensure a consistent and coordinated approach on various key fundraising projects and requirements. Specifically, the Officer will work with the Finance team to coordinate timely submissions of financial materials related to proposals and reports; with the Global Communications team to coordinate projects at the intersection of fundraising and communications, such as events and publications; and with the Global Programs team, to coordinate accurate and up-to-date reporting on program outcomes.

 Here’s what you might have tackled last week:

• Supported the Senior Manager, Partnerships on a first draft of a proposal to a foundation on behalf of our Kenya team, by pulling from existing materials and discussing the team’s upcoming program priorities to get the draft finalized.

• Scheduled a kick-off call with teammates across multiple time zones for a large submission to a new government funder; developed a detailed checklist for elements to include in the proposal, ensured that each element has an owner, communicated any questions to the funder, and carefully read the fine print to confirm our eligibility.

• Researched potential funders for the Grassroots Justice Network (which Namati convenes), via various grant databases and your own network. Creatively identified a number of new potential donors by carefully reviewing their existing grantees, grantmaking practices, and due diligence considerations, and then supported colleagues on the Resource Mobilization team to develop and implement an outreach strategy.

• Supported key components of a content and engagement campaign to showcase recent lessons from our land and environmental justice program portfolio, lifting Namati to greater visibility among environmental and climate funders and generating new connections.

• Organized a virtual film screening for donors, followed by a dynamic and informative discussion between prospective donors and Namati program leads. 

About You

• A track record in fundraising: We will prioritize applications from candidates with 3-5 years of experience in the non-profit field, with some experience in fundraising.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills: You can produce good written products (concept notes, proposals, talking points, etc.) relatively quickly, and value receiving feedback, and collaborating with others, on your written product. You’re good at understanding your audience. You work hard to present big ideas with clarity and specificity.

• Organized and an exceptional project manager: You know how to bring together geographically dispersed colleagues at varying levels of seniority (often with competing deadlines and priorities) to get things done. You can monitor all the details across multiple projects while ensuring the larger strategic plan is on track.

• Technologically-savvy: You’re a technophile; when working with a new program or application you quickly become fluent. You understand the stakes of securing our data and will do what it takes to protect and optimize it. You have (likely 2+ years) experience managing complex relational databases. Even better if you have experience with HubSpot.

• Growth oriented: You’re always seeking to better yourself and your work, and you will push yourself to help fulfill our mission. In service of that growth, you welcome and delight in feedback from supervisors, peers, and anyone else.
  
  

About Namati

Since 2011, Namati has worked to build a movement of grassroots justice advocates worldwide. We’ve grown tremendously, from a small founding group of big-hearted change-makers to a global staff of 170+ people across 12 time zones in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The Grassroots Justice Network, which we co-founded and convene to this day, has grown from 30 people in one room to the world’s largest community of justice advocates. Today, our membership comes from 3,300 organizations across 175 countries. 

We have supported local communities to take on thousands of justice issues, directly improving the lives of over 1.5 million people since our founding. Together with communities, partners, and Network members, we’ve envisioned, and won, transformative changes like the Customary Land Rights and National Land Commission Acts of Sierra Leone, and the world’s first Legal Empowerment Fund.

Namati’s work has been featured in/on Democracy Journal, Amanpour & Co. New York Times, the Guardian, Devex, WIRED, the Washington Post, among others, and has been documented by the Sundance Institute. Vivek Maru, Namati’s CEO, gave a TED Talk in 2017 which has been viewed over 1.3 million times. In 2016, Namati was honored with the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and in 2017, the Schwab Foundation named Vivek Maru and colleague Sonkita Conteh two of its Social Entrepreneurs of the Year. Namati has a perfect score, 100/100, on Charity Navigator and has earned Guidestar’s Platinum Seal of Transparency. 

About Resource Mobilization

Alongside the growth in our ambition and impact, Namati’s budget increases an average of 18% per year -- from $5M to more than $15M in ten years. Our donor base has grown from 3 founding partners to over 40 bilateral and philanthropic funding partners. Major recent investments include an unrestricted award from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, and an 8-year, $20M award from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation through the Racial Equity 2030 competition. Many of our funding partners remain with us for the long haul. We are particularly proud that two longtime supporters, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and the Hewlett Foundation, went on to support the Legal Empowerment Fund, with an aim to mobilize $100M to support grassroots justice.

At the heart of our fundraising track record is our commitment to bold, inspired action as fundraisers: fundraising is organizing. Namati’s Resource Mobilization team does not take a transactional approach to fundraising; instead, we form relationships with funding partners committed not only to our organization, but to the entire Legal Empowerment movement. We strive to build and steward expansive, long-term, and high-level funding partnerships that match the size of our vision.  

This kind of fundraising requires a team of aligned, courageous, and strategic connectors who understand where Namati is uniquely placed to make a difference, who can learn continually from our work - and that of our collaborators - to identify promising opportunities and create new ones. 

Location
This position is remote in the United States (hybrid if based in/near Washington, DC.), with a preference for proximity to the U.S. philanthropic hubs of New York City, Washington D.C., or San Francisco. Please note that candidates must already be legally eligible to work in the United States to be considered for the role; Namati cannot sponsor visas.

Compensation 

Throughout the hiring process we will seek to understand your specific skills, experience, and abilities as they will fit into our team and our job levels. The offer range for this position is likely to fall between $63,500 - $73,000 based on the final job level determined by the responsibility, scope, and complexity of the position. Namati offers an excellent benefits package, including:

• Health insurance- Namati pays 80% of the base plan premium for individuals, and 50% for dependents

• 3 weeks' paid vacation, 12 sick days, 12 federal holidays (plus the week between Christmas and New Years), 3 personal days, 6 weeks' parental leave

• 401(k)- Namati contributes 5% of your salary plus matches your contribution up to an additional 5%

• Access to professional development opportunities

To Apply

Please apply by clicking on the “apply for this position” button below. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the position will be open until filled. 

No phone calls, please. Namati is an Equal Opportunity Employer.