Fundraising & Partnership Manager

Fundraising & Partnership Manager

Seeds of Africa Ethiopia is hiring a Fundraising & Partnership Manager.

Location: Remote

Type of employment: Part-time

Career level: Mid level (At least 5-8 years)

About Seeds Africa: Seeds of Africa is a nonprofit organization transforming lives through education and economic empowerment in Ethiopia. For 15 years, we have invested in the next generation of Ethiopian leaders by providing high-quality, holistic education to children from underserved communities while empowering their mothers and caregivers to become financially independent entrepreneurs.

In 2025, we celebrated a historic milestone: the graduation of our first-ever Grade 12 class. Many of these students began their journey with Seeds of Africa as 3- and 4-year-olds in Pre-K, making this moment a powerful demonstration of what long-term investment in education can achieve.

Today, Seeds of Africa supports more than 407 students across a full educational pathway, from Pre-K through Grade 12, university, and nontraditional career pathways including vocational and technical training. Our innovative, project-based STEAM curriculum equips students with the critical thinking, creativity, and leadership skills needed to solve real-world challenges rooted in poverty and inequality. We remove barriers to learning by providing free tuition, uniforms, school supplies, healthcare, and transportation, ensuring every child can fully access their education.

Alongside our education programs, our Community Development Program empowers women, particularly mothers and female caregivers of our students, to start and grow small businesses, creating pathways toward financial independence and stronger, more resilient communities.

To date, we have supported over 150 mothers in starting new businesses or expanding existing ones. Through targeted training, ongoing support, and access to financial resources, participating families have experienced a 40–50% increase in income, significantly improving their livelihoods and enabling them to better support their children's education.

You will be joining a passionate, mission-driven team of approximately 50 staff members based in Ethiopia, a collaborative, resilient, and deeply committed group working every day to create lasting change through education and community empowerment.

To accelerate our impact, Seeds of Africa plans to grow to a $1,000,000 annual budget within the next 3 years. This role will play a significant role in realizing this.

Position Overview: The Fundraising & Partnership Manager will play a pivotal role in advancing the organization's fundraising and partnership strategy by building and deepening relationships with high-net-worth individuals, institutional supporters, and strategic partners.

This role supports the Ethiopia Country Director in extending the organization's capacity. Collaborating closely with the Founder and the Ethiopia Country Director, the Manager develops efficient strategies for outreach and cultivation of funders, prepares reports, and crafts communication materials.

This is a highly relational, externally facing role that blends donor cultivation, partnership development, and light operational support to strengthen and grow a diversified funding base. The role will also help re-energize long-standing supporter networks and enhance the organization's visibility in key regional and global spaces.

The focus is not traditional grant-heavy fundraising, but relationship-led resource mobilisation, engagement, and opportunity creation

Key Responsibilities:

• Support annual fundraising strategy, including goal-setting and revenue projections in collaboration with the Country Director and Board.
• Maintain the efficiency of current fundraising processes and databases and build new systems as needed.
• Advise on fundraising priorities and organizational visibility.
• Represent the Organization in national, regional, and global conversations on education and economic development.
• Identify, build, and manage a pipeline of high-net-worth individual (HNW) donors aligned to the organization's mission.
• Design and execute tailored cultivation and stewardship strategies for HNW individuals and key supporters.
• Develop and execute strategies to reactivate and actively engage a dormant network of 4,000+ supporters.
• Implement digital and virtual engagement strategies to complement in-person outreach.
• Strengthen long-term relationships through consistent, thoughtful engagement and donor journey tracking.
• Draft solicitation materials such as concept notes and proposals and manage donor communications, including meeting coordination, preparation, and follow-up.
• Represent the organization at events and proactively steward relationships to drive retention and long-term support.
• Oversee and maintain systems and processes to ensure effective donor tracking, timely follow-up, and compliance with reporting deadlines.
• Maintain accurate records of gifts, proposals, and communications.
• Prepare acknowledgement letters, and generate fundraising performance reports for leadership and the Board quarterly.
• Reimagine and support the delivery of high-impact, cost-efficient fundraising events.
• Design smaller, more targeted donor gatherings and engagement moments.
• Leverage existing convenings and sector events to build presence and deepen relationships.
• Support hybrid and virtual donor engagement experiences where relevant.
• Manage end-to-end coordination support including briefing, logistics, and post-event follow-up.
• Pilot creative engagement approaches including virtual and hybrid donor experiences.
• Collaborate with program teams to align fundraising narratives with programme priorities and impact.
• Support the development of funding strategies for revived or emerging initiatives.
• Work with program teams to align fundraising efforts with program design and impact goals.
• Translate programme work into compelling donor-facing materials and opportunities.
• Identify opportunities for sustainable or blended funding approaches where relevant.

Core Competencies:

• Strong commitment to education and economic development as drivers of long-term social impact.
• Deep alignment with mission-driven work, particularly around children and women.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and evaluate funding opportunities, cultivate donor prospects, and execute effective fundraising strategies.
• Demonstrated experience contributing to the planning and execution of fundraising strategies.
• Proven track record of securing fundraising outcomes, particularly through engagement with small foundations and high-net-worth individuals.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented, with experience maintaining systems, donor databases, and fundraising processes.
• Skilled in developing compelling fundraising and marketing materials, including concept notes, reports, and donor communications.
• Creative and aesthetically minded, with an eye for design, storytelling, and communicating impact effectively.
• Comfortable supporting fundraising campaigns, events, and digital engagement initiatives with both strategic and logistical coordination.
• Collaborative and adaptable, with strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively across diverse teams and cultures and partner closely with program teams to understand on-the-ground impact.
• Curious, proactive, and solutions-oriented, with a willingness to challenge assumptions and contribute to innovation.
• Optimistic, opportunity-oriented, and trust based relational approach to fundraising and partnerships.
• Strong emotional intelligence and active listening skills, with ability to build meaningful relationships across diverse stakeholders.
• Comfortable navigating power dynamics with confidence and professionalism.
• Excellent verbal communication and presence and strong written communication skills.
• CRM and donor tracking systems, email communication platforms (e.g. Mailchimp), Canva, Google Workspace, and basic project management tools, with the ability to quickly learn and adapt to internal systems and databases.
• Experience living and/or working in Africa, particularly Ethiopia or East Africa, strongly preferred.
• Bachelor's degree in nonprofit management, business administration, marketing, communications, public relations, social sciences, or a related field.
• At least 5–8 years of experience in fundraising, partnerships, and/or project management.

Why work with us: A deeply mission-driven and purpose-led team committed to long-term transformation in the lives of students and families. A close-knit, caring, and relationship-centered culture where collaboration, trust, and community are highly valued. A fulfilling and impact-focused environment where diverse and thoughtful people can see the meaningful results of their work every day.

Additional Information: This is a part-time remote role of 20 hours per week, with a preference for candidates based in East Africa. The candidate is required to visit Seeds of Africa in Ethiopia biannually.

The typical working hours for this role are 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM EAT. Given the role's external focus and engagement with global partners and donors, flexibility and willingness is occasionally required to accommodate different time zones.

How to Apply: If you are interested in being part of our dynamic team, an exciting work environment and contributing to Seeds of Africa's mission and vision, please share your application here.