Smile Foundation
Basic Information
Functional Area: Resource Mobilization
Location: Bhubaneswar (Odisha)
Experience: 5-8 years
Reporting: Head- Empowering Grassroots – Matrix reporting to Lead Training & Research
About the organization:
Smile Foundation works for the welfare of underprivileged children and their families through intensive programmes focused on education, healthcare, skilling and women empowerment and Empowering Grassroots. Started in 2002 by a group of young corporate professionals, today Smile has evolved into a national level development organization impacting lives of over 1.5 million underprivileged children and their families with project presence in 25 states across India, 10 offices in strategic locations and over 650 employees, besides countless volunteers, well-wishers and supporters.
The organization also holds Special Consultative Status with United Nation’s Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC), accredited with global organizations like GuideStar, United Way, CAF America, Give2Asia and many more. Furthermore, continuously for past three years Smile is a Great Place to Work © Certified organization and is considered ‘Gold Standard’ in identifying and recognizing Great Workplace Cultures.
Currently SF has been implementing projects across India directly or with the help of grassroot organizations, primarily CSR funded projects of varied scale both in urban slums and rural areas including aspirational districts in thematic areas mentioned above. The wealth of knowledge emanated from the same is immense, however the same is grouped in systematic manner which can be used for pitching for large projects of long term in nature leading to data driven knowledge products which can be further used in creating large scale impact.
About the Role
The incumbent will be responsible for supporting grassroots organizations in their efforts to fundraise locally within their communities, hand holding them to curate local fundraising events, and developing their fundraising strategies.
Smile’s Empowering Grassroots vertical builds capacity of social entrepreneurs (CBOs/NGOs) Pan India. These organizations work in various domains such as education, environment conservation, health, agriculture, livelihood and more. Mostly these organizations depend upon either one or two big sources of funds or they get fund from the foreign donors. These organizations also lack the skills and knowledge around resource mobilization.
Looking at the current scenario especially amendment in FCRA (2020), depending upon the foreign funds may not be a reliable solution in the near future. Since they lack skills and knowledge about resource mobilization, they might enroute towards entropy let alone sustainability or survival.
1. Social Venture Philanthropy
Smile began its work in 2002 with an innovative model Social Venture Philanthropy (SVP) which is based on the business concept of venture capital. Under SVP, Smile identifies and implements its development projects, credible community based organizations, focusing on achieving scalability and sustainability, creating a culture of leadership and excellence and inculcating a deep sense of accountability among them.
Action for Children (AfC), is yet another example of Smile’s SVP work. AfC offered matching grant support as well as mentored the NGOs to be able to raise their part of it.
2. Change the Game Academy (CtGA) partnership
CtGA is a global alliance. It aims to mentor and strengthen grassroots social initiatives to become locally sustainable in compliance with the rules and regulations of their respective countries. It is a capacity building program that offers training. Smile is one of the four co-creators of CtGA as well as the National Partner Organization (NPO) in India for the CtGA program. This program runs in nearly 16 countries (countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America).
3. Overall objective
Smile aspires to combine the efforts of SVP and CtGA to strengthen the CBOs to become self-reliant. To make it happen, as part of this process, it needs to be ensured that.
- NGO partners include the community in planning, implementation and evaluation process
- They plan multiple (doable/feasible) fundraising activity plans and execute them
- Follow the tools and concepts learnt in the training
- Practice and use the skills learnt
- They ensure the compliance measures are followed
Key Responsibilities
- Enhancing the depth and breadth of EG relationships
- Business development/fundraising for community-based organizations i.e. to identify and seek support from variety of donors such as individuals (HNIs included), institutional donors, philanthropists, local businesses, CSR. Also, by leveraging policies, revenue generation models, FR activities and collaborations with the Government and like-minded organizations such as NGOs working in the similar domains so on.
- Develop and manage relationships with potential funders and internal and external stakeholders, including meeting stakeholders and funders on own or with programme staff of the community-based organizations.
- Help in organizing and conducting the local fundraising events for the partner organizations and assist in their fundraising strategies.
- Represent Smile Foundation at various events and networking forums.
- Document the impact stories of the organizations post the fundraising event.
Skills, Qualification & Experience
- Post-graduate qualification in Business Development/Management with demonstrable experience of fundraising.
- Demonstrated success of a minimum of 5 to 8 years in Fundraising with Corporates/Institutional Donors.
- Established industry connections with institutional donors, corporate foundations, family foundations etc.
- Strong grassroots experience, along with knowledge of local stakeholders within the community.
- Excellent writing skills to formulate fundraising strategies, Logical Framework and Theory of Change.
- Should be open for travel for building relationships, exploring partnership opportunities
Competencies
- Persuasive Communication: Strong written and verbal communication skills. When writing or speaking comes across as persuasive, credible, and polished with excellent interpersonal skills.
- Creates External Strategic Alliances: Develops and uses collaborative relationships to facilitate the accomplishment of work goals.
- Contributes to Team Performance: Is an engaged and integral member of a group, recognizing the need for group collaboration, empathy, consensual decision-making and respect for others.
- Negotiation: Effectively exploring alternatives and positions to reach outcomes that gain the support and acceptance of all parties.
- Creates Internal Partnerships: Works to achieve business goals by identifying and building strategic relationships between areas, teams, departments, units, and organizations.
- Effective Presentations: Effectively presents ideas (including nonverbal communication and use of visual aids) to individuals or groups when given time to prepare; delivers presentations that are adapted to the specific needs and characteristics of the audience.
- Decision Making: Identifying and understanding issues, problems, and opportunities; comparing data from different sources to draw conclusions; using effective approaches for choosing a course of action or developing appropriate solutions; taking action that is consistent with available facts, constraints, and probable consequences.
Note -
Smile Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer however preference will be given to women candidates. Please Note: Only shortlisted candidates would be contacted by the Human Resources Team
