Job Description

Head of Fundraising & Partnerships

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YODA Animal Welfare

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YODA is looking for an exceptional Head of Fundraising & Partnerships to build and lead the next phase of our fundraising and external partnerships.

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This is a senior, highly entrepreneurial role for someone who can combine strong relationships, commercial thinking and genuine passion for animal welfare.

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We are looking for someone who can open doors, build long-term relationships and turn conversations into meaningful partnerships that create real impact for animals.

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The Role

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The Head of Fundraising & Partnerships will be responsible for developing and executing YODA's overall fundraising strategy across corporates, CSR programmes, HNIs, foundations, institutions, brands and individual donors.

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The role goes beyond traditional fundraising. We want someone who can think creatively about how YODA partners with companies, creators, communities and individuals — creating collaborations that are exciting for partners while generating sustainable funding for animal welfare.

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You will work closely with YODA's leadership and programme teams to translate the work happening on the ground into compelling propositions that people and organisations want to support.

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Key Responsibilities

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- Build and execute YODA's annual and long-term fundraising and partnerships strategy.
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- Develop a strong pipeline of corporate, CSR, HNI, institutional and foundation donors.
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- Identify, approach and convert new funding opportunities.
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- Build deep, long-term relationships with existing donors and partners.
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- Lead conversations with CEOs, CSR heads, family offices, foundations, philanthropists and senior decision-makers.
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- Create compelling fundraising proposals, pitch decks and partnership concepts.
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- Develop innovative brand collaborations and cause-marketing partnerships.
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- Build partnerships around YODA's shelters, rescue programmes,



veterinary care, adoption initiatives, sterilisation programmes and other animal-welfare projects.
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- Work with brands on campaigns, sponsorships, employee-engagement programmes and fundraising initiatives.
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- Identify opportunities for grants and institutional funding and oversee relevant applications.
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- Develop campaigns that encourage individual giving and recurring donations.
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- Work closely with YODA's social media and communications teams to turn storytelling and digital engagement into fundraising opportunities.
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- Represent YODA at meetings, events, conferences and donor engagements.
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- Build solid systems for donor stewardship, reporting and regular communication.
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- Track fundraising pipelines, conversion rates, commitments and collections.
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- Own agreed fundraising targets and provide regular reporting to leadership.
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- Over time, build and manage a high-performing fundraising and partnerships team.
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Who We Are Looking For

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Someone who is:

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- A natural relationship builder who genuinely enjoys meeting people and creating partnerships.
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- Commercially sharp and comfortable asking for significant financial commitments.
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- Confident communicating with senior corporate leaders, philanthropists and HNIs.
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- Highly entrepreneurial — someone who sees opportunities where others may not.
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- Excellent at storytelling and able to translate impact into a compelling proposition.
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- Strong at both strategy and execution.
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- Persistent, resourceful and extremely solution-oriented.
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- Comfortable working in a fast-moving organisation where ideas can quickly turn into action.
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- Passionate about animals and aligned with YODA's mission.
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Experience

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Ideally 8–15+ years of relevant experience across one or more of the following:

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Fundraising, philanthropy, CSR, partnerships, business development, foundations, family offices, NGOs, luxury/consumer brands, corporate relationships or social-impact organisations.

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Prior NGO experience is valuable but not essential. We are equally interested in strong relationship-driven candidates from the corporate world who understand how to build partnerships and would like to use those skills to create social impact.

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Existing relationships with corporates, CSR leaders, HNIs, family offices, foundations or philanthropic networkswould be a significant advantage.

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What Success Looks Like

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Within this role, success would mean:

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- Building a strong and diverse fundraising pipeline.
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- Bringing several significant new partners into the YODA ecosystem.
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- Increasing YODA's annual fundraising substantially year on year.
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- Moving YODA towards a more predictable base of recurring and multi-year funding.
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- Building partnerships that go beyond writing cheques and create genuine engagement with animal welfare.
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- Making YODA one of the organisations that leading companies, philanthropists and brands want to partner with.
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Why YODA

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This is an opportunity to take everything you know about relationships, partnerships and fundraising and use it to directly improve the lives of animals.

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YODA is ambitious about the scale of impact it wants to create. We are looking for someone equally ambitious about helping us get there.

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If you are someone who loves building things, connecting people and making ambitious ideas happen, we would love to hear from you.

📌 Head of Fundraising & Partnerships (Mumbai)
🏢 Youth Organization in Defence of Animals (YODA)
📍 Mumbai