Role: Associate Director - Strategic Partnerships & Fundraising, Bengaluru

Experience: 13+ years [13-15 years in Fundraising, Strategic Partnerships, or Corporate Development]

Salary: Up to 18-25 LPA

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About the role:

We are looking for a senior, strategic and relationship-driven leader to build the next phase of our institutional growth and resource mobilisation. As the Associate Director - Fundraising, you will shape and execute a diversified fundraising and partnerships strategy that enables the organization and its digital platform to scale their impact, deepen their work in India. The role will be responsible for building long-term partnerships across domestic and global philanthropy, CSR, family foundations, HNIs, bilateral and multilateral agencies, and other institutional funders.

our organization has evolved into an organisation with a distinctive portfolio spanning children's publishing, access to multilingual books and digital reading experiences through our digital platform.

The Associate

Director will therefore play a critical role in articulating this evolving proposition to funders and partners - developing compelling investment cases across programmes, organisational capacity, technology and digital infrastructure, and enabling the organisation to move from transactional grants towards deeper, multi-year and strategic partnerships.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Fundraising & Diversification
- Blended Funding Models: Secure a balanced portfolio of programmatic grants (for regional implementations) and multi-year non-programmatic/core grants to invest in organizational capacity, tech infrastructure, and R&D.;
- Crowdfunding Platform:



Support and expand the reach of our Crowd Funding platform through strategic CSR partnerships.
- DPG & Technology: Pitch our platform's growth as a premier global Digital Public Positive (DPG) to international philanthropists, venture philanthropy funds, and multilateral institutions.
- Content: Raise dedicated funds for creating content that is identified as a gap area in children's literature, locally and contextually relevant content, mother-tongue, and hyperlocal content designed specifically to reach underserved, last-mile children.
- Omnichannel Pipeline: Scale and manage high-value relationships across Corporate Social Responsibility funds, Family Foundations, UHNWIs, and bilateral development agencies.

- Partnership Management & Ecosystem Building

- Value-Proposition Crafting: Translate compelling, data-driven investment opportunities through diverse donor profiles.
- Hybrid Ecosystem Advocacy: Effectively advocate for the blended value of print-and-digital (hybrid) models to institutional donors.
- Donor Stewardship: Build structured retention and upgrade paths for existing multi-year partners, ensuring transparent reporting, deeper engagement, and alignment on impact metrics.

- Team Leadership & Operational Excellence

- Financial Forecasting: Partner with the CEO and Finance teams to build multi-year revenue projections, manage the fundraising budget, and meet annual targets.




- Proposal Frameworks: Lead the creation of grant proposals, concept notes, and pitch decks.
- Mentorship: Lead, coach, and build the capacity of the fundraising team to run efficient research, outreach, and grant compliance cycles.
- Collaboration: Drive fundraising efforts by collaborating with internal teams to design and write persuasive proposals and pitches.

Skills & Qualifications

Required:

- Proven Track Record: At least 13-15 years of experience leading fundraising or strategic partnerships in the social sector, international development, or corporate business development.
- Capital Sourcing Network: Demonstrated success in securing large-scale, multi-year grants from institutional CSR, domestic/international foundations, or philanthropies.
- Hybrid Portfolio Experience: Familiarity with funding models for both traditional grassroots implementation (e.g., education, print) and technology-for-good products (SaaS, open-source platforms, or DPGs).
- Communication: Exceptional public speaking and executive-level writing skills. Ability to converse comfortably with corporate CEOs, trustees, and visionaries alike.

Preferred:

- Post-graduate degree in Business Administration, Public Policy, Development Studies, Communications, or a related field.
- Direct experience raising funds for diverse programs, open-source, digital public goods, or edtech-for-impact initiatives.
- In-depth understanding of compliance, FCRA regulations, and corporate reporting landscapes.

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Hiring Note: Applications will be reviewed on rolling basis. This job is first on October 13, 2026 on Ground Zero For any questions, ping us on WhatsApp chat: +91-(phone hidden)

📌 Associate Director - Strategic Partnerships & Fundraising, Bengaluru
🏢 Ground Zero
📍 Bengaluru