The Akanksha Foundation
Website:
akanksha.org
Job details:
Organisation Background
The Akanksha Foundation is a 30+ year old non-profit organization with the mission to build innovative schools that will empower children & young adults from underserved communities and influence the ecosystem. Akanksha supports 15,000 plus students through the formal-school education program and 5,800alumni from low-income backgrounds. Our 28 English-medium schools run in partnership with municipal corporations in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur. We provide students from underserved communities a high-quality, holistic education at no cost. Our aim is to give students the knowledge, skills, and values they need to lead empowered lives, maximize their potential and break out of the cycle of poverty.
With a vision to scale our impact we codified our practices and, in 2022, joined forces with Nagpur Municipal Corporation and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation to take these practices to nearly 200 public schools under 'Project Setu'.
Position Summary:
The Senior Manager will primarily support the fundraising team by shaping high-quality proposals, donor presentations, impact reports, and compelling written materials that bring together data, research, and human stories. This is a writing-led role for someone who is analytical, detail-oriented, and passionate about using words and evidence to open doors for meaningful support.
This role requires strong analytical ability, excellent command of written English, and the ability to translate organisational data, research, and impact into clear, persuasive proposals, reports, presentations, and donor communications
The role is ideal for someone who is detail-oriented, research-driven, and able to work closely with internal teams to shape compelling funding narratives backed by facts, evidence, and measurable outcomes
Reports to: Senior Director – Donor Relations
Key Roles and Responsibilities:
1) Develop and draft funding proposals including Grants, concept notes, donor presentations, impact reports, and other written materials for international foundations and institutional donors.
2) Translate programme data, research insights, and impact metrics into concise, compelling, and donor-ready narratives.
3) Research donor priorities, funding themes, and sector trends to ensure proposals are aligned with the interests and requirements of target funders.
4) Work with programme, M&E, leadership, and fi nance teams to gather relevant information and convert it into strong fundraising collateral.
5) Support the fundraising team in preparing presentations, background notes, case studies, and other communication materials.
6) Ensure all materials are factually accurate, well-structured, and delivered to high editorial and design standards.
7) Maintain a repository of organisational data, stories, and impact evidence that can be used across donor communications.
Education:
1) Graduate or Post Graduate degree in English, Communications, Journalism, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Public Policy or a related field
Experience:
1) 10+ years of relevant experience in fundraising support, grant writing, donor communications, development, research or proposal development.
2) Prior experience in the social sector, education or development space will be an advantage.
3) Experience working with HNIs, international foundations, bilateral or multilateral donors, CSR teams or institutional funders is strongly preferred.
4) Exposure to impact reporting, case study writing or donor presentation development is desirable.
Key Competencies:
1) Excellent written English, with the ability to write clearly, persuasively and professionally for external audiences.
2) Strong analytical skills and the ability to work with data, evidence and research to build credible proposals.
3) Ability to synthesise large amounts of information into crisp, structured, donor-facing documents.
4) Ability to translate programme work into compelling stories without losing factual rigour.
5) Strong attention to detail, accuracy and consistency in writing and presentation.
6) Strong project coordination, follow-through and organisational skills; highly organised and deadline-driven.
7) Ability to work collaboratively across teams as well as independently; comfortable in a support role that demands precision and high-quality output.
8) Curious, research-oriented and strongly self-motivated.
9) Good command of Google workspace, Microsoft Office, especially Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
Why Join Akanksha?
This role puts your writing and research at the heart of Akanksha's growth. Every proposal, impact report and donor presentation you shape helps secure the funding that keeps our 28 schools running and brings a high-quality education to over 15,000 students and 5,800 alumni from low-income communities. Working closely with programme, M&E, leadership and fi nance teams, you will gain a deep, fi rst-hand understanding of what makes great schools work, and turn it into evidence and stories that inspire international foundations, institutional donors and CSR partners to invest in educational equity.
You will be part of a passionate team reimagining public education in India, with real autonomy, strong peer learning, and compensation in the top third of Indian NGO scales, along with medical insurance, provident fund and paid leaves.
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