Individual Giving and Communications Manager

Touch Foundation, an NGO working to save lives and relieve human suffering by strengthening healthcare services in sub-Saharan Africa, providing better access to care and improving the quality of local health systems, is seeking an outstanding individual to join its team as its Individual Giving and Communications Manager (IGCM). 

The IGCM will join a team of highly mission-driven professionals with diverse backgrounds and experiences, ranging from management consulting to clinical medicine. The IGCM will work closely with team members across all levels and functions, becoming an integral part of Touch’s commitment to improving health in sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Touch Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 2004 to help strengthen healthcare systems in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Touch was founded by Lowell Bryan, a former Director (i.e., Senior Partner) with McKinsey & Co. who understood that Tanzania faced a daunting healthcare environment, with declining life expectancy and increasing maternal and infant mortality.  After working to address the dearth of health care workers in Tanzania (one of the biggest impediments to access to healthcare) through the successful creation of a large medical school in the Lake Zone of Tanzania, Touch began focusing on other of the most pressing global health challenges.

Touch applies a three-phase strategic approach to bring cost-effective and sustainable solutions to these challenges. In collaboration with funders, local partners and governments, Touch designs programs and implements them at a small scale in the Lake Zone of Tanzania to test their potential impact. Successful solutions are then scaled up to a national level, setting the stage to ultimately adapt and replicate them in other countries facing similar challenges to achieve broader impact.  

Touch’s current programmatic priorities include both its program to ensure access to emergency transport and high-quality care for obstetric and neonatal emergencies, leading to a reduction in maternal and infant mortality, and the use of its innovative and data-driven solution to optimize planning and decision-making around production, deployment and retention of scarce health workers.  Given the private sector background of its Board members and several members of its staff, Touch is also focused on developing market-based solutions for portions of the private sector in health to complement the role of the public health system in providing broader access to care to their population. To date, Touch has successfully implemented programs in Tanzania, Lesotho, Nigeria, Mozambique and South Africa.

Touch’s work is data driven and evidence based.  Its goal is to prove impact in Tanzania and scale to other African Countries.   Ultimately, Touch intends that its programmatic work be used as a blueprint for expanding and improving healthcare services across Sub-Saharan Africa.  Touch shares the knowledge and the information obtained through its work with policy makers and other stakeholders.

Touch’s budget is in the $6 million range and its funding comes from a variety of sources, including a cooperative agreement with USAID.  Most of its people work overseas in Africa and other countries with the administrative and development functions centered in New York City.  The people who work at Touch are very smart, focused, collaborative and driven to excel which has contributed to the impact that Touch has had.

Position: The IGCM will lead Touch’s individual giving and communications team in the planning, implementation and management of strategies for driving individual giving.  Reporting directly to the Chief Financial Officer, the IGCM will also work closely with the Chairman of Touch’s Board of Directors, who also chairs the Board’s Development Committee.  Together with two Senior Development Analysts, the IGCM will confidently and efficiently support the Development Committee in its individual giving initiatives, such as outreach to Touch’s “Chairman’s List” of donors. The IGCM team will also work, as needed, with Touch’s program team on institutional giving, assisting with their work to raise funds from governments and foundations.  Finally, the IGCM will be integral to the promotion of Touch’s public health accomplishments and learnings through multiple communications channels. The IGCM will be based in New York City with some remote work a possibility.

The IGCM must be an experienced and collaborative project manager able to directly supervise and mentor a team by delegating substantial duties to them and facilitating their career progression. The IGCM will have at least five years of experience in fundraising and communications, with specific experience in interfacing directly with a Board of Directors. This is a challenging role that requires knowledge of and experience with fundraising (events-based and appeals), and print, web, and social media communications project management. 

The IGCM will have a passion for the Foundation’s work to save lives and relieve human suffering, and will enjoy working with a focused, driven, diverse, and geographically distributed team.  

Specific Responsibilities

• Plan, implement, and manage individual giving initiatives focused on annual unrestricted revenue
• Working directly with the Chairman of the Board, develop and execute strategies for engaging members of a “Chairman’s List” of individual donors
• Plan, develop, manage and expand various fundraising events, with assistance of outside vendors for larger events
• Plan and execute digital, mail, and other types of funding appeals to supporters
• Develop, manage and oversee all aspects of Touch’s external communications strategy, in collaboration with the program team, to share information about Touch’s work and impact so as to cultivate interest, drive engagement, and raise funding
• Oversee management and maintenance of website, social media approach, production of annual report and other marketing/PR materials
• Supervise and mentor Touch’s two Senior Development Analysts
• Collaborate with Touch’s Senior Development Manager responsible for all institutional development activity
• Prepare for, attend, and present at meetings of the Board’s Development Committee, and if necessary, meetings of the overall Touch Board of Directors
• Write and edit internal development and communications briefings, status reports, summaries and other informational documents for staff and board
• Oversee the use of Raiser’s Edge for managing and tracking individual development and other activity
• Keep up to date on best practices in individual giving and communications in order to propose and implement innovative changes to Touch’s approach to these activities
• Oversee selection and management of outside vendors associated with individual giving and/or communications work

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; minimum of 5 years relevant professional experience in strategic fundraising and/or communications
• Management and mentoring experience, preferably of a development/fundraising and communications staff
• Demonstrated success in both remote and in-person event planning and execution, with an understanding of relevant technological resources
• Strong interpersonal skills and proven ability to form strategic relationships with senior level executives, Board of Directors or similar
• Project management skills including navigation of organizational matrix, across teams and with external partners leading to successful project completion
• Ability to work collaboratively with a team, fostering collegiality and a positive work culture
• Excellent and creative writing/communication skills
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Flexible with ability to multitask and prioritize, as well as anticipate and solve problems as they arise
• Cross-cultural sensitivity and the ability to interface with internal and external constituents from a variety of backgrounds
• Working knowledge/demonstrated awareness of incorporating racial/cultural/socioeconomic equity and justice into communications and individual giving
• Highest levels of integrity, ethical judgment and discretion so as to ably represent Touch Foundation in a professional manner
• Deep, personal commitment to the mission and vision of Touch Foundation
• Experience in and/or knowledge of international development and public health a plus Advanced skill in Microsoft Office including Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Knowledge of donor fundraising software (e.g., Raiser’s Edge) strongly preferred

For more information on the Touch Foundation, visit touchfoundation.org.