Fundraising Lead (Pakistan)

Job Role                                                                    Fundraising Lead - Pakistan

Reporting to                                                              Pakistan Director

Line Management responsibility                             None currently                           

Location                                                                     Preferably Karachi

Role Overview

About us

The British Asian Trust is an international development organisation, headquartered in the UK, working to tackle poverty and inequality in South Asia. Founded in 2007 by a group of British Asian business leaders, we maximise the support of the South Asian diaspora to drive positive change across the region (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) in the areas of livelihoods, education, child protection, mental health and conservation.

The scale and complexity of the challenges in South Asia demand innovative and ambitious approaches to tackling them. We work in partnership with others to design and deliver programmes, raise funds and convene partnerships that combine new social finance tools, philanthropy and technology to deliver impact at scale. In recent years we have experienced substantial growth, with organisational annual turnover increasing from £6m in 2018/19 to an estimated £14m in the current financial year 2023/24.

Our Pakistan Programme

The British Asian Trust has been working with local partners and communities in Pakistan since our foundation, in the areas of livelihoods (particularly focused on the economic empowerment of women and youth), education and mental health. We recruited our first Pakistan-based Director in 2020 and have grown our office in Karachi substantially since then.

Our Pakistan programme currently has an annual budget of around £1.5m, which is formed of grants and partnerships with international institutional, trust and foundation, high-net-worth individual and corporate donors managed from the UK. Our Pakistan portfolio of donors have included the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Standard Chartered, Citi and Vitol Foundations.

We are at a particularly exciting stage of growth in our Pakistan team, as we start to develop plans for the first development impact bond in the country, launch a national multi-media campaign to raise awareness around mental health with the Jang Media Group, and explore opportunities to scale up our women’s economic empowerment programme that we have been delivering with the support of the FCDO for the past 5 years.

The purpose of the role

This role will help us maximise these opportunities and achieve our ambitious plans for our Pakistan programme. The fundraising lead for Pakistan will be responsible for developing a clear and compelling income generation strategy in Pakistan, securing funding for our programmes from donors in Pakistan and supporting our wider fundraising teams to secure international funding. Reporting to the Pakistan Director and working closely with the Fundraising Director (based in the UK), the role will be supported by and work collaboratively with global teams across various functions. The role will be responsible for the effective management of existing high value partnerships, including ensuring compliance with all donor contractual requirements and building relationships with these key stakeholders. In addition, the position will be responsible for securing new partnerships with high value corporate CSR, institutional donors and high net worth individuals. The role will also support global fundraising partnerships with governments, bilaterals, multilaterals and large trusts/foundations.

This is a senior role which will be part of the Senior Management Team in Pakistan and is expected to engage at a strategic level to influence British Asian Trust’s fundraising.

Main responsibilities

1. Develop contextual expertise to understand the donor landscape in Pakistan that meets BAT Pakistan’s fundraising priorities

• Working closely with the Pakistan Director, Director Fundraising and the wider global fundraising teams, lead the development of a strategy for fundraising in Pakistan that aligns with the British Asian Trust’s corporate strategy and fundraising plan.
• Support the Pakistan Director in finalising the British Asian Trust’s registration in Pakistan and ensuring our fundraising is compliant with all local laws and regulations.
• Work with the fundraising team to proactively develop a portfolio of strategic partnerships for Pakistan, especially with a focus on donors based in Pakistan (including multi-lateral and bilateral donors, trusts, foundations and other high value sources as required). Establish and maintain relationships with their offices.
• Lead the British Asian Trust’s engagement with relevant funder networks and platforms, especially in Pakistan, identifying and driving areas of collaboration (such as thought leadership events or publications) to raise the British Asian Trust’s profile within these spaces.
• Where required lead on events that build the profile of BAT amongst key donor stakeholders within the country.
• Contribute to overall strategic and financial planning for BAT as required.
• Set, monitor and report on the British Asian Trust’s fundraising KPI’s for Pakistan.

1. Proactively identify and drive funding opportunities within Pakistan

• Maintain up to date information on donor priorities, strategies and activities pertaining to the British Asian Trust’s programmes and ensure senior management and Programme Leads are briefed.
• Proactively research, network and engage with key sector donor groups (multilateral, bilaterals, trusts and foundations) to identify and pursue grant and commercial contract opportunities in line with the organisational strategy and targets. Work collaboratively with programmes teams and other relevant staff, as well as senior management, to develop and submit funding bids.
• Manage and maintain effective donor records and pipelines on the CRM database.
• Ensure effective grant and partnership management, working collaboratively with programme leads, the Country Director and communications staff, incl. ensuring compliance with all contract requirements, reporting and delivery of all partnership commitments, including match funding or other fundraising requirements
• Ensure the implementation of the British Asian Trust’s systems, processes, and practices necessary to deliver first class management of our funding partnerships and where needed develop new ones for the Pakistan context.

3. Unrestricted Fundraising 

• Support Pakistan Director in managing relationships with Advisory Council
• Work with global team and leadership to develop an unrestricted fundraising strategy for Pakistan

4. Other

• Compile accurate queries, reports and summaries as needed for the Director, Pakistan, Director Fundraising (UK) and Associate Director Programme Funding (UK)
• Actively contribute to and support wider British Asian Trust activities and initiatives, participate actively in meetings.
• Consistently demonstrate the values and principles of British Asian Trust in all its activities
• Other duties as required by the line manager commensurate with the post

Key relationships

Internal: Pakistan Director, Director Fundraising (UK), Associate Director Programme Funding (UK), Pakistan Team, Programmes and Fundraising Teams in the UK, India and Bangladesh, Communications Team

External: British Asian Trust funding partners, including individuals, Trust and Foundations, corporate and statutory donors; programme partners including NGOs, private sector companies and academic institutions; British Asian Trust service providers, such as IT and database support

Job-related knowledge, skills and experience

Essential:

• Significant demonstrable experience in a high-value institutional fundraising (large trust/foundations, corporate foundations, statutory) or similar role, securing grants of six and seven figures and above.
• Expertise and passion for driving new business (funding) opportunities.
• Strong track record in meeting fundraising targets and developing creative, strategic plans for engaging donors to meet those targets.
• Experience project managing complex bid development and writing successful fundraising bids for trust and foundation or other programme-focused donors.
• Ability to work at pace and collaboratively to achieve targets.
• Ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, adapting style and approach to stakeholder needs.

• Experience of managing high-level internal and external stakeholders (including Chief Executive and trustees) to engage and drive funding opportunities and relationships and reporting against targets and pipeline strength.

Desirable:

• Success in developing and delivering a fundraising strategy.
• Knowledge of charity and fundraising regulations in Pakistan.
• Knowledge of development donors in Pakistan, their strategic priorities, funding mechanisms and decision-making processes
• Knowledge, experience and/or passion relating to the British Asian Trust’s programme areas (economic empowerment of women and youth, education, mental health)

Key skills required for the role:

• Excellent organisational and time management skills
• Excellent stakeholder and relationship management skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to prioritise work and work well under pressure
• Ability to work methodically and with high attention to detail
• Good working knowledge of database, spreadsheet and word-processing software
• Ability to problem solve and troubleshoot
• Ability to demonstrate a flexibility of approach and work effectively as part of a team