Donor Development Manager

Travalyst is a not-for-profit organisation working to identify – and help bring about – the systemic changes needed in order for sustainable travel to be taken out of the niche, and into the mainstream.

We believe tourism can, and must, play a key role in achieving a sustainable future for our world; so we’re convening the key players, and catalysing the necessary action, to change the impact of travel, for good. We are committed to being a driving force that redefines what it means to travel, helping everyone explore our world in a way that protects both people and places, and secures a positive future for destinations and local communities for generations to come.

We were founded in partnership with Booking.com, Expedia, Google, Skyscanner, Trip.com Group, Tripadvisor, and Visa. The Travalyst Coalition now includes eleven of the world’s leading companies and brands associated with travel working with us to make travel more sustainable.

Travalyst provides supportive, independent and neutral governance, empowering our Coalition of some of the biggest – and occasionally competing – travel companies and service providers to share data and accelerate change. The goal is to bring credible, consistent sustainability information to the mainstream, helping both travellers and travel companies make better, greener choices.

What does successful Donor Development look like at Travalyst?

Managing Travalyst’s corporate and individual donor base and driving revenue growth through targeted fundraising efforts.

What you’ll get to do:

This role combines soliciting new prospect donors, donor management, partnership development, and data-driven campaign execution. The ideal candidate will be skilled in relationship building, fundraising strategy, and donor engagement, with a demonstrable passion for Travalyst’s mission of promoting sustainable travel and tourism.

Donor Management (~40%)

• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with a portfolio of individual donors, corporate and institutional foundations to secure philanthropic and private funding and advance Travalyst’s mission.
• Identify, solicit, and nurture new donor prospects, ensuring continuous growth of the donor base.
• Strategise with senior leadership to retain and upgrade current donors, including personalised engagement for high-value supporters.
• Support high-value donor and corporate partner meetings, preparing personalised correspondence, proposals and briefs.

Fundraising Strategy, Campaigns, and Event Management (~30%)

• Collaborate with the Partnerships and Development team to plan, execute, and manage proposal development and annual appeal processes for fundraising campaigns, including donor and partner events, direct mail, and corporate initiatives.
• Conduct prospect research for individual donors, foundations, and international government funding sources.
• Oversee the project management and execution of partnership and donor events, ensuring seamless planning, logistics coordination, and delivery to meet revenue and engagement goals.
• Track and report progress on fundraising campaigns and events, providing analysis on key performance indicators and revenue projections.
• Work with the communications team to create compelling materials for donor outreach, event promotion, presentations, and corporate engagement.
• Secure grant funding through research, proposal development, and managing the grant application process.

Donation Administration and CRM Management (~20%)

• Manage the CRM system, ensuring donor and partner data is accurate, up-to-date, and effectively utilised for engagement and reporting.
• Partner with the Operations team to ensure all donations, invoices and tracking is completed in a timely manner with follow up to donors as required. 
• Oversee donor reporting, generating data insights and analytics to inform future strategies and donor retention efforts.
• Manage reconciliation processes and ensure development data and financial data are in alignment.
• Collaborate with the team on CRM system training and improvements and support data migration if necessary.

General Administration and Team Support (~10%)

• Provide administrative support to the Partnerships and Development team, including scheduling meetings, managing calendars, and preparing materials for donor presentations.
• Assist with special projects and additional fundraising and partnership tasks as needed.

How do we work?

We are bold and humble, showing a willingness to embrace challenges head-on. We try new things, take risks, make educated guesses and move quickly to deliver impact. We are rigorous yet adaptable in the face of evolving challenges and opportunities. Most of all, we work closely and collaboratively showing care for each other and the planet we share, so excellent communication and collaboration skills are a must. We all work remotely, so rely heavily on video calls and other technology. We strive for excellence, and pride ourselves by continuously learning every day.

What skills we’re looking for:

·       Experience in fundraising, donor management, or business development, with proven success in partnership building and substantial (ideally 6-7 figure) revenue generation.

·       Ideally, Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in Nonprofit Management, Business Development, Marketing, or related field.

·       Superior communication and writing skills, with the ability to edit text written by others and generate new text; experience in crafting compelling pitches and proposals.

·       High proficiency in CRM systems (Salesforce) and data management (experience with donor databases preferred).

·       Strong organisational skills with demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines and use project management software (Notion) to plan and track projects and work collaboratively across teams.

·       Experience with grant management, writing and corporate engagement strategies.

·       Experience with financial reporting and analysis in Excel/Google Suite.

·       Strong understanding of sustainability issues, trends and the philanthropy sector, with a track record of aligning donor objectives with environmental and social responsibility.

·       Experience working internationally and collaborating with people in diverse cultural and political contexts preferred.

·       Ability to work independently and remotely in a dynamic and fast paced team environment.

·       Strong alignment with Travalyst’s mission to promote sustainable travel and tourism.

 ·       Ability to cultivate and maintain relationships with donors, corporate partners, and foundations, ensuring long-term engagement and revenue growth.

·       Ability to develop and implement effective fundraising strategies that align with organisational goals.

·       Exceptional written and verbal communication skills for crafting compelling proposals, presentations, and campaigns; and an ability to articulate Travalyst’s mission and impact in a way that inspires giving.

·       Expertise in utilising CRM systems (Salesforce) to manage donor data, generate reports, and assess fundraising performance, deadlines and follow-ups.

·       A commitment to delivering high-quality work while holding oneself accountable for achieving measurable results. Ability to set and meet high standards for performance, ensuring transparency and integrity in all fundraising activities.

·       Understanding of financial principles related to fundraising, budgeting, and forecasting; and skilled in tracking fundraising metrics and using data to optimise strategies.

·       Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, evolving environment with changing priorities.

An ‘Open to All’ employer, we warmly welcome everybody to the team. People of colour, LGBTQIA+ people, neurodiverse people, individuals with impairments, and parents are encouraged to apply. We encourage you to notify our team of your pronouns at any stage of your application. We also welcome applications from people who come from communities that are directly affected by the impacts of travel and tourism. We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process as required. Please add any adjustment requests to your application.