Associate Director - Fundraising

About Quest Alliance:

Quest Alliance is a not-for-profit organization working across India, dedicated to equipping young people with the skills they need to thrive in a rapidly evolving world of work. Since 2008, weve been reimagining how young learners, especially those from underserved communities experience education, career readiness, and lifelong learning. We have been enabling equitable school-to-work transitions by building future-ready learning ecosystems that prioritize access, inclusion, and innovation.

Through strong collaboration with government systems, educators, communities, and civil society, we co-create tech-enabled learning experiences that empower young learnersespecially those from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds to build dignified, thriving and future-ready careers.

We envision a world where education goes beyond access, becoming a powerful tool for self-empowerment, social mobility, and lasting impact.

Role Overview:

The Associate Director - Fundraising will be responsible for leading strategic fundraising initiatives, cultivating high-value partnerships, and driving revenue growth to support the organisations mission. This role will focus on developing multi-year funding relationships with institutional donors, corporates, high-net-worth individuals, and philanthropic foundations. The Associate Director will also oversee donor stewardship and proposal development

About the Role:

Fundraising Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and implement a comprehensive fundraising strategy aligned to organisational priorities.
• Identify new revenue streams, diversify funding sources and focus on generating new funds for the organisation
• Lead high-value donor engagement plans for long-term partnerships.

Donor Cultivation & Relationship Management

• Build and maintain strong relationships with institutional donors, corporate CSR teams, HNIs, and philanthropic foundations.
• Represent the organisation at donor meetings, networking events, and sector forums.
• Oversee timely and high-quality donor stewardship activities.
• Lead the development and submission of critical grant proposals, ensuring alignment with funder priorities and internal strategy

Donor Communications:

• Design communication strategies to position Quest as a thought leader with existing and potential donors
• Design creative ways of engaging with donors strategically - in forums/ 1-1 meetings/ smaller convenings or collaborative pieces of work

Team Management

• Lead a team of fundraising members who manage donor research and proposal writing
• Build capacities of the team to deliver quality proposals and insights
• Build a culture within the team that fosters learning, a holistic view of the organisation, sector and philanthropy

Collaboration and Leadership:

• Work closely with the Executive team, and other staff members to align fundraising efforts with the overall organizational and program strategy.
• Provide leadership, direction, and mentorship to the fundraising team, fostering a collaborative and high-performing environment.
• Pitch Quests work to potential donors and be able to have strategic conversations in line with Quest priority areas
• Represent Quest in forums, events, networking conferences and be a spokesperson for Quests work

We are looking for people who:

• Are passionate and have an understanding about the challenges India is facing in education and employability domain
• Ability to have strategic and big picture conversations with funders
• Diligent in their work and able to work with multiple teams to get things done.
• Can work independently is a go-getter and enjoys interacting with Indian and overseas philanthropy and is a great communicator
• Can deal with ambiguity and proactively explore solutions

Skill Sets:

• Experience in fundraising/ networking/ writing proposals
• Experience in managing a fundraising team
• Strong communication skills in English, both written and verbal.
• Initiative and self driven
• Experience in fundraising with foundations, family offices and HNIs would be a plus

Salary: