Associate, Institutional Relations

Position summary:
The Associate, Institutional Relations (IR) is responsible for ensuring harmonization of efforts across a large, global team working to secure revenue from foundation, government and multilateral funding sources. The Associate, IR will provide general administrative support to the department director and the entire Institutional Relations team. This includes supporting external-facing fundraising staff with research, proposal bid development processes, and cultivation communication. The role works across Rainforest Alliance teams when assembling due diligence documentation for funders, writing compelling proposal and report elements, producing donor acknowledgements and maintaining clear department policies and protocols. The Associate serves as the team’s Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) lead, ensuring data integrity and consistency of use, and developing reports to help inform fundraising strategy. They work closely with the Director, Institutional Relations to ensure a well-organized and effective development function while working across the organization to trouble-shoot, identify efficiencies, and ensure the global team runs smoothly.
Responsibilities:
The Rainforest Alliance’s Core Values are Impact, Change, Collaboration, Openness and Trust and as such they form the basis of the behaviours we demonstrate.

• Serve as key support across the IR team, coordinating actions of staff based globally;
• Serve as the IR Team lead in handling its donor database, working across the team to ensure integrity of data and maximizing capacity for benefit from the CRM system;
• Create and implement CRM reports that help inform team’s fundraising strategy;
• Maintain and improve IR team’s intranet and file storing systems;
• Participate in proposal development processes, supporting internal coordination, due diligence documentation, and writing as necessary;
• Create, adjust, and implement policies and protocols that ensure best practices are followed within the IR Team to ensure efficiency and effectiveness;
• Write, adapt and edit compelling communication pieces as part of team members’ cultivation, solicitation, and reporting efforts;
• Support research on funding opportunities and trends;
• Draft acknowledgement letters for gifts secured; and
• Other tasks as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree required;
• Minimum of 3 years’ professional work experience with background in fundraising, specifically with institutional donors;
• Must have excellent communication skills (both written and verbal);
• Strong computer skills required (Microsoft Word, Excel, Teams, PowerPoint, and Sharepoint);
• Experience with CRM systems required (Salesforce preferred);
• High degree of organizational skill, including the ability to manage multiple priorities and work under tight timelines;
• Strong attention to detail required as well as ability to work well both independently and as part of a team;
• Spanish language fluency preferred and
• Knowledge of climate change, agriculture, and/or community development issues preferred.

Job level: 5A
New York Salary Range - $51,922- $74,174
Deadline: 29 March 2024
Notes: Only candidates authorized to work in New York will be considered.
If you have any questions about the job vacancy, please contact the HR department: recruitment@ra.org

WHO WE ARE:
The Rainforest Alliance is creating a more sustainable world by using social and market forces to protect nature and improve the lives of farmers and forest communities. To achieve our mission, we partner with diverse allies around the world to drive positive change across global supply chains and in many of our most critically important natural landscapes.
Our alliance spans 70 countries and includes farmers and forest communities, companies, governments, civil society, and millions of individuals. Together we work to protect forests and biodiversity, take action on climate, and promote the rights and improve the livelihoods of rural people.
As an international nonprofit organization with more than 30 years of experience in sustainability transformation, we understand that the social and economic well-being of rural communities is tightly connected to ecosystem health. This knowledge has shaped our rigorous programs to advance sustainable land-use and commodity production.
At the Rainforest Alliance we combat climate change, protect forests and biodiversity, promote human rights, and improve livelihoods. The enormity of the social and environmental challenges we are facing requires working together in a broad alliance. This is why we bring farmers, forest communities, companies, and consumers together to change the way the world produces, sources, and consumes.
Why
To protect nature and improve lives it’s becoming increasingly urgent that we approach the way we use our land and produce food and other products in more sustainable ways. For this to succeed we need to fundamentally change the way that businesses operate and source, and the choices we all make as consumers.
How
Our growing global alliance aims to transform our relationship with our natural resources and each other, to create a better future for people and nature together.
The Rainforest Alliance encourages diversity and inclusion across the global organization. With this commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, ages, disability, and any other protected group.