Posted on July 10, 2012

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Development Director

Foundation For Excellence or FFE (www.ffe.org) is a prominent scholarship provider to bright and needy students in India. Currently the scope of scholarships includes students in India who have secured competitive admission in engineering and medical degree programs. To qualify for the scholarship, a student needs to be among the top 15 % in a National or State-wide merit entrance examination, and economically below the poverty line of income distribution curve.

The FFE scholarship management system utilizes a proven and reliable methodology for scholar selection, funding and performance tracking. The selection process previously conducted in the US is now transferred to Bangalore, India. Therefore, the US operations are now limited to overall guidance to FFE India and fund raising. The intent of the program is to keep the overheads at a minimum by utilizing volunteers in house and in the field. FFE also covers all overhead expenses from the endowment. This enables 100% of a private donor’s contribution to be utilized fully for scholarships.

B. Sources of scholarship funds:

The genesis of FFE funding goes back to the Prabhu and Poonam Goel endowment that to this date remains the largest source of funds for the scholarships. In addition, there is a modest fund raising effort in the US, and in the last few years India also has started to raise scholarship money. Broadly the sources of funds have included individual donors and family foundations, corporate employee matching grant programs, corporate and non-profit foundations and trusts, and FFE alumni. The total amount of money and scholarships money raised in the US has been stable, and not on a notable growth curve.

C. The FFE 2012 Plan of achieving 20% + growth in scholarships:

The FFE Board has recently made a decision to put FFE on a growth trajectory by achieving donations at a growing rate year- after- year, both in the US and India. The India office has thus been structured with these objectives. The US office is in the process of establishing such a growth structure.

D. Job Opening & Responsibilities: Development Director (DD) in Silicon Valley:

With the aim of lifting FFE on a healthy growth path for scholarships and donations, a Development Director position is defined as follows: The position will report to the President of FFE.

• The primary responsibility of the Development Director (DD) will be to raise funds beyond what has been done in the past. A yearly growth of 25-30% is the target, starting with a base line gross amount of roughly $800K per year.
• The secondary responsibility will be to perform the Public Relations (PR) function for FFE, including, but not limited to media publicity and new initiatives.
• The FFE US office currently has a part-time Director of Operations and a part-time Office Manager. Together they take care of compliance, accounting, banking relationships, some donor support and support of volunteer-driven events. Development function will remain a 1-person operation, reporting to the President. A few Directors will also help in the guidance.

The Job Description:

1. To clearly put together the plans for the year ahead, in agreement with the President and Board members responsible for fund raising.
2. To prepare a monthly progress report for the President (and the Board) by the 10th of the subsequent month...
3. To identify and nurture key volunteers (say up to 10) in the Bay area that will help with access to the different sources of funds.
4. To create and keep updated a compelling presentation for FFE (including PPT, video clips and testimonials and to present these very professionally, as needed.
5. To keep each contact fresh by a regular system of follow ups during the year, such as status report, thank you notes etc.
6. To gently, but with clear objectives engage all Directors in the process of meeting various potential donors.
7. To creatively introduce FFE to the social media with funding as the objective.
8. To help extend FFE to other US cities ( 2 cities each year), where passionate volunteers are willing to establish the start-up office.
9. To issue a regular monthly report for review by the President that can be shared with all Directors. It should include achievements and help needed etc.
10. To write grant applications to well-researched 3-4 foundations each year and Trusts in US and India that support FFE-like programs.

Compensation and Benefits: will be competitive. Details to be discussed in interviews

G. Qualifications and experience:

• The position of DD requires a variety of human skills, sales and marketing mind set, and a good public relations face. Therefore the Board will weigh the collection of a candidate’s demonstrated qualifications and experiences in determining the best choice.
• Education:
• College degree ( advanced degree(s) and continuing education desirable).

• Prior experiences with FFE (what, when and who etc.)
• Prior experiences with other educational charities (what, when and who etc.)
• Communications and PR experiences
• Marketing and sales experiences
• Fund Raising Experiences in Paid Position(s)
• (Organizations, durations, size of funds raised)
• Fund Raising experiences as a Volunteer
• (Organizations, durations, size of funds raised)
• Administrative experiences: Management of people, operations and assets)
• Experiences of building a team:
• Experiences of working with a team
• Experiences of working with a Board of Directors: Organization and role.
• Experiences of event planning and organizing:
• Organizational networking experiences with the Indo- American community in the Bay Area.
• Organizational networking with the Indo- American network in other US cities.
• Organizational networking experiences with the other communities and groups.
• Candidates brief and concise narrative of THREE PRIMARY REASONS that she/he believes will lead to their success ( please limit each reason to a maximum of 30-words)

H. Deadline for applications: July 15th, 2012

CONTACT PERSONS:

Venk Shukla, President: vnshukla@yahoo.com

Kailash Joshi, Director: Kailashcjoshi@gmail.com

Application Instructions

Please submit your resume in Adobe PDF or MS Word format to

Attention: Mr. Venk Shukla, President - vnshukla@yahoo.com