This role is designed for someone who is curious about fundraising, partnerships, relationship management, and donor engagement within Ashoka.
0.5 FTE / 20 hours per week
Location: Must be based in Vienna, Brussels or Berlin
Duration: 6 months with the possibility to extend
Start date: September 2026
What you will learn:
This role offers a unique opportunity to learn how fundraising, and partnerships work from the inside. You will gain exposure to how senior leaders identify opportunities, build relationships with donors and partners, prepare for strategic conversations, and translate Ashoka’s work into compelling engagement opportunities.
The successful candidate will have the opportunity to:
- Work closely with seasoned and highly experienced leaders within Ashoka.
- Learn different approaches and styles of fundraising, donor engagement, and relationship management.
- Shadow our senior leaders and develop the foundations to become a confident partnerships and donor engagement professional.
- Build fluency in speaking about Ashoka’s core work, programs, Fellows, and offerings.
- Understand how fundraising leaders identify, cultivate, and steward donors and partners.
- Collaborate with teams across Europe and, where relevant, globally.
- Strengthen leadership, communication, coordination, research, and organizational skills.
- Gain hands-on experience with fundraising systems, donor research tools, and internal coordination processes.
Responsibilities:
- Conducting desk research on potential funders, including ultra-high-net-worth individuals, high-net-worth individuals, corporates, foundations, family offices, and other relevant prospects.
- Using research platforms and tools to support funder mapping.
- Supporting the identification and organization of new fundraising leads and opportunities.
- Supporting the management of fundraising leads through Planner, Salesforce, or other internal tracking systems.
- Ensuring leads are kept up to date and handled in line with GDPR requirements.
- Supporting Salesforce hygiene, including helping ensure that qualified or warm leads are recorded and updated at the agreed frequency.
- Helping document learnings from prospect and donor engagement so Nikki and Marie can continue to improve the fundraising approach over time.
- Supporting the preparation of fundraising materials, including pitch decks, proposals, concept notes, donor briefings, and tailored materials for specific prospects.
- Helping adapt existing materials to specific funders, partners, or opportunities.
- Supporting the drafting, formatting, and coordination of documents needed for donor engagement.
- Helping ensure fundraising materials are clear, tailored, up to date, and aligned with Ashoka’s language and priorities.
- Supporting Senior Leaders with diary and meeting management.
- Scheduling calls and meetings with external stakeholders, prospects, partners, and potential funders.
- Supporting timely follow-up after meetings.
- Drafting emails for external follow-up and coordination.
- Preparing agendas, briefing materials, and debriefing notes for external meetings.
- Taking notes, capturing action points, and tracking follow-ups from relevant external meetings when needed.
- Helping coordinate regular check-ins to track fundraising priorities, open leads, and next steps.
- Preparing agendas, taking notes, capturing action points, and tracking follow-ups from internal meetings.
- Supporting internal communications so that relevant information is shared with other Ashoka colleagues where needed.
- Helping keep workflows structured, visible, and up to date.
- Supporting coordination with finance colleagues to help ensure accurate tracking and management of donor contributions where needed.
- Supporting the organization of fundraising processes, expectations, and internal knowledge.
What the role entails: Operational Support and Lead Management and Coordination
1. Lead Generation
2. Proposal Writing
3. External Operational Support
4. Internal Team Management
Profile we are looking for
We are looking for a master’s student in their final semester or a post-graduate student (within 6 months of graduation) who is excited to learn by doing and contribute to meaningful fundraising and partnership work.
The ideal person is:
- Structured, reliable, and detail oriented.
- Curious about fundraising, philanthropy, partnerships, and social entrepreneurship.
- Comfortable coordinating across different people, priorities, and timelines.
- A strong communicator, both written and verbal.
- Proactive and able to follow up consistently.
- Comfortable working with documents, spreadsheets, databases, and online research.
- Able to handle sensitive information with care and discretion.
- Interested in Ashoka’s mission and eager to learn how fundraising supports systems-change work.
- Entrepreneurially mature, creative, independent, and willing to improve processes and bring ideas where needed.
Prior fundraising experience is encouraged. More important is a strong willingness to learn, a high level of organization, and the ability to work thoughtfully with senior leaders.
Skills Required
- Enrolled in a master's program (final semester) or postgraduate within 6 months of graduation
- Based in Vienna, Brussels, or Berlin
- Available to work ~20 hours per week (0.5 FTE)
- Structured, reliable, and detail oriented
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Comfortable coordinating across people, priorities, and timelines
- Proactive and able to follow up consistently
- Comfortable working with documents, spreadsheets, databases, and online research
- Able to handle sensitive information with care and discretion
- Interest in Ashoka's mission and systems-change work
- Experience with Salesforce or other CRM/fundraising systems
- Prior fundraising experience
- Entrepreneurial mindset; creative, independent, and willing to improve processes
What We Do
Ashoka is a global organization that identifies and supports leading social entrepreneurs, building a worldwide community of changemakers. It aims to create a world where everyone can contribute to positive change by fostering empathy, teamwork, and new leadership. Ashoka provides stipends, strategic advice, and a network to its Fellows, driving social innovation and systemic change for the good of society.
