Background to the role

Inspiring donors to help protect people, animals and the planet

The Good Food Institute Europe (GFI Europe) is at the forefront of the movement to transform meat production in order to solve some of the world’s biggest problems, from climate change and global hunger, to antibiotic resistance and animal suffering.

We work with scientists, businesses and policymakers to make plant-based and cultivated meat (grown directly from cells) delicious, affordable and accessible. Please check out the rest of our website, our 2023 Year in Review and our 5 year anniversary blog post to find out more about who we are and what we do.

We are at an exciting stage in our growth and are looking for a remote Donor Engagement Officer to support GFI’s fundraising efforts across Europe.

How you will make a difference

The work of GFI is entirely funded through philanthropic support. Reporting to our Philanthropy Manager, you will be responsible for translating the incredible work of GFI Europe’s programmatic teams into inspiring, engaging stewardship touch-points for our donors. You will bring creativity and data-driven insights to this role. The stewardship touch-points you deliver will support the work of our whole development team and inspire donors at all levels. You will also maintain and upgrade the support of leadership giving level (€2,000-€25,000 p.a.) donors in your own portfolio.

Your work will include:

• Delivering GFI Europe’s existing stewardship strategy (e.g. a mid-year impact update, end-of-year blog, virtual events, and gift anniversary emails). 
• Enhancing GFI Europe’s stewardship strategy to maintain and improve donor retention at all gift levels, by researching and recommending creative and effective stewardship ideas (e.g. videos, digital stewardship platforms, events), suggesting improvements to existing processes, materials and resources, and implementing these changes. 
• Building strong, meaningful, long-term relationships with a portfolio of 20-30 leadership-giving level donors and prospects (individuals and some foundations) across Europe through face-to-face meetings, video and telephone calls, email and other channels, to acquire, retain and upgrade their support.
• Collating and crafting timely, understandable, concise, and interesting updates about high-impact news about GFI Europe’s work, tailored to different countries and cultures, that frontline fundraisers can share with donors and prospects to show how their support makes a difference and inspires further giving.
• Helping to provide GFI Europe’s input into global stewardship materials and events, such as the Year in Review by collecting and submitting impact stories and collaborating with global colleagues.
• Assisting other frontline fundraisers with stewardship reports, according to need and capacity.
• Ensuring accurate, timely and thorough correspondence, acknowledgement and record-keeping at all stages of the donor journey for donors in your portfolio. You will use our CRM system (Salesforce) to manage prospects and supporters, enter and track gifts, pull reports, and analyse data. 
• Performing other relevant duties as required. 

Who we’re looking for

We primarily hire for skills and potential rather than experience. The core skills and attributes needed to excel in the role are:

• A passion for our philosophy and mission.
• A good understanding of the donor journey from identification through to solicitation and stewardship. 
• Comprehension & communication: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills in English, and the ability to understand a range of information (i.e. about alternative proteins, and GFI Europe’s science, policy and industry work) and translate it into compelling and persuasive messages for donors. 
• Creative thinking: The ability to develop creative, innovative strategies and materials for engaging supporters. 
• Project management: Experience in managing projects from conception to fruition. 
• Initiative: a sense of ownership and responsibility to drive outcomes.
• Excellent people skills: building strong, collaborative and positive relationships, and working well with colleagues and stakeholders across multiple cultures.

• Attention to detail: ensuring accuracy of information, for example when using a CRM database to record and track interactions with donors and prospects.
• Tech savviness: Good level of IT literacy and a willingness to learn new software packages (training in Salesforce, Asana, and Google Suite will be provided). 

• Integrity: A high degree of professionalism, confidentiality, and discretion.
• Openness to DEI principles: an affinity with our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and with maintaining our welcoming and supportive culture.

It would be an advantage to have some or all of the following attributes, but none of them are prerequisites, and we welcome applications from candidates without any or all of them:

• A willingness to occasionally work flexibly, including occasional evenings, weekends and public holidays (for example, for donor meetings).
• Experience in video editing and/or graphic design.
• A proven track record of securing philanthropic gifts via face-to-face, digital or telephone fundraising.
• The ability to work in European languages in addition to English. German, French or Dutch would be a particular advantage.   
• A willingness to occasionally travel across Europe in pursuit of philanthropic opportunities.

We want the best people and we know that building a diverse, inclusive workplace leads to stronger, happier, more productive and resilient teams. We strongly encourage people of every ethnicity, orientation, age, gender, origin, socio-economic background, and ability to apply. As a pan-European organisation, we welcome applications from across the whole continent. Because we value a diverse workplace, we prioritise an inclusive culture absent of discrimination and harassment during the application process and after you join the team.

Benefits and the fine print

• Terms of employment: Full-time (38 hours/week), flexible working hours, permanent.
• Location: We can consider applicants based in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain or the UK. This is a remote role, and you will be able to work from home, or we are happy to consider supporting costs for co-working to enable you to work from an office if you wish. The whole GFI Europe team aims to get together in person approximately twice per year for around 3-5 days at a time. Travel costs will be covered by GFI Europe within our travel policy.
• Salary and benefits:  The salary and benefits package for all of our roles are researched and benchmarked based on similar nonprofit roles in the country/location of hire. Due to capacity, we cannot complete that research for every European country in advance, but approximate indicative ranges (total annual amounts received in gross salary plus benefits including home-working allowance) are likely to be:
  • £36.000 – 39.600  if based in the UK.
• Right-to-work requirements: The successful candidate must, by the start of the employment, have permission to work in the country where they are based, and to be able to travel within the EU.

Application process

Please apply through Bamboo Fundraising here, and reach out to info@bamboofundraising.co.uk with any questions.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about this role, please do reach out to us at europe-hiring@gfi.org. If you’ve read this far but decided not to apply, please share this job description with someone else in your network who you think might be a good fit for the role! Thank you.