About Root Capital
Agriculture is the key to unlocking a better future for billions of people. But while rural families sustain the world, they struggle to sustain themselves. Root Capital is a nonprofit social impact investor that puts its money where others don't – in underserved agricultural businesses.
We provide financing and business training to agricultural enterprises in the “missing middle” - those that are too big for microloans but too small for commercial lenders. As these agricultural businesses succeed and scale, they become engines of impact that help farming families, communities, and economies to flourish.
Founded in 1999, we are the largest social investor in agricultural businesses. As both a lender and a nonprofit, our unique model allows us to go where other financiers don’t and support agricultural enterprises so they can succeed and grow. Our world-class team of experts identifies, partners with, and invests in exceptional agricultural entrepreneurs in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Over 23 years, Root Capital has invested $1.9 billion in more than 750 agricultural enterprises, proving these under-served businesses are bankable and investable. We have shown that access to finance helps these enterprises succeed and fuels the economy. Root Capital’s investments and essential business and finance training have impacted 10 million farming families through job creation, financial security, and climate resiliency. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, we currently have offices in Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Colombia, Peru, Ghana, and Kenya.
Position Overview
Root Capital’s mission is to transform rural communities by investing in the capacity and growth of agricultural businesses. Working as part of the Institutional Giving team, the Senior Manager, Corporate Relations will lead Root Capital’s fundraising efforts with the private sector, building meaningful and long-lasting relationships with companies and corporate foundations to support Root Capital’s efforts. This position will be responsible for leading the identification, cultivation, and stewardship of private sector partners and play a critical role in helping the organization meet its fundraising goals.
The Senior Manager, Corporate Relations serves as a conduit between Root Capital’s programmatic staff and our company and corporate foundation partners, identifying mutually beneficial partnerships that further Root Capital’s mission and support the objectives of our private sector partners. The Senior Manager helps uncover the goals and interests of corporations, corporate foundation prospects, and donors and collects and synthesizes information about Root to establish a compelling case for support and collaboration.
Responsibilities
Strategy Development and Delivery (20%)
- Develop and implement a comprehensive corporate fundraising program which will generate gifts from corporations and corporate foundations.
- Design and oversee implementation of strategy to engage current and prospective corporate partners.
- Ensure understanding and alignment across Root Capital departments and geographies around our corporate strategy, priorities, goals, budgets and partner expectations.
- Develop and implement innovative stewardship and engagement opportunities for corporate and corporate foundation partners.
Portfolio Management (30%)
- Secure $5M — $10M / year in new commitments from portfolio in support of Root Capital’s mission.
- Act as account and/or primary relationship manager for a portfolio of 15–25 accounts, including high-level, key accounts for the organization, delivering on all aspects of relationship management and funder engagement including timely and accurate submissions, reporting, and management of proposals and grant reports to keep donors engaged in Root Capital’s work and position for renewals and expanded partnerships.
- Leverage communication content (client stories, impact studies, analyses, etc.) and help to curate communications with partners to keep corporate and corporate foundation partners aware and engaged in Root Capital’s work.
- Represent Root Capital at key meetings, conferences, events, etc. that are relevant to the portfolio.
- Collaborate with colleagues to support the organization’s efforts to deliver on grant deliverables.
- In partnership with the writing team, deliver high quality funding proposals and reports.
- Ensure targets and performance metrics are SMART, meet donor expectations and monitor progress against targets to ensure delivery on partnership.
- Manage donor communication and expectations, report on activities and progress on goals.
- Document donor communications and account statuses for stewardship purposes in institutional systems including, but not limited to, Salesforce.
- Utilize best practices for tracking, acknowledgment and reporting progress to corporate partners and ensure accurate capturing, recording and reporting of foundation relationships and grants, including call notes, submission dates, reporting deadlines and payment schedules.
Leads Development (30%)
- Proactively identify, cultivate, solicit and build relationships with private sector prospects, ensuring a strong pipeline of 10-20 prospects.
- Conduct research and analysis on prospect’s interests and giving potential for solicitation. Initiate and develop communication with prospective funding sources.
- Develop and implement Root Capital’s strategy with key prospects, managing engagements and activating individuals (internally and externally to EA) to play a key role in cultivating relationships (setting up, planning, documenting, and driving follow-up on donor engagements).
- Build and maintain relationships with sources of new leads, such as peer institutions and other funders.
Organizational, Programmatic & Team Responsibilities (20%)
- Develop and maintain in-depth knowledge of the organization, mission, programs, activities, resources and fundraising needs.
- Build the business case and articulate Root Capital’s needs to private sector supporters persuasively.
- Supervise Account Manager in successful delivery of expectation on PRM’s portfolio.
- Coach Account Manager on development and management of the Account Manager’s individual portfolio.
- Participate in organizational strategy development, ensuring appropriate integration of corporate trends as well as specific donor insights and theories of change.
- Represent the IPP and EA team in engagements with other departments to achieve a shared understanding of Root Capital’s institutional partners and fundraising priorities.
- Perform other relevant duties as assigned.
Required Skills and Experience
- Proven fundraising ability, with a minimum of 10 years’ experience engaging private sector entities, including prospecting, cultivation, proposal writing, budget experience and stewardship.
- Demonstrated knowledge of methods, practices, and procedures for obtaining information about the giving programs of companies and corporate foundation and demonstrable track record in stewarding engagements and bringing transactions to closure.
- Experience and comfort engaging with and soliciting senior company executives and board members.
- Excellent interpersonal and verbal communication skills, including the ability to effectively communicate to a wide range of external and internal constituents on complex, technical ideas.
- Strong writing and editing skills, and a proven ability to distill challenging technical content into readily accessible formats.
- Highly motivated, well-organized and able to thrive in a fast-paced and rapidly evolving work environment.
- Experience in international development and time in developing countries strongly preferred, and knowledge of and interest in financial markets and/or impact investing a plus.
- Strategy driven, entrepreneurial self-starter capable of thinking creatively, taking initiative, and working independently, while enjoying working collaboratively and knowing when to seek support.
- Language skills (Spanish or French) strongly preferred.
- Must be authorized to work in the United States.
- Commitment to Root Capital’s mission.
- Travel expectations: 15-20%
Applications
More information about Root Capital is available at www.rootcapital.org. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Candidates are encouraged to apply using the form below as soon as possible, making sure to include a resume and cover letter that describes your interest, qualifications, language abilities, salary requirements, and how you learned of the position. Finalist candidates will be required to provide at least three work-related references.
Root Capital provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, active military or veteran status, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, medical conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth, and breastfeeding and expressing breast milk), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. Root Capital is committed to creating a dynamic work environment that upholds our leadership principles of: empowerment, equity, integrity, service, and transparency.
