Senior Philanthropy Advisor

India Climate Collaborative • Advisor • Mumbai • 3m ago

About the ICC

The India Climate Collaborative (ICC) was established in 2020 to coordinate and support Indian philanthropists scaling corporate and family philanthropy in India for climate impact. We unlock philanthropic capital, identify catalytic climate priorities, and create connective infrastructure. We were founded by some of India's pre-eminent corporate and philanthropic leaders, including Rohini Nilekani, Ratan Tata, Anand Mahindra, Nadir Godrej, and others.

Among other donor typologies, the ICC aims to empower and cultivate climate leaders among high net-worth individuals in India. The role of ICC is to direct funds towards those climate priorities that are aligned with India’s ambitious mitigation targets, development goals and to advocate for accelerated climate funding and more integrated action. The ICC plays the role of an advisor to these Climate Leaders, it does not charge its services, nor does it pool grant capital – the funds flow directly from philanthropists to climate solutions and organisations.

Senior Philanthropy Advisor

The Senior Philanthropy Advisor is a key member of the Development team and is responsible for guiding and advising philanthropists. These strategic advisors proactively help bring new donors to climate, and once they are interested, help engage them while building strategies to support their giving at the speed and scale the climate sector needs. They will have to manage high and ultra-high-net-worth individuals while working in close partnership with the climate intelligence team within the ICC to guide where their funding should flow.

The Senior Philanthropy Advisor must be passionate about the impactful role that philanthropy can have on one of the most critical issues of our time. Operating as a credible champion for the climate sector and a trusted advisor to philanthropists, the Senior Philanthropy Advisor will be working to move millions into climate action in India in the coming years. To be successful, candidates must understand how donors operate, how to build relationships with them that are authentic, and how to spur them into action with the speed and scale this issue requires through engagement, learning, listening, and advising.

The ideal Senior Philanthropy Advisor has a background in fundraising and has done a significant amount of partnership and HNI or donor advisory work in the past. They will report to, and work in close partnership with the Director, Development to determine how to build a cohort of highly committed and passionate Climate Leaders who are ready to give significant philanthropic capital to catalytic, systems-oriented climate action.

Specific Responsibilities Include

- Develop strategies to engage new donors for funding climate solutions, including evaluating key networks and other options for helping families of means recognize the importance of climate and begin to engage.
- Manage a portfolio of 4–6 donors, developing tailored action plans or roadmaps that align with their goals and insights gathered from engagement touchpoints. Identify strategic funding opportunities and design a targeted approach for sourcing climate solutions across key priority areas, ultimately facilitating the deployment of grant capital toward high-impact climate initiatives.
- Act as a fundraising partner to Director - Development in support of managing major donors.
- Gather data, assess prospects, and develop strategies designed to realize the current and lifetime giving potential of prospective donors.
- Collaborate with climate intelligence colleagues to identify fundable opportunities for philanthropists and attract multi-interest donors through multi-solution projects. Work alongside climate teams to develop compelling proposals, concept notes, and stewardship reports that effectively communicate the impact of these opportunities in clear and engaging narratives.
- Serve as an active member of the development team; support the implementation of the development team’s short- and long-term objectives; set strategies annually to meet yearly and five-year goals; iterate based on learnings.
- Work cross-functionally to develop content and strategy for philanthropy-focused events and experiences to find and engage new donors for climate.
- Develop and manage materials to support engagement, including tailored tools for new philanthropists, presentations, concept notes, meetings, portfolio materials, and special events.
- Support assigned philanthropists through a process of learning from the first gift to fully scaled giving for climate. This could include designing learning sessions, portfolio creation, connection to peer ambassadors, and helping determine first criteria or other touchpoints as needed.
- Support philanthropists' long-term commitment to climate philanthropy and maintain ICC's professional relationships and visibility with key donor and partner NGO networks; mobilize these networks to identify new donors for climate and scale their giving.
- Represent ICC at strategic convenings to cultivate funding opportunities and strategic partnerships.
- Support programmatic teams and leadership to understand the qualifications required in specific funding opportunities, and collaborate with core operating units as they develop systems, controls, and processes to manage restricted funding according to donor requirements

Skills and Experience:

- 15+ years of experience in fundraising or donor advising, with a strong track record in engaging top executives.
- Expertise in principal development work or donor advising is critical for this role. Proven success in cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding seven-figure gifts from philanthropists, especially ultra-high-net-worth donors.
- Strong relationship-building and convening skills to engage CSO partners, ICC team members, and the broader ecosystem.
- Excellent written and verbal communication, with a persuasive and strategic approach.
- Strategic mindset with the ability to read between the lines, translating priorities into operational reality.
- Experience with fundraising strategies, and corporate sales is a plus.
- Background in climate, for-profit, or investment sectors is desirable.
- Adaptable in a dynamic funding environment with a positive, solutions-oriented mindset.
- Willingness to travel up to 25% as needed.

Personal Traits and Competencies:

- Able to influence without power, advance complex strategies with agility.
- Collaborative and respectful, but unafraid to take decisions.
- High emotional intelligence, and the ability to approach difficult conversations with grace.
- Patience and a strong learning mindset, while encouraging that in others.
- Strong work ethic, intellectual curiosity and a sense of humour.
- Is deeply mission driven and passionate about climate action.
- Loves to build and embraces ambiguity

Terms of employment: Consultant

Location: Mumbai/Bengaluru/Delhi

Timeline

Prospective candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible, and will be interviewed on a rolling basis. Due to the small capacity of our team, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

The India Climate Collaborative, registered as the Council of Philanthropies for Climate Action, is an equal opportunity employer.