Emergency Response Fundraising Senior Manager/ Director

About GiveDirectly

GiveDirectly (GD) aims to reshape international giving – and millions of lives – by providing cash grants directly to the world’s poorest. The Brookings Institution estimates that $70B of cash transfers would be required to eliminate the poverty gap; the aid sector currently spends $135B each year, much of it on evidence-free interventions. GiveDirectly wants to change that, establishing cash transfers as a benchmark for foreign aid – as the index fund is a benchmark for the financial industry – and in the process accelerating the end of extreme poverty.

GD has raised over $1B since launching in 2011, delivered cash to more than 1.5 million people in 15 different countries. We’ve also supported large-scale, experimental research that indicates strong recipient impact of our programs. As a result, GD has been celebrated as one of the most innovative non-profit companies by Fast Company, while the growing cash transfer movement (and GD’s leading role within it) have been featured in the New York Times Magazine, This American Life, Foreign Affairs, and The Economist.

Our culture is candid, analytical, agile, and non-hierarchical. Our global team of ~150, and country operations teams of ~650, together come from 21 different countries speaking 69 different languages. From software engineers to seasoned humanitarian workers, former management consultants to public servants, researchers to field operations -- it’s an incredible group of people.

Our values are central and deliberately opinionated. We genuinely center the people we serve in our decision making, and strive to build an ambitious, dynamic and high performing environment. We strongly encourage you to read through our values carefully, if they reflect how you like to work and energize you, this could be a great fit.

We work hard to create an environment in which all our team members can thrive, succeed and grow.  We support flexibility, take care of each other, have fun, and create professional growth opportunities.

Location: This role is fully remote but must overlap with an East Africa timezone by at least 3 hours. We are unable to sponsor employment visas in the U.S. or U.K. at this time.

About this role

Part of GiveDirectly’s #1 Goal this year is to use ambitious crisis responses to generate interest in cash. We envision a future in which cash is the fastest, most effective, and most dignified default for global crisis response, and GiveDirectly is as widely known as one of the top humanitarian response organizations in the world. 

As Emergency Response Fundraising Senior Manager / Director, you’ll lead fundraising across the full emergency lifecycle — from securing pre-positioned funds to activating donor outreach in the first 24–48 hours after a crisis, to managing reporting and renewals. You will own and support fundraising for our global crisis response efforts from governments, philanthropic foundations and corporations as well as individual high net worth funders. You will develop and maintain a pipeline of funding opportunities; manage the completion of concept notes and full proposals; and manage major grants & gifts and related reporting for new and recurring partners. You will sit within the Partnerships Team collaborating closely with the philanthropy, humanitarian and emergency response product teams in particular.  

We’re looking for someone with strong judgment, sharp instincts, and deep fluency in the humanitarian funding space. You don’t need a personal donor Rolodex or field experience — but you do need to know which funders move quickly, what they care about, and how to speak their language. You should be energized by fast-paced, cross-functional collaboration and bring a calm, solutions-oriented mindset under pressure.

Priority Application Deadline: December 3rd, 2025

Reports to: Director, Partnerships

Level: Senior Manager / Director

Travel Requirement: Must be able to travel ~1-2 times per year to one of our countries of operation for team retreats or field visits 

 

What you’ll do:

Emergency Activation & Real-Time Fundraising

• Lead donor outreach in the critical first 48 hours of an emergency, crafting compelling messages and coordinating fast, targeted engagement.
• Prioritize and tailor outreach based on the geography, nature of the crisis, and donor fit — knowing which funders to approach and how.
• Collaborate with program and comms teams to build real-time fundraising narratives grounded in operational data.
• Maintain and continuously improve a fundraising playbook outlining standard operating procedures for all phases of crisis response — including pre-crisis pipeline engagement, first-48-hour donor outreach, activation messaging, and post-crisis reporting and stewardship.

 

Pre-Positioned Funding & Pipeline Development

• Develop and manage a pipeline of pre-positioned funding mechanisms, with the goal of:
• Securing GiveDirectly’s inclusion on vetted donor rosters for rapid response (e.g. pre-approved partners lists, standing framework agreements, pooled funding windows); and
• Building GiveDirectly’s own flexible contingency fund to enable immediate deployment of cash in high-risk or forecasted crises.
• Scope and pursue funding aligned with early action, anticipatory response, and climate adaptation — including opportunities from bilateral/multilateral agencies, corporations, foundations, and high-net-worth individuals.
• Analyze donor behavior and market trends to create lead lists of prospective donors for high likelihood emergency response geographies. Dynamically prioritize and re-prioritize high ROI opportunities.
• Identify and communicate market changes and emerging opportunities internally to inform GiveDirectly’s international rapid response roadmap. 
• Proactively track donor strategies, policy shifts, and upcoming cycles to position GiveDirectly for sustained emergency readiness.

 

Writing & Donor Communications

• Draft high-quality fundraising materials, including appeals, proposals, decks, situation briefs, and impact reports.
• Translate complex programmatic and operational insights into clear, compelling narratives for donor audiences.
• Prepare briefing materials for senior leadership ahead of high-stakes donor conversations.

 

Donor Stewardship and Conversion

• Ensure timely, transparent, and impactful reporting for all emergency-related grants.
• Track donor interactions, deadlines, and reporting in Salesforce and internal tools.
• Partner with other fundraising team members to grow donor relationships beyond IRR into broader programming.

 

What you’ll bring:

• Exceptional alignment with GiveDirectly Values and active demonstration of our core competencies: emotional intelligence, problem solving, project management, follow-through, and fostering inclusivity. We welcome and strongly encourage applications from candidates who have personal or professional experience in the low-income and/or historically marginalized communities that we serve.
• Language Requirement: English
• Language Preferences: French, Portuguese
• Have strong experience in humanitarian fundraising — ideally with institutional, corporation, foundation, and HNWI donors.
• Know the humanitarian funding landscape: who gives, when, and how, and how to craft the right pitch at the right time.
• Are tenacious problem solvers who get things done.
• Bring excellent written and verbal communication skills, especially for high-stakes and external-facing materials, with a continuous desire to improve those skills
• Communicate exceptionally well under pressure — both in writing and in real-time with senior stakeholders.
• Are strong project managers and ruthless prioritizers, comfortable self-structuring workstreams across multiple priorities and stakeholders
• Thrive in fast-paced environments with ambiguous problems and proactively identify areas for improvement and innovation
• Are energized by GiveDirectly’s mission and the opportunity to catalyze step-change organizational growth and impact for recipients
• Are equally comfortable navigating relationships and working directly with senior leaders and executive assistants
• Have 4+ years of experience in fundraising, partnerships, or program development in a mission-driven or high-performance setting.). 
• Are strongly aligned with our values, and who actively demonstrate our core competencies: emotional intelligence, problem solving, project management, follow-through, and fostering inclusivity. We welcome and strongly encourage applications from candidates who have personal or professional experience in the low-income and/or historically marginalized communities that we serve.
• Experience living and working in humanitarian response contexts preferred
• Experience with Canva or other design tools and Salesforce or similar CRM systems preferred

 

Compensation

At GiveDirectly, we strive to pay our employees generously and equitably. We use an accredited third party salary aggregator to calculate what we believe to be competitive pay based on role, location, and cost of living. We also have a no negotiation policy to ensure we are paying staff equitably across roles. 

Read more about our compensation philosophy here.

• The United States base salary for the Senior Manager level  is $108,000.
• The UK base salary for the Senior Manager level is £71,400
• The Kenya base salary for this role is $77,500.

This role is fully remote, so if you are not based in the US,UK or Kenya, we will share an estimated salary benchmark for the country you are based in during the hiring process. 

 

Working at GiveDirectly

GiveDirectly is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to the person’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Flagging for US applicants: We invite you to "Know Your Rights" as an applicant.

Commitment to Safeguarding

As a global organization serving some of the world’s most vulnerable communities, GiveDirectly takes the safeguarding of its recipients, staff, and partners seriously. To that end, GiveDirectly is a member of the Misconduct Disclosure Scheme, and will systematically check with previous employers about any sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment issues relating to potential new hires. We may also employ other robust pre-hire screens, including in-depth reference checks, criminal background checks, and sanctions screens.

GD is committed to observing all local, national and international laws that protect children, vulnerable adults, and basic human rights of all. GD is committed to a policy of “zero tolerance for sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH)” and expects anyone who works for GD to uphold the protection and safeguarding of our recipients as a priority.

These efforts help us continue to build and maintain trust with the communities we serve, and prevent harm to our recipients.

Reasonable Accommodations

We are committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible work environment. If you require any accommodations during the application or interview process, or to perform the essential functions of the role, please email us at careers@givedirectly.org with the email subject “Accommodation Needed”. We will work with you to ensure reasonable accommodations are made to support your needs.

Want to put your best foot forward on your GiveDirectly application? Take a look at our Candidate Application Prep Guide!