Director of Advancement

Zoho; Sonipat; On-site; INR 4,000,000 - 7,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Rishihood University seeks a Director of Advancement to lead fundraising, donor cultivation, endowment development, and corporate partnerships. The role reports to the CEO and interacts with the Board to scale institutional giving and long-term sustainability.

The position is Mumbai-based with extensive travel for donor engagement, diaspora outreach, and international partnerships, aiming to build a professional advancement function at scale.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience in institutional fundraising or related finance roles.
• Proven track record of raising significant institutional capital and endowment gifts.
• Experience with HNIs, family offices, and international donors is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Design and own multi-year fundraising strategy including gifts, endowments, and grants.
• Build deep donor relationships and a decade-long institutional partnership approach.
• Lead endowment strategy, gift structuring, and corpus management oversight.
• Identify corporate partnerships and foundations for program-level funding.
• Lead advancement systems, CRM implementation, and reporting dashboards.
• Plan and execute high-impact donor events and diaspora engagement.

Skills

Fundraising strategy

Donor cultivation

Endowment design

Gift structuring

Institutional partnerships

Pipeline management

Major gifts

Donor stewardship

Board reporting

Diaspora engagement

Tools

CRM software

Advancement systems

Job description

Rishihoodis India's first national transformation university. It prepares learners tosolve the big problems of tomorrow. Our transformative education is built onthree pillars:

1.Personal Impact – developingphysical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual strength.

2.Professional Impact – buildingreal-world skills through industry-integrated, practice-based learning.

3.Public Impact – fostering interdisciplinary thinking and acommitment to nation-building.

At Rishihood, we nurture leaderswho will transform themselves, their professions, and the nation.

POSITION | Director

Purpose

The Director is responsible forphilanthropic strategy, institutional fundraising, and long-term endowmentbuilding at the university.

Reporting to the CEO and workingclosely with the Board of Founders, the Director of Advancement will beresponsible for designing and executing a comprehensive fundraisingarchitecture, spanning individual philanthropy, institutional grants, corporatepartnerships, and endowment corpus development, while building the systems,relationships, and culture that allow Rishihood to fund its next phase ofgrowth sustainably.

This is a Mumbai based role withsignificant travel, both domestic and international, for donor engagement,diaspora outreach, and institutional partnership development.

Rishihood University is entering itsnext phase of institutional growth. Since its formal inauguration in late 2021,the institution has:

• · Achieved stability in operations, programs, and campusculture
• · Built a strong, mission-aligned team and growingstudent base
• · Established credibility with policymakers, industryleaders, and philanthropists
• · Initiated endowed schools and long-term institutionalpartnerships

The next phase requires:

• · A structured, professionally managed advancementfunction built to institutional scale
• · A long-term endowment strategy capable of fundingRishihood's schools, research centres, and scholarships sustainably
• · Sophisticated donor cultivation and stewardship, acrossIndia, the US, the UK, and the Gulf
• – The financial discipline and investment mindset tomanage corpus growth, gift structuring, and institutional capital

The Director of Advancement will buildthis function from a strong but early-stage foundation into a world-classadvancement operation..

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

1. Fundraising Strategy and Execution

a. Design and own Rishihood's multi-year fundraisingstrategy, including annual giving, major gifts, endowments, grants, andcorporate partnerships

b. Set and deliver ambitious but credible fundraisingtargets in consultation with the leadership team

c. Build and maintain a live, tiered pipeline of prospectivedonors including HNIs, family offices, foundations, diaspora networks, andinstitutional funders

d. Lead the conversion of warm relationships into structuredphilanthropic commitments, from first conversation to gift closure

e. Identify and pursue institutional grants fromfoundations, bilateral agencies, and government schemes relevant to Rishihood'smission

2. Donor Cultivation and Stewardship

a. Build deep, long-term relationships with existing andprospective donors — approaching each relationship as a decade-longinstitutional partnership, not a transactional ask

b. Design and execute a systematic stewardship programme -reporting, recognition, impact documentation, and ongoing engagement, for alldonors at every tier

c. Lead Rishihood's engagement with high-net-worthindividuals and family offices in India, the US (particularly the South Asiandiaspora), the UK, and the Gulf

d. Partner with the Chancellor, CEO, and VC on high-stakesdonor conversations where institutional leadership access is required

3. Endowment and Corpus Development

a. Build the strategy and roadmap for Rishihood's long-termendowment corpus including naming gifts, school endowments, chair endowments,and scholarship funds

b. Work with legal and financial advisors to structure giftsappropriately including cash, securities, real estate, planned giving, andinternational transfers

c. Develop a framework for corpus management and investmentoversight in partnership with the Governing Body and finance function

d. Track global best practices in university endowmentmanagement and apply them to Rishihood's context

4. Institutional and Corporate Partnerships

a. Identify and develop corporate partnerships that gobeyond CSR, building relationships with companies that have a strategicinterest in education, leadership, research, or national development

b. Structure multi-year partnership agreements with clearinstitutional value on both sides

c. Engage with foundations, bilateral programmes, andmultilateral institutions for project-based and programme-level funding

5. Advancement Systems and Team Building

a. Build and lead the Advancement team including major giftsofficers, grants writers, database managers, and stewardship coordinators

b. Implement a professional CRM and donor management systemto manage pipeline, reporting, and relationship history at scale

c. Establish rigorous reporting systems, dashboards,pipeline reviews, and Board-level advancement reports

d. Create the internal culture and processes that makeadvancement a serious, well-resourced, professionally run function

6. Events, Visits, and Diaspora Engagement

a. Design and execute high-impact donor events (in India andinternationally) that deepen relationships, showcase Rishihood's impact, andmove prospects through the pipeline

b. Lead Rishihood's annual US, UK, and Gulf visits with aclear fundraising and relationship strategy built around each trip

c. Build Rishihood's presence within influential diasporanetworks such as IIT alumni associations, South Asian professional networks,community foundations, and giving circles

Qualifications & Experience

• 15+ years of experience in institutional fundraising, investmentbanking, financial services, or a combination with a demonstrated trackrecord of raising significant institutional capital or closing large,complex transactions
  
• Experience working with HNIs,family offices, and institutional investors and an instinct for howhigh-net-worth individuals think about capital, legacy, and long-termcommitment
  
• Prior experience in universityadvancement, development, or philanthropy strongly preferred orequivalent experience raising funds for institutions, not just commercialclients
  
• The ability to build andmanage a pipeline with the same rigour that a banker would manage adeal book - tracking relationships, managing timelines, and knowing whento push and when to wait
  
• Deep understanding of giftstructuring, endowment design, and philanthropic vehicles, includingIndian and international tax and legal considerations
  
• Exceptional written andverbal communication and the ability to write a compelling case forsupport, hold a nuanced donor conversation, and represent Rishihoodcredibly at the highest levels
  
• A genuine belief in Rishihood'smission. This role requires the conviction to ask people to invest insomething they may not fully understand yet, and the ability to make themunderstand it
  
• High integrity, long-termthinking, and the patience to cultivate relationships over years, notquarters