Entrepreneurship in the territories: is it the right time?
Presently about 60-70% of ECOLISE funding is coming from EU resources (HORIZON, DEAR, E+, and other programmes) and the remaining part is funded by private foundations and membership’s fees. The ambition for the coming years is to grow the budget in line with operational needs, including developing a component to fund innovative community projects in Europe to respond to climate challenges.
To ensure financial sustainability and resilience, ECOLISE would like to diversify its funding sources, including more philanthropic donors and increasing the self-financing component through services.
We welcome interns who are keen on helping our fundraising team contact new donors, maintain our funding database, improve our fundraising social media image, and be willing to support every day fundraising tasks.
Task plan:
- Month 1: Induction and familiarization
- Introduction to ECOLISE's mission, fundraising goals and existing funding streams. Overview of current fundraising strategies, donor database and ongoing campaigns.
- Training on internal fundraising and donor management tools and software (Canva, Monday.com, Slack, Miro).
- Shadow the fundraising team to understand day-to-day activities and priorities.
- Month 2: Donor research and database management
- Research potential philanthropic donors, private foundations and grant opportunities.
- Update and maintain the ECOLISE donor and grant database.
- Begin to identify new leads for potential funding partners aligned with ECOLISE's mission.
- Assist in documenting donor communication and engagement history.
- Month 3: Social media and outreach strategy (depending on the Intern's profile this could be shifted into more Donors communications and networking instead)
- Work with the team to develop engaging social media content to attract new donors.
- Help improve the online presence of ECOLISE's fundraising efforts by creating campaigns on social platforms.
- Monitor social media metrics related to donor engagement and adjust content strategies accordingly.
- Support the creation of marketing materials and presentations for donor outreach.
- Month 4: Donor communications and networking
- Assist in drafting proposals, fundraising letters and emails to potential donors and partners.
- Start contributing to outreach campaigns targeting philanthropic organizations.
- Help organize online events, webinars or meetings with potential donors.
- Support the fundraising team in networking with relevant philanthropic networks.
- Month 5: Proposal and grant writing support
- Help write and edit funding proposals for EU programmes and private foundations.
- Learn and contribute to the application process for grants such as HORIZON, DEAR and Erasmus+.
- Assist with the collection of data and documentation required for grant applications.
- Review successful and unsuccessful proposals to identify key lessons and areas for improvement.
- Month 6: Evaluation and future planning
- Assist in evaluating the success of outreach strategies, campaigns and donor engagement efforts.
- Prepare a final report summarizing research findings, outreach activities and potential donor leads.
- Assist in organizing a strategy meeting with the fundraising team to plan next steps for donor engagement.
- Present a summary of the internship experience and suggest future improvements or initiatives for the fundraising strategy.
