Job Description
About De La Gente
De la Gente (DLG) is a nonprofit social enterprise that works to create economic opportunity for smallholder coffee farmers in Guatemala. We support cooperatives with business development, access to markets, and community-driven projects that improve livelihoods and build resilience in coffee-producing communities.
Job Description
De la Gente is seeking a Development Manager to join our diverse and high-impact team. This role leads both our fundraising efforts and Cooperative Assistance Program, helping us maximize our impact in coffee-producing communities in Guatemala. The position combines strategic program design and implementation, donor engagement, fundraising, and technical oversight, ensuring our programs are sustainable, measurable, and truly community-driven.
Responsibilities
Fundraising & Donor Engagement
- Lead and execute DLG’s fundraising strategy with a focus on growing individual and institutional giving
- Cultivate and steward relationships with donors, partners, and funders
- Develop compelling proposals and reports for grants and donor communications
- Manage donor databases and fundraising tools
- Collaborate with communications staff to create impact-driven content that supports donor engagement
Program Oversight & Development
- Manage the Co-op Assistance Program, including needs assessments, project design, implementation, and evaluation
- Oversee partnerships with coffee cooperatives, ensuring projects align with community needs and organizational goals
- Monitor project outcomes and impact, and adapt strategies as needed for effectiveness and sustainability. Site visits typically involve 2-5 days working away and require travel to communities in Guatemala that are up to 7 hours by car
- Supervise or collaborate with field staff, volunteers, or interns involved in project delivery
- Manage micro-financing programs with cooperatives and farmers, including reviewing applications, disbursing funds, collecting repayments on time, and reporting on the success of the investment
Qualifications
- 1-2 years of fundraising or development experience
- Experience working in community development, rural livelihoods, or agricultural programs, preferably in Latin America
- Excellent written communication skills
- Strong interpersonal, spoken, and diplomatic communications skills
- Written and spoken fluency in English and Spanish
- Knowledge of MailChimp and CRM softwares
- Energy and ability to engage new audiences about De la Gente
Preferred
- Experience managing monitoring & evaluation systems
- Familiarity with Quickbooks registration
- Background in working with cooperatives or smallholder producers
Characteristics
Candidates should be dynamic, confident, and open-minded with a hands-on mentality. In particular, we expect candidates to:
- Have a high level of professionalism and personal integrity, as well as a personal commitment to development work
- Be results-orientated, with a high level of ambition and ability to stay focused on goals and hold self to high standards
- Be determined and resilient in challenging situations, stay positive and show tenacity and independent thinking in adverse settings.
- Be adaptable and flexible when faced with unexpected situations or new difficulties.
- Show teamwork in multicultural situations. We can only achieve results through collaboration that is based on respect for people of diverse backgrounds.
- Demonstrate entrepreneurial and creative abilities when approaching challenges and developing dynamic solutions