Website Kasanka Trust LTD
The Kasanka Trust (the Trust) has been in existence since 1986 with biodiversity conservation as its raison d’être. The Trust has a long-running co-management agreement with Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW). The Trust currently manages the Kasanka National Park and supports the Kafinda Game Management Area and Mpumba community area. Management responsibility covers an area in excess of 400 km2 with national park status and a further 4,000 km2 of designated or planned community conservation area. The area lies within the David Livingstone memorial zone and the Kasanka National Park is the destination of the world largest bats annual migration.
These protected areas are primarily representative of the central African plateau miombo, high canopy woodland biome, but include a diverse assemblage of rivers, lakes, swamp, wet and riverine forest, dambo, grassland and rocky ridges. These areas possess a diverse list of large and small animal species and a high floral diversity. The avian species diversity has been best studied of all the animal orders and the Kasanka National Park hosts the second highest bird list of all Zambia’s protected areas.
The Trust operates on business principles guided by a 5-year strategic plan with 9 programmes. It employs approximately 90 individuals allocated to law enforcement, park habitat and infrastructure management, community outreach and administration. The Trust also operates its own tourism operations, comprising two lodges, a tented camp and campsites. Revenues from tourism are ploughed back into park management and community outreach. In the next 5 years the Trust intends to significantly increase its impact and sustainability.
The Trust’s operating areas are remote. The Kasanka National Park is in Chitambo District some 120 km north-west of the town of Serenje and about 6 hours from Lusaka. The Mpumba area is approximately 70 km south of the town of Mpika and approximately 3 hours by road from Kasanka. Rural clinics and hospitals are within a two-hour radius by road. The only educational facilities nearby are a primary school at Kasanka conservation centre. There is a bush air strip in the Kasanka National Park.
Kasanka Trust Limited (KTL) has adopted a 5-year Strategic Plan 2017-2021, defining a statement of objectives for the period towards its vision. The Strategic Plan, which was adopted in early 2017 by the KTL Board, organizes KTL’s mission into a set of nine programmes. Most programmes have some degree of community involvement, with a focus on Chitambo Chiefdom in Chitambo District, but two are especially focused: Programme 6 Environmental Education – Awareness Building and Programme 7 Community Livelihood and Development. Programme 6 is implemented from the Kasanka Conservation Centre (KCC) at the park entrance and reaches out to all schools in the Chitambo Chiefdom. To implement Programme 7, the Trust has partnered with the agricultural marketing organization COMACO to which it provides a substantial grant for implementation in the Chief Chitambo (Game Management Area) and Chief Mpumba (Community Conservancy) areas. It is expected that the Trust will collaborate with other partners such as the Bangweulu Wetland Management Board and others.
In the past, KTL has relied on funds raised by two subsidiary offshore Trusts, Kasanka Trust UK and Kasanka Trust Netherland (SKN), as well as grants from various organizations such as the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM), World Land Trust, Beit Trust, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and many more. These grants have sustained KTL programmes so far. However, they are insufficient to sustain all the Trust’s actions and much more funding is required. Fund raising and communication fall under the Programme 9 of the Strategic Plan. Under this programme, KTL aims to implement diversified approaches by (a) increasing the number of subsidiary trusts and establishing an offshore endowment fund, (b) formalizing partnerships with energies aligned with KTL’s vision, (c) establishing a “biodiversity offset bank” available fro contributions from energy and mining and other investors in Zambia, and (d) mobilizing tools such as crowd sourcing, corporate social responsibility, calls for financing and large institutional grants such as GEF, Ford Foundation, etc. KTL will require advisory services and technical assistance to build its capacity, establish innovative tools and increase its competitiveness.
Position, Location, Reporting
The Trust is now looking for a Fundraising, and Communication Manager to lead the implementation of programme 9. This is a full-time three-year position based either in Lusaka, or Kasanka, with with regular visits between the two locations. The Fundraising, and Communication manager will report to the Trust’s Acting General Manager and work closely with the other senior management staff.
Qualifications
Required qualifications and experience
- A bachelor level education with preference for degree in marketing, advertising or communications or similar.
- Solid experience in fundraising and grant writing and demonstrate prior success in fundraising for an organization similar to KTL.
- Experience in communications and demonstrating significant experience in communication with modern tools and social media formats.
- Skills: Excellent English writing skills (need to submit sample of document written)
- Skills: Proficient in all mainstream software as well as desktop publishing,website maintenance and social media.
Optional but Desired Skills, Qualifications or Experience
- Outgoing personality
- Prepared to travel extensively.
- Knowledge of Zambia, of national parks and other languages
- Good contacts with funders/financiers, government departments and other NGOs.
Important Additional Requirements
1) Willingness to travel frequently and work in a remote area with rural living and working conditions;
2) Prepared to work closely with the senior management staff in Kasanka National Park and the KTL Board of Trustees.
Key competencies
1) Integrity: Upholding high moral standards, personally and professionally
2) Teamwork: Co-operation with others in order to meet organisational targets
3) Flexibility: Receptive to new ideas, able to adapt to changing circumstances
Job description
Scope of work
To lead the implementation of programme 9 of the Strategic Plan by designing and implementing a fund raising, and communication strategy that delivers the Trust target to have sustainably secured by each year end, at least $200,000 of unrestricted financing and $500,000 of restricted financing for the following year.
Core responsibilities
Fundraising
- Based on existing documents including the draft fundraising strategy, prepare a final fund-raising strategy for Board approval;
Implement the fund-raising strategy which may include:
- Writing grants to raise restricted and unrestricted funds
- Networking and regular contact with local and offshore grant funders and corporate donors
- Identifying and organizing fund raising events
Building the capacity of the two sister trusts
- Organizing and implementing fund raising trips
- Identifying the most appropriate financiers for efficient fund raising
- Carrying out wiki-like fund raising campaigns
- Identifying potential sources of financing, drafting, submitting and monitoring proposals
Endowment
- Select and supervise a consultant to (a) Carry out feasibility and design study for the endowment fund for KTL, (b) work with the Kasanka Trust (UK) and SKN (Netherlands) to establish an endowment fund including an investment and disbursement strategy, (c) initiate the capitalization of the endowment fund through direct fund raising and/or creative mechanisms such as percentage of all fundraised channeled to the endowment.
Communication (to be coordinated with the Trust’s tourism marketing work)
- Prepare a short “Communication and result valorization strategy” for Board approval;
- Manage the web site
- Update the Facebook page and any other IT based communication medium
- Prepare a quaterlynewsletter to the KTL members and friends
- Once a year, edit the Annual Report into a shorter version for the public
- Ensure that all important reports are posted in the KTL website
- Organizing communication events such as projects launches, board retreat. Local conferences, etc.
- Organize the design and printing of banners, pamphlets, posters, etc. as needed
Marketing
- Colaborate to the marketing section of the Tourism Business Plan (to be prepared by a consultant);
- Collaborate with the tourism manager on international marketingto present a coherent perception of KTL