Engagement and Development Specialist

Nīkau Foundation is looking for a skilled, people-centered and strategic Engagement and Development Specialist to help us to grow local generosity, connect communities and design and deliver tailored, high-quality experiences to a range of audiences. 

Working across the areas of fundraising and donor stewardship, and professional advisor, community, and local ambassador engagement, the Engagement and Development Specialist will play crucial role in building key relationships, creating scalable systems and programmes to nurture audiences, and identifying opportunities to speak to and engage new audiences.  

Roles and responsibilities:  

Fundraising/Donor Stewardship 

• Design and implement an annual donor stewardship programme/calendar to sit alongside current activity/reporting.  

• Nurture our existing individual donors through tailored engagement touchpoints, including in-person visits, personal communications, and events.  

• Nurture our organisational fund donors by identifying opportunities for collaboration and initiatives/collateral needed to support their fundraising objectives.  

• Support the Funding and Relationships Manager to actively engage donors and ambassadors during our grants round, and to connect donors to causes they love throughout the year.  

• Support the CEO and Communications and Engagement Manager in delivering a robust, tailored, and scalable donor journey.  

• Work with the Executive Administrator to support successful donor engagement/stewardship functions, as well as organisational fund launch events.  

• Support the CEO with any fundraising opportunities and prospect engagement as required. 

Communications and Marketing  

• Work with the Communications and Engagement Manager to scope and implement a comprehensive fundraising pipeline infrastructure. 

• Support the Communications and Engagement Manager in the development of tailored collateral, including brochures, one-pagers and resources for donors, professional advisors and local ambassadors. 

Administration 

• Ensure up to date record keeping on our database of all donor interactions, wishes and details. 

• Manage the thanking process for all direct donations. 

Relationship building 

• Build a strong network of professional advisors across the region, supporting them to upskill and recommend Nīkau as a powerful giving option. 

• Establish and execute a robust and tailored Professional Advisor engagement plan, including onboarding, capability building and cross-promotional initiatives.  

• Engage with social, professional and service groups, and other networks to facilitate speaking opportunities and other opportunities for engagement. 

• Identify and facilitate opportunities to speak to new audiences in line with our Marketing and Communications and Fundraising plans.  

Volunteer support 

• Support in the active engagement of our local ambassadors through regular in-person and online meetings.  

• Actively recruit and support the onboarding of new ambassadors in identified localities that could support with fundraising and/or grant- making.   

• Oversee the volunteer management plan for the organisation.  

Required skills and attributes:  

• Fundraising and engagement experience  

• Volunteer management experience (preferred)  

• Gift-in-will fundraising experience (preferred)  

• Excellent relationship management, project management and admin skills   

• Strong written and verbal communication abilities  

• Strong understanding of IT systems and CRMs (Salesforce experience preferred) 

• Ability to meet deadlines and varying demands   

• A team player who works co-operatively with others  and embraces collaboration

About Nīkau Foundation: 

Established in 1991, Nīkau Foundation has a mission to grow generosity to support the people and places of Te Upoko-o-te-Ika-a-Māui, the Greater Wellington region, forever. Nīkau is one of 18 community foundations giving back to their local communities throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.    

Nīkau Foundation is also honoured to be the trustee of the Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation, and the future guardian of the Mark Dunajtschik Foundation. In 2025, Nīkau Foundation celebrated reaching the milestone of $10,000,000 in transformative community funding. We are the kaitiaki of $40.1 million. Combined with our trusteeships, we currently manage over $90 million, with a significant pipeline of growth forecast for the future.   

To work towards our vision, Nīkau works alongside a network of local ambassadors to build awareness, ensure meaningful, practical and responsive grant-making and identify opportunities to grow generosity throughout Te Upoko-o-te-Ika-a-Māui, the Greater Wellington region. Additionally, we work alongside a network of professional advisors working in wealth management, accounting, law, and banking to encourage meaningful, future-focused giving.  

Over the last few years, we have placed a focus on building our brand, delivering exceptional experiences to key stakeholder groups, including donors, professional advisors and supporters, and fostering strong relationships in our communities. As we enter a significant growth phase, we are looking to build our engagement further to grow local generosity, connect communities and support the growth of Aotearoa New Zealand’s for-purpose sector.  

The nuts and bolts: 

• 20-hours a week 

• $80,000 pro-rated ($40,000) 

• Applications close at 4pm on Friday 24th of April 2026. 

We look forward to hearing from you. For more information or if you have any questions, please contact Nīkau Foundation’s Communications and Engagement Manager, Maddie McLeod via maddie@nikaufoundation.nz. 

To apply, please submit your CV and Cover Letter via the Seek application portal.