Teach For America ∙ Chicago-Northwest Indiana is seeking a Director, Institutional Giving. The Director, Institutional Giving serves as the primary grant-writer for the Teach For America ∙ Chicago-Northwest Indiana Development operation. The Director will manage a portfolio of existing and lapsed annual gifts up to $100,000 across corporate and foundation funding and will oversee the grant writing for our government partnerships. The ideal candidate will have an interest in front-line fundraising as well as a passion for Teach For America’s mission and a developed, nuanced understanding of how to communicate our mission to funders, ensuring alignment in funding requests to partner motivations, our organizational theory of change, and our strategic direction. The Director, Institutional Giving is a member of the Teach For America ∙ Chicago-Northwest Indiana External Affairs team, which is responsible for fundraising and building and strengthening partnerships with the business, civic, philanthropic, and government leadership communities. The Director reports to the Managing Director, Institutional Partnerships (MD,IP).
Areas of Responsibility:
Grant-writing and Reporting (35%)
- Write high-quality proposals, progress reports, and final reports for all existing and lapsed corporate and foundation partners with the potential to contribute up to $100,000
- Set the vision and direction for each written piece, incorporate knowledge of partner motivations and barriers into writing, solicit support and information from other functional teams when writing about a new aspect of our work or when others hold information critical to ensuring the composition of a high-impact piece
- Execute proposals and reports for public grants in collaboration with the Vice President, External Affairs
- Collaborate with Managing Director, Institutional Partnerships, Vice President, External Affairs and Executive Director to set vision and direction for new and complex writing projects, then execute advanced drafts
Portfolio Management & Create and Execute an Operational Plan (30%)
- Set vision and direction, define opportunities, and develop and execute strategies for the portfolio of existing and lapsed corporate and foundation partners with capacity up to $100,000
- Regularly track progress to goal, in part by maintaining accurate partner records for the Institutional Partnerships portfolio through Salesforce
- Once progress to goal is known, conduct analysis to create and implement strategies and solutions to address gaps and ensure adequate progress is made
- Work closely with Managing Director, Institutional Partnerships, Vice President, External Affairs and Executive Director to ensure strategies are implemented, actions are taken, and portfolio progress is made
- Manage the operational systems required to manage a high volume of partner cultivation, stewardship, progress, and research to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, and alignment with all grant guidelines and deadlines
- Efficiently track all communications, actions, events, and fundraising commitments for each partner in the portfolio to ensure high renewal rates and that we meet our fundraising goals
Manage and Build Partner Stewardship and Cultivation Experiences (20%)
- Build and execute stewardship and cultivation strategy for existing and lapsed corporate and foundation partners with capacity to give up to $100,000
- Collaborate with the MD, IP to refine and enhance corporate engagement programs such that they become a key lever for investments, and build additional strategies for partner retention and upgrades
- Partner with the Coordinator, Institutional Partnerships to manage the strategy for all institutional partner engagements, meetings, and school visits
- Conduct in-depth data analysis to inform actions and strategic plans with a focus on retaining current supporters and increasing contribution level
- Build capacity to own and manage relationships with a subset of the Institutional Partnerships portfolio
Operational Support & Other Staff and Team Responsibilities (5%)
- Use TFA’s Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) System (Salesforce) to track all portfolio deadlines (proposals, reports, etc.)
- Prepare for and lead check ins with your manager around progress towards goals and your ongoing development
- Partner with the Coordinator, Institutional Partnerships to ensure we have a comprehensive database that includes accurate partner information
- Partner with the Coordinator, Institutional Partnerships to monitor, process, and acknowledge all corporate, foundation, and public grants to the region
- Support in External Affairs (XA) team initiatives including but not limited to: event support; team meetings; retreats
- Collaborate with and support XA colleagues’ work and development
Collective Responsibility Regional Projects (10%)
- Fulfill foundational responsibilities that allow our region to do our work, make decisions, grow as professionals, and strengthen our team culture, including but not limited to attending regional meetings, operating with our Core Values and commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness, completing our performance management cycle, and upholding our data management, office operations, and fiscal responsibilities
- Make a direct impact on the organizational mission of enlisting, developing and mobilizing leaders to strengthen the movement for educational equity by participating in selection (6-10 days total plus preparation and close out time), matriculation (up to six windows across the year), regional recruitment activity, member facing events (including Leadership Summits and Summer Training), our alumni giving campaign, alumni survey, and at least one regional or national committee/working group, and other initiatives that impact our members and partners
Educational Background:
Bachelor’s degree required
Skills/Experience:
- 4-7+ years of professional work experience preferred; experience writing in a professional setting, especially writing grants, is strongly preferred
- Experience in an entrepreneurial environment, developing new ways of approaching problems in a logical and disciplined manner, and achieving outcomes through layers
Skills
- Passionate about Teach For America’s mission and the role the organization plays in helping to eliminate educational inequity; believes deeply in the importance of inspiring/investing external people in our mission/work and operates with a partner- and mission-service mindset
- Ability to build relationships and influence others through stellar written communication, and an ability to understand the unique perspectives of others and create written materials and strategies aligned to those perspectives
- Exceptional ability to build and execute a project plan, manage and plan around deadlines, and adjust/evolve plans as new information becomes available
- Ability to conduct strong analysis leading to clear prioritization and understanding of opportunities/problems
- Respond to challenges from a solutions-oriented mindset, and think expansively about what is within one’s locus of control
- Able to build strong relationships with others
- Results-orientation: Driven by goals and outcomes, and driven to manage up and laterally to invest others in achieving those goals and outcomes
Work Demands
- Ability to work in a fast-paced, partner- and mission-service oriented environment
- Ability to work evenings for occasional partner events
Job Function:
Organization Info
Listing Stats
Post Date:
Jun 8 2018
Active Until:
Jul 8 2018
Hiring Organization:
Teach For America
industry:
Nonprofit