Director of Grants & Strategic Funding

About CARA

CARA’s mission is to ensure that first-generation-to-college students, low-income students, and students of color have the knowledge and support necessary to enroll in and graduate from college. While these students need opportunities to learn about college and career pathways, most public high schools and institutions of higher education are not structured to provide this assistance. Our programs, research, and policy work address these inequities. We work with high schools, community-based organizations, and higher education institutions to move access and success guidance from an ‘enrichment for some’ to an ‘entitlement for all’ model. 

Overview – Full-time Hybrid Position

Since its founding in 2011, CARA has steadily increased its budget from under $1 million annually to $3 million annually. CARA seeks a Director of Grants and Strategic Funding to lead and grow its fundraising during the next critical period in the organization’s history. 

Reporting directly to one of CARA's Co-Executive Directors and working closely with both Co-Executive Directors as well as CARA’s fiscal sponsor, the Director of Grants & Strategic Development will increase CARA’s financial support and brand awareness by creating and implementing a strategic development plan, with a primary focus on foundation/institutional partnerships.

The ideal candidate is an entrepreneurially-minded leader with: (1) a proven record of successful experience in nonprofit fundraising as demonstrated by experience managing and growing six-figure, multi-year grants in a portfolio; (2) a commitment to systematizing and leveraging data in support of fund development and external relationships; (3) exceptional project management and written communication skills; and (4) a passion for educational justice.

Responsibilities

Develop and implement all aspects of CARA’s fundraising strategy, primarily for foundation funding, with a small portfolio of individual donors (80% of time)

Secure new funders, including:

• Research potential funders and identify top prospects in varied donor categories
• Generate strategic pitches aligning CARA programming to foundation interests, engaging executive directors as needed 
• Develop compelling proposals leveraging understanding of CARA’s work and foundation interests
• Manage all aspects of cultivation process, including organizing meetings, generating communications, preparing CARA Co-Executive Directors for meetings, and participating in meetings
• Execute relevant campaigns to attract new funding partners
• Update all proposal documents on a regular basis

Maintain existing funders, including:

• Generate effective communications to update current funding partners
• Manage and design compelling site-visits and opportunities for funding partners to engage with CARA programming
• Complete accurate grant reports and impact analyses for all foundation funders
• Complete compelling renewal requests
• Participate in stakeholder meetings
• Update all reporting documents on a regular basis

Manage CARA development processes, including:

• Update grant tracking system, ensuring that past, present, and potential donor relationships are documented in a timely, accurate, and complete manner
• Support program staff to contribute to development efforts
• Work with Director of Evaluation to update data reporting requirements 

Oversee strategy and implementation of a plan for compelling communications that engage funders, policymakers and the field (20% of time)

• Manage and update CARA’s website
• Manage and execute all aspects of monthly newsletters, including planning and developing content, sending, auditing and updating distribution list
• Update all communications materials including organization and program overviews, impact decks, and other collateral
• Supervise work of communications team, including consultants and interns
• Pursue outlets to feature CARA’s work in earned media

Qualifications

Experience

• Bachelor’s degree 
• 6+ years relevant development experience
• Demonstrated ability to create and lead the execution of a development strategy that met or exceeded its objectives for an organization
• Experience cultivating and acquiring medium and large-sized foundation grants (50-500k) and individual gifts (upwards of $5k)
• Experience improving systems and managing forecasting, including regular progress to goals meetings and tightly managing data integrity to ensure accuracy
• Experience cultivating a donor community (individuals and foundations) focused on educational and/or social justice
• Experience developing effective donor communications such as monthly newsletters, annual reports, grant proposals and reports

Skills / Approach to Work

• Proven ability to think strategically and develop and implement a clearly defined, actionable, and measurable plan
• Highly organized and conscientious with the ability to prioritize effectively, juggle multiple responsibilities, pay attention to details, and meet deadlines
• Exceptional writing skills and external communications skills
• Expertise in use of all relevant communications tools, including Constant Contact, LinkedIn, and Canva
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively within a diverse environment, inclusive of staff, donors, and partners from varying sociocultural, economic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds
• Familiarity with the New York and the national education community and funding sources preferred

Salary

Salary range is $100,000-$115,000, commensurate with experience and qualifications. Benefits include medical, prescription, and dental, a retirement plan with generous employer matching contribution, commuter benefits, and annual paid time off. This is a full time position which allows for working from home, with a minimum of two days in the office per week. Offices are located at Fund for the City of New York, 121 Avenue of the Americas, 6th Fl, New York, NY 10013.

CARA provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training. 

CARA values diversity and actively seeks to build an inclusive applicant pool and pursue a thoughtful hiring process, including a diverse hiring committee, carefully designed interview questions, and mindfulness about unconscious biases.

Send a cover letter and resume to cara.jobopportunities@gmail.com. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Please include the position title in the subject line.