Foundation Relations Director

COUNCIL FOR A STRONG AMERICA

Foundation Relations Director

National Office, Washington DC

Council for a Strong America (CSA) has a great opportunity for a Director, Foundation Relations to join our fast-paced Washington, DC office.  Working as a senior member of the Strategic Planning and Development Team, you will join an outstanding group of professionals dedicated to our mission of engaging law enforcement, military, business, faith and sports leaders who promote evidence-based policies and programs that enable kids to be healthy, well-educated and prepared for productive lives. Our guiding vision is to strengthen the nation by promoting solutions that prepare young people to succeed.

The Director, Foundation Relations is a results-oriented, motivating team leader focused on maximizing funding from dedicated, impactful national thought leaders while also driving growth of new foundation relationships to achieve CSA’s revenue and mission goals. The successful candidate will lead the foundation relations team in meeting and exceeding revenue goals through development of new funding strategies and relationships and through high-touch stewardship.

Responsibilities

FUNDRAISING:

• Identify, cultivate, solicit and steward a year-round pipeline of new foundation relationships to ensure sufficient revenue generation and long-term engagement:
  • Research and identify a viable list of new prospects.
  • Leverage local and national volunteer leadership connections in pursuit of new foundation revenues.
  • Leverage personal/professional network to open doors for CSA.
  • Identify key decision-makers and proactively reach out to establish new partnership meetings. Prepare agendas and lead meetings.
  • Position CSA as a trusted advisor and strategic partner to foundation donors and prospects.
  • Cultivate long-term relationships through regular, high-quality interactions.

• Manage a personal portfolio of foundation prospects to achieve or exceed a defined annual revenue goal. Lead and successfully close high-level negotiations for accounts  > $100,000.
• Develop winning proposals and supportive materials (incl. PowerPoints, letters of inquiry, budgets, executive talking points) for prospective foundation grantors.

• Execute strategy for sustainable, long-term institutional support from local and national foundations.

• Manage the team of foundation relations staff professionals by
  • Creating a healthy and motivating work environment and atmosphere
  • Setting clear goals
  • Delegating tasks and setting deadlines
  • Overseeing day-to-day teams' operation and performance
  • Regular performance evaluation
  • Seeking training opportunities providing coaching
  • Actively listening to team members’ feedback and resolving any issues or conflicts
  • Enabling a culture of collaboration and out-of-the-box problem solving

• Facilitate strong collaboration with federal and state policy teams to develop existing and new multi-faceted strategic initiatives and corresponding budgets aligned with institutional priorities. Identify opportunities to scale successful state initiatives to the national level.
• Manage the contract process for new partnerships, prepare final documents for review and signature.
• Monitor grant activities to ensure deliverables are provided with the highest quality. In collaboration with staff colleagues, develop and submit written reports as required by donors.
• Actively steward foundation accounts to develop trust, evolve relationships, increase revenue and extend the duration of the partnership.
• Strategically engage senior leadership to optimize relationship development and fundraising outcomes.

OPERATIONS:

• In collaboration with VP of Strategic Planning and Development, initiate strategies for targeted accounts, which include mission driving, revenue generation and key leadership interactions with specific goals across the organization.
• Conduct interactive weekly review of the pipeline with VP of Strategic Planning and Development to create specific cultivation/solicitation/stewardship strategies (aka “moves management”).
• Participate in strategic budgeting, revenue mapping and planning meetings with VP.
• Attend key philanthropic and industry events as needed. Develop a broad external network in the institutional community aligned with the objectives of CSA.
• Maintain fundraising records in Salesforce database, including revenues, proposal and report submissions, deadlines, deliverables, and interactions. Track and report progress against fundraising goals and institutional objectives.
• Stay informed and current on institutional giving trends.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• BA/BS required. Master’s degree preferred.
• Seven years of experience successfully soliciting foundation grants for a nonprofit. Knowledge and skills in fundraising principles, practices, and techniques.
• Five or more years of managing and empowering a team.
• Demonstrated experience writing and editing successful proposals, correspondence, and compelling case materials.
• Demonstrated successful track record of closing 6 to 8-figure grant contracts and growing existing relationships.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (both verbal and written), including strong presentation and negotiation skills
• High degree of emotional intelligence
• Collaborative mindset and ability to structure mutually beneficial partnerships
• Demonstrated success aligning diverse stakeholders around a common objective
• Demonstrated ability to represent mission and nonprofit programs in detail with passion and knowledge
• Experience developing and managing budgets
• Understanding of Moves Management
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships at all levels of an organization
• Detail-oriented with strong time management and organizational skills as well as sound judgment and problem-solving skills
• Ability to manage multifaceted projects and a capacity to perform well independently in a fast-paced, multi-tasking environment
• Commitment to and passion for CSA’s mission
• Ability to travel roughly 25%, or as required

Click the link to apply.  Only applications with cover letter, resume and salary requirements will be considered.