Foundations Manager

Opportunity Summary

The Donor Ministry Department at BGEA works to cultivate meaningful, long-term relationships with ministry supporters and to identify, develop and deepen new relationships with prospective donors.  The goal of the department is to grow a strong base of support for decades to come. The department team collectively serves the individuals, families and foundations that support BGEA with their gifts and prayers. Through special events, personal visits, and mailings, the field team shares the work, impact, and needs of the ministry with donors and prospective donors. In addition, the Donor Ministry Department is responsible for all external mail programs, including direct mail, monthly prayer letter and ministry updates, and other educational and informational pieces. Another integral part of the department is the Billy Graham Christian Response Center (CRC).  Staff daily respond to phone calls and email correspondence, providing ministry information and answering spiritual questions with biblical insight and direction.

In cooperation with the Senior Director, Strategic Advancement and the Foundations Manager will manage all of BGEA’s granting processes with charitable Foundations across the country. This includes researching prospects, actively submitting proposals and reports, monitoring program development and evaluation, and managing personal relationships with foundation donors, as well as appropriate reporting to the Senior Director, Strategic Advancement.

Ministry Requirements

• Maintains a personal, active relationship with Jesus Christ and is a consistent witness for Jesus Christ
• Faithfully upholds BGEA in prayer
• Participates in daily BGEA staff devotions
• Demonstrates behavior aligned with BGEA’s Mission Statement, Statement of Faith, Hallmarks, policies, and expectations
• Effectively represents Jesus Christ to those within both personal and professional spheres of influence

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop annual plans and goals for the Foundations area
• Collaborate with Vice President, Donor Ministries, Senior Director, Strategic Advancement, and Regional Managers regarding upcoming fundraising plans, activities, and events.
• Manage relationships with institutional foundations and family foundations currently giving to BGEA. Additionally, help steward relationships with 200+ current foundation donors without a formal grants process.
• Develop and implement specific strategies to engage additional institutional Foundations across the United States
• Coordinate with Regional Managers regarding the family foundations they currently manage
• Travel nationally for personal visits with foundation donors 1-2 times a month throughout the year.
• Maintain relationships with a group of foundations, increasing that group each year
• Attend fundraising and donor appreciation events across the US, as appropriate
• Continually research new, lapsed, and active foundation units to determine potential granting opportunities for specific BGEA programs.
• Maintain annual calendar of grant proposal deadlines and reports, ensuring timely completion and submission.
• Develop outcome based proposals that meet the criteria for larger institutional foundations
• Develop donor appeals and specific requests that are appropriate for smaller family foundations
• Develop grant reports on a rolling basis for all of BGEA’s ministry activities throughout the year. Both for general use and specific to a foundation’s grant guidelines.
• Keep clear records of Foundation requirements that outline grant templates and other unique details related to requests.
• Track all forms of data related to activities, communications, and relationships in BGEA’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program.
• Complete handwritten thank you notes and send to foundations and corporations that donate to the ministry
• Create and analyze reports of all tracked activities and donations, preparing updates on a monthly basis.
• Serve as a liaison between ministry programs, finance, database management, and Donor Ministries regarding program implementation, follow-up, reports, and ROI for proper outcomes.
• Provide direction to ministry programs regarding grant expectations from foundations, outcome based measurements, and reporting requirements.
• Attend grant writing training to prepare
• Manage and assign duties for administrative support

Marginal Duties and Responsibilities

• Attend training/equipping sessions in as scheduled by Donor Ministries leadership
• Research, communicate and implement “best practices” as appropriate to optimize effectiveness of Donor Ministries activities
• Plan for efficient travel and effective ministry to assigned constituents
• Other duties as assigned

Reporting Relationships

• Reports to the Senior Director, Strategic Advancement
• Relate and communicate effectively with Donor Ministry team and all BGEA staff
• Has no supervisory responsibilities

Job Specifications

Skills and Knowledge

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience is required
• Five to ten years experience in development and nonprofit fundraising required, with an emphasis in foundation grants
• Ability to operate independently with minimal supervision
• Ability to engage in effective personal relationships, creative writing, and data analysis and alternative between these roles as needed
• Attentive listening skills
• Effective public speaking skills required
• Experience in working with people from diverse backgrounds with an ability to show genuine care, empathy, and support as needed
• Ability to quickly learn and implement donor ministries practices
• Ability to professionally represent Donor Ministries area, speaking confidently and accurately about ministry opportunities at BGEA
• Excellent organizational and analytical skills, with strong attention to detail
• Ability to build and cultivate cross-department relations
• Experience with or the capacity to thoroughly learn and utilize Microsoft Office Suite, including Word and Excel
• Experience with or the capacity to thoroughly learn and utilize the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, namely Donor Studio
• Ability to set appropriate goals and achieve them with minimal supervision
• Ability to make decisions and judgments in accordance with departmental and organizational guidelines, and with limited input from leadership, as appropriate
• Ability to maintain confidentiality
• Demonstrated patience, perseverance, and the ability to adjust priorities and to simultaneously fulfill multiple assignments
• Experience in working with people of diverse backgrounds
• Ability to communicate verbally and in written form with staff of all levels of the association, as well as donors
• Ability to relate to people well, being approachable, as well as have the ability to manage administrative tasks as well simultaneously

Physical/Mental Demands

• Demonstrated flexibility to adapt to changing job parameters, deadlines, or directions
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team while demonstrating flexibility when priorities change
• Capacity to prioritize work and manage multiple projects in a high-paced environment
• Ability to work efficiently and productively under deadline
• Maintain composure with priorities and direction shifts

Working Conditions

• Work is typically performed in a conventional work environment
• Travel at least 20% of the time, including overnight travel required