Senior Associate, Strategic Planning and Development

The Senior Associate is a key part of the development team and is responsible for managing and growing a portfolio of national and state foundation donors, including by writing proposals and reports, monitoring ongoing grant work, researching new prospects, and cultivating new and current donors.  The Senior Associate helps steward relationships and facilitate interactions with donors along with program staff, supporting the development team and senior leadership in meeting annual and long-range funding goals. 

Responsibilities

Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Managing a portfolio primarily of foundation donors that support CSA’s advocacy work and collectively contribute to the organization’s $10+ million annual revenue goal;

• Managing the development activities for at least two satellite state offices;

• Writing clear, compelling grant proposals and reports by remaining familiar with the work of the organization and soliciting input from program staff;

• Developing strategies to sustain and grow funding, collaborating with program staff to identify, cultivate, solicit, steward, and renew donations from foundations;

• Preparing background and research materials, talking points, email updates, acknowledgments, and/or other materials necessary to deepen prospect engagement, secure contributions, and steward relationships;

• Staffing senior leadership on important fundraising meetings and calls, drafting agendas, taking thorough notes, and leading the process for next steps and follow-up;

• Partnering with program staff to ensure the implementation of grant agreements in a manner that satisfies funder requirements;

• Contributing to and supporting processes and procedures that improve the efficiency of the development team and its interactions with the rest of the organization; and

• Demonstrating confidence and good judgment in representing CSA public policies, research, and programs to funders and prospects.

Qualifications

Essential:

• Experience raising foundation funds and writing grants for national nonprofit organizations.

• Strong written and oral communications skills; able to discuss policy advocacy in an engaging manner.

• Collaborative; able to work effectively in person and over the phone with national office staff, remote staff, and development colleagues.

• Detail-oriented and well-organized; able to meet deadlines while producing high-quality work.

• Excellent project manager; able to evaluate and prioritize concurrent proposals, reports, and prospecting projects, and respond flexibly to changes.

• Self-starter; able to think creatively and anticipate the needs of senior leadership and colleagues. 

• Confident, but humble; able to listen to and synthesize ideas from colleagues into products that satisfy funder requirements.

• Proficient with Word/Excel/PowerPoint, Salesforce, and Google Drive.

• Strong commitment to our mission.

 Desirable:

• Experience in a national policy advocacy nonprofit.

• Knowledge of our core policy issues, including early childhood education and care, children’s health and nutrition, and K-16 education.

• Understanding of the legislative process and advocacy strategies.

• Experience with Salesforce or comparable database.

• Good sense of humor. 

Minimum experience required:

At least 3-5 years of relevant, professional experience in development, ideally in a non-profit organization that focuses on public policy and advocacy. 

Education:

College degree preferred, or equivalent combination of education, experience, and training 

Salary: 65-75k

Travel (when CSA lifts its restrictions):

Occasional travel is required out of the state when CSA lifts its travel restrictions..

Overnight: Yes

Duration: 1-2 days per quarter