Executive Director, Foundation Relations

Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Advancement and Alumni Relations, the Executive Director, Foundation Relations (Executive Director) is a member of the Advancement Department’s leadership team, and is responsible for leading The American College of Financial Services’ (The College) strategy to build relationships with and secure philanthropic support from private and corporate foundations. The ideal candidate will understand the needs, motivations, and priorities of corporate and private foundation funders, including the latest trends influencing foundation giving, and develop creative fundraising and engagement strategies that align with The College’s mission-driven priorities. This is an opportunity for the right candidate to join The College at an exciting time to explore opportunities for strategic growth and expansion.

The Executive Director is a passionate, mission-aligned and creative individual who will manage all aspects of researching, planning, writing and submitting grant applications to foundations and corporate funders. The position requires an individual with a demonstrated track record of building successful partnerships, maintaining deep foundation relationships, and a passion for leading grant-driven projects through an equity lens that support the needs of underserved communities. The Executive Director, in collaboration with Advancement and Business Development colleagues, will partner with the leadership of The College’s seven Centers of Excellence to build/deepen relationships with corporate and foundation partners related to funding center priorities, including but not limited to, the Four Steps Forward initiative, Veterans, Women, Special Needs, Ethics, and Retirement. This position will serve as the leader in private foundation relations, and will be expected to advise all staff on ways to grow institutional philanthropy to support the strategic priorities of The College.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Establish annual performance and financial goals for corporate and private foundation relations in collaboration with the front-line Advancement team and consistent with The College’s strategic priorities and fundraising goals.
• Create a national network, and build a community, of private foundation funders and partners.
• Develop and maintain excellent collaborative relationships with College faculty, Center leadership teams, and subject matter experts to better understand the needs, impact, data, and budgets for College strategic priorities/programs, in order to submit the strongest proposals possible.
• Identify and actively solicit and manage a portfolio of prospects, including developing and implementing internal strategies and external meetings, and collaborating with internal stakeholders.
• Manage all elements of the grant proposal and award process including compiling, writing, editing, submitting, and tracking grant applications, and producing progress reports.
• Collaborate and partner with the Finance Department to develop and submit accurate and compelling College financials and project budgets for grant applications and stewardship reports.
• Build meaningful and lasting relationships with funder’s through creative cultivations, stewardship, and consistent timely outreach.
• Serve as the senior writer on the Advancement team to support the Senior Vice President in the preparation and presentation of cases for support, reports, and strategic communications.
• Track all correspondence, submissions, and reports in a CRM.

 
Minimum Qualifications
The ideal candidate will have a bachelor’s degree (Master’s preferred) and a minimum of ten years of private foundation and/ or corporate fundraising experience. Additionally the ideal candidate will have:

• Demonstrated foundation fundraising success at the six and seven figure levels. Eight figure preferred.
• A passion for serving the needs of underserved communities, economic justice, closing the racial and gender wealth gap, and the power of philanthropy to change the world.
• Excellent proposal-writing skills, with an emphasis on writing through a racial and gender equity lens, and strong project management skills with an attention to details.
• Ability to understand financial statements, annual reports, IRS Form 990, and create project budgets.
• Broad knowledge of the nonprofit sector including an understanding of sub-segments within the sector and knowledge of emerging trends within the sector.
• The ability to effectively represent The College under a variety of circumstances, including interactions with College trustees and volunteers, funders, corporate partners, and within the financial services and philanthropic sectors.
• Strong skills in creating powerful, compelling written and oral communications for fundraising, and the ability to convey complex ideas via presentations, e-mails, and face to face communications.
• Experience establishing and cultivating strong relationships with staff and ability to use good judgment, take initiative, make recommendations, motivate, coach, and manage up.
• Comfortable working in a team oriented environment, but also must be disciplined to work independently and think creatively.
• Experience using research tools (e.g. Foundation Center) to identify private foundation prospects.
• Ability to track contacts in a constituent relationship database. Raiser’s Edge experience preferred.
• Demonstrated skills with Microsoft Office Suite and knowledge of general office equipment, including computers, required.