Senior Director, Institutional Fundraising

The Senior Director of Institutional Fundraising leads efforts to identify, secure and steward $5-6 million annually from private national and regional foundations and federal government agencies in support of PRX overall and programs within its three strategic pillars: Stories with Impact, Field Building, and Active Leadership. The role informs, inspires, and brings together internal partners and senior management on funding opportunities that align with PRX and its initiatives, and its impact, with an intentional focus on national foundations. As a leader with the development team, the position works with the CDO, VP of Strategic Impact, and Director of Individual Giving to help build a culture of philanthropy at PRX.

In addition to having exceptional communication, project management, and research skills, the Senior Director of Institutional Fundraising needs an entrepreneurial spirit, a strategic and flexible mindset, and the ability to quickly build collegial relations within and outside of PRX. The position regularly serves in cross-functional teams with PRX senior leadership, program leaders, producers, and our finance team to identify and develop compelling strategies, projects, and cases for support to align with foundation and government agency interests. The position monitors trends and changes within the corporate and foundation funder community, anticipates future impacts and opportunities, and regularly communicates those to internal partners. Externally, the position plays an essential role in cultivating and stewarding relationships with foundation staff, including with PRX senior leadership, helping to articulate PRX’s value and mission among our funders and prospects. This position can be based in Minneapolis, Boston, NYC, Chicago, or San Francisco.

Definition of Success

• Spearheads a small-but-mighty Institutional Fundraising team to secure $5-6 million annually for PRX from philanthropic and government support.
• Oversees a portfolio of 40+ active funders and a pipeline of prospects, successfully building and maintaining relationships within the funder community that result in financial support.
• Serves as an effective mentor, manager, and collaborator for the Senior Manager of Institutional Fundraising.
• Embodies PRX’s values around openness, and its commitment to making DEI central to PRX’s work.

Responsibilities

• Leads the creation, implementation, and evaluation of annual and multi-year plans and strategies to achieve PRX institutional revenue goals.
• Works closely with PRX CDO and VP Strategic Impact, senior leadership, producers, program staff, finance, and others at PRX to develop compelling cases for a project and general support from current supporters and new prospects.
• Oversees the submission of requests for support (proposals, letters of inquiry, concept papers) and reports on grant-supported projects/activities to our funders and prospects.

• Builds and maintains strong, collegial relationships with foundation staff via regular updates, both written materials and verbal conversations.
• Mentors the Senior Manager of Institutional Fundraising, including providing ongoing performance feedback and ongoing coaching and support.
• Ensures grant seeking and grants administration systems are operating effectively, including the upkeep of institutional funder accounts and activities in Salesforce.
• Coordinates with PRX’s Resource Development team and the Individual Giving Director to ascertain opportunities for institutional support

Skills & Knowledge

• Ability to synthesize complex ideas, activities, and data into compelling projects in content, storytelling, journalism, technology, and training.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• 8+ years knowledge of foundation fundraising, ideally for media, the arts, communication, education or related fields.
• Preexisting knowledge of public media, podcasting, journalism, technology, and the changing media landscape are not required but highly valued.

Education & Experience

• A background in a field that requires strong writing and research, including not limited to the humanities, social sciences, journalism, or communications.
• A minimum of 8 years of experience in institutional fundraising for nonprofit organizations is required, with a strong preference to experience with larger national media, arts, communication nonprofit organizations.
• Fluency in fundraising CRM software, Salesforce preferred, and agility in MS Office and Google Suite necessary
• Proven ability to develop foundation revenue acquisition strategies, build grant timelines and budgets, manage multiple projects, navigate evolving priorities, foster team engagement, and deliver results.
• Demonstrated success in researching, identifying, and matching funders’ interests with organizational programming priorities.

This position can be based in Minneapolis, Boston, NYC, Chicago, or San Francisco.PRX offers a competitive benefits package, including medical, dental and vision benefits; group term life insurance; short- and long-term disability income replacement coverage; and the option to participate in savings accounts for uncovered medical expenses and related costs. These benefits are available on the first day of employment. PRX also offers a retirement plan (with employer contributions) that takes effect after 6 months of employment.

If you are interested in this role but are feeling unsure about applying for whatever reason, please reach out to us! We want our organization to reflect the wide diversity of America, and the population we tell stories with. Therefore, if you are unsure about applying we encourage you to talk to us by emailing hr@prx.org. We're committed to structuring our hiring process and company to welcome applicants of all backgrounds.