Director of Philanthropy (Corporate and Grants)

 

Director of Philanthropy, Corporate and Grant Partnerships

APA! BACKGROUND: Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) is one of Austin’s most dynamic and best-loved nonprofits. The organization is the leader in the no-kill movement nationally and is considered a national thought leader in animal welfare. APA! locally rescues, treats, and adopts out 10,000 homeless dogs and cats each year, providing the safety net for Austin’s most at-risk shelter pets, which helps Austin to be a no-kill city, while also assisting other communities in saving homeless animals. The organization is distinguished by the scrappiness of its grassroots, non-traditional community-based animal rescue work. The organization continues to innovate best practices to save sheltered lives and teaches its renowned no-kill lifesaving model across the nation.

POSITION SUMMARY: The Director of Philanthropy is a skilled people-person with a passion for animal welfare who works to build engagement around APA!’s lifesaving cause and draw high levels of charitable support from institutional funders, including corporations and grantors, to ensure our mission continues to flourish and expand. 

The Director of Philanthropy works with the Chief of Philanthropy in developing the annual revenue plans for corporate and grant revenue, in collaboration with the Senior Corporate Relations Officer and Senior Grants Manager. This Director of Philanthropy provides the strategy for both roles, seeking new opportunities for funding, developing partnerships, and ensuring both roles support and enhance one another. The position requires thoroughly learning about the mission of Austin Pets Alive! and understanding its many programs and their outcomes. The Director of Philanthropy is a lead player in communicating to funders what makes APA!’s work unique and compelling to the Austin community, and positions the organization as a national leader in animal welfare. The Philanthropy Team drives hard to raise the donations that fund our lifesaving work, and the person filling this role must be able to quickly create a path to consistently meet ambitious fundraising goals.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
 

Portfolio Work 

• Actively manage a portfolio of top-level corporations and foundations, including the shelter’s largest partnerships
• Create and sustain meaningful relationships with potential corporate and foundation partners, creating engagement and a deep sense of engagement around our mission
• Meet existing expectations for corporate and grants revenue in the annual budget while strategically building the means for growth from these important streams of giving
• Assist with the creation of presentations, funding proposals, and other collateral necessary for the solicitation of high-level donations
• Maintain timely contact reports, stewardship tracking, and forecasting
• Prospect for new corporate and foundation donors, in collaboration with the Senior Corporate Relations Officer and Senior Grants Manager
• Attend meetings with corporate and foundation donors, as needed
• Attend networking events in the community to cast a wider net for prospective partners
• Work to secure substantial partnership agreements to provide high-level and sometimes, multi-year, corporate support

Planning and Process Management

• Maintain plans and create tools, as needed, to organize work around the revenue goals for corporate and grants, leading the team members responsible for working with these donor segments in coordinating this work
• Lead on prospect planning to bring in new high-level donors, and on maintaining a plan to increase these revenue streams year over year 
• Ensure all stewardship, reporting and PR requirements for sponsorships and grants are met
• Oversee planning of corporate engagement opportunities and events 

People Management

• Manage two staff with primary responsibility for corporate and grant giving, supporting them in their work as needed
• Create and manage KPIs and SMART goals, ensure direct reports are meeting goals around activities and revenues
• Maintain our exceptional team culture by encouraging cooperation and collaboration at all times

Other Functions:

• Work independently, often with little direction, to ensure corporate and grant fundraising goals are met every month
• Take ownership of own professional development, quickly getting up to speed on all relevant philanthropy and animal sheltering topics needed to excel in this role
• Manage up to the Chief of Philanthropy, maintaining close contact and ensuring regular reports on corporate and grants progress 
• Maintain open, consistent, and supportive communication with all Philanthropy Team members
• React to change productively and perform other related duties as assigned
• Provide support to the Chief of Philanthropy, as needed

QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, & EXPECTATIONS:

• An authentic passion for animals and animal welfare
• Five or more years of fundraising experience, including proven success in soliciting gifts of $100,000+
• Substantial experience as a manager of high-performing teams
• A deep understanding of all aspects of the corporate giving and grants processes, with direct experience soliciting corporate gifts and writing grant proposals strongly preferred
• An outgoing personality and enjoyment in meeting new people, building relationships, and inspiring engagement
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including public speaking
• Evidence of strategic ability in increasing revenues and meeting goals
• Organized and adept at managing projects and processes well
• Willing and able to take initiative and manage projects, on limited resources
• Driven to excel in meeting the needs of a mission-driven organization 
• Ability to work with diverse groups
• Working proficiency in Google Suite
• Experience in working with tools to manage charitable giving, such as donor management systems, CRMs, wealth screening tools, grant databases, etc. 
• Must embody APA!'s core values of innovation, respect, drive, resourcefulness, and inclusion
• Commitment to APA!'s customer experience expectations
• Willing and committed to working well with volunteers and staff in all roles

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

• Must be able to work around animals (including diseased, injured, and/or aggressive), loud noises, strong smells, and chemicals
• Must use own vehicle for travel and transport

TIME COMMITMENT:

• This is a full-time, exempt position of 40+ hours weekly. May include evenings and weekends as required

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS: 

• This position reports directly to the Chief of Philanthropy and works in collaboration with the two other Directors of Philanthropy who are responsible for mass campaigns and high-level individual giving
• This position oversees the Senior Corporate Relations Officer and Senior Grants Manager

LOCATION(S):

• Primarily offsite/remote (must live in the Austin area)
• Travel to offsite locations as needed
• Occasional work at Austin Pets Alive!’s main location, 1156 W. Cesar Chavez St., Austin

BENEFITS:  

Austin Pets Alive! is proud to offer a competitive benefits package for full-time employees, including up to 95% subsidy on employer-sponsored medical coverage, up to 2% match on 401(K) retirement plan, subsidized and voluntary life insurance, voluntary dental, vision and short term disability options, all effective the first day of employment. We also offer voluntary wellness and emergency sick plans, supplemental benefits, subsidized pet insurance, flexible spending accounts and additional life coverage. Full-time employees receive 6 paid holidays and accrue 10 days paid time off during the first year of employment, with a third week of  PTO accrual upon completion of 12 months of employment. Employees will also receive professional development opportunities through APA!’s ongoing mission to advance our animal welfare professionals in our lifesaving work.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND ACCOMMODATIONS STATEMENT

Austin Pets Alive! is an equal employment opportunity employer and we value having staff who come from communities that are most impacted by the issues we engage on. We especially encourage people of color, LGBTQ people, women, transgender and gender non-conforming people, and people with disabilities to apply. 

Austin Pets Alive! does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Austin Pets Alive! is committed to creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity and inclusion, respect and integrity, community focus, and innovation.

 
Pay Range: $85,000 per year