Director, Foundation and Corporate Relations

Overview:

The Director of Foundation and Corporate Relations is responsible for supporting the growth of resources for St. John Fisher University by researching, creating a sustainable pipeline of, cultivating, and preparing successful proposals in support of institutional philanthropic funding priorities. Aligned with this responsibility, the Director will conduct basic research for potential funding sources and utilize the current CRM database to track foundation prospects and proposals; facilitate the development, review, and editing of individual, departmental, and institutional private foundation grant proposals and other written communication with funders including reporting and stewardship; support long-term relationships with funders by writing, reviewing, and editing reports, and other tools that will lead to additional philanthropic investment in the future; and work under the direction of the VP for Institutional Advancement to promote, secure, and administer external private grant funding.

The Director works closely with the VP for Institutional Advancement, members of the Provost’s Office and other campus partners on Foundation and Corporate funding opportunities and helps to ensure priorities are identified and outlined adequately to take advantage of these timely opportunities.

The Director reports to the Vice President for Institutional Advancement and interacts with the Office for Sponsored Programs unit, the Institutional Advancement team, Controller’s Office, senior staff, and faculty/staff across all disciplines, departments, and areas of campus.

Job Responsibilities

• Research funders and organizations that have the potential to lead to partnerships and philanthropic investment; manage a portfolio of funding prospects and, in partnership with the Assistant Provost/Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) develop and maintain a matrix of University priorities and organizational funding policies.
• Evaluate funding opportunities, identify alignment with University priorities, identify and collaborate with campus partners, including facilitating internal grant teams, proposal writing, relationship development and cultivation.
• Utilize the private philanthropy CRM system ensuring that Foundation records are up to date and proposals, visit, and call reports are logged.
• Develop quantitative goals for Foundation and Corporate Relations work that are aligned with other fundraising metrics and also aligned with the goals of the OSP.
• Maintain currency on best practices and trends in foundation and corporate giving and partnerships that align with institutional priorities.
• Support budget development for proposals in collaboration with the Assistant Provost and Controller’s Office.
• Steward long-term relationships with funders by developing and writing impact reports, annual reports, and other tools that will lead to additional philanthropic investment in the future.
• Align stewardship and post-award work with the OSP system for post-award reporting ensuring consistent and timely reporting of all grants and awards.
• Partner with OSP Post-Award Grant Specialist who will provide regular check-ins and support to grant PI/PDs in partnership with the Senior Staff Accountant in the Controller’s Office.
• Write, review, and provide feedback on all written communication with funders to ensure consistency with University and funder guidelines.
• Maintain current institution-specific boilerplate text on topics aligning to key initiatives and strategic planning; work with Institutional Research on supporting data ensuring quantitative information supports shelf-ready priorities.
• Partner with diverse teams on time-driven projects.
• Write, review, and edit impact reports, annual reports, and other reporting and stewardship tools for funders and the University.
• Participate in developing and delivering engaging site visits for funding partners.
• Other duties as assigned.

Education / Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required; master’s preferred.
• Minimum of five years of foundation and corporate relations experience or other experience equivalent; preferred experience within a higher education or foundation office setting.
• Outstanding analytical, writing, and editing skills.
• Proficient with technology supporting the work.
• Familiarity with organization tracking software such as CRM Advance.
• Ability to work collaboratively to achieve unit goals and to provide excellent service to internal and external constituents.

Competencies / Skills

• A proven track record of proactive identification, cultivation, and successful solicitation of grants from all types of foundations, and corporate funders.
• Broad, general knowledge of academic and co-curricular fields across the University and strategies for the development of diverse funding sources.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Outstanding writing and editing skills and the ability to develop and/or edit compelling LOI’s, grant proposals, and reports to external funders.
• Ability to work independently on complex projects while maintaining a close connection to the VP for Advancement and Assistant Provost for Sponsored Programs.
• Ability to prioritize, make independent decisions, and work well under deadlines, exercising confidentiality, good judgment, diplomacy, integrity, and tact.
• Ability to learn and work actively with Institutional Advancement’s CRM including tracking activity with foundations and corporations and uploading proposals and other documents to ensure accurate institutional records.
• Exceptional organizational skills with attention to planning and the ability to calculate, set and meet goals in support of overall philanthropic advancement for the University.
• An entrepreneurial drive.

Equipment to be Used

Position requires working knowledge of Ellucian CRM, Microsoft Suite of software as well as other database management abilities.