Sr. Director - Foundation Relations

Morehouse School of Medicine seeks to recruit a talented and experienced fundraising professional for the position of Senior Director – Foundation Relations to make significant contributions to the advancement of health equity in pursuit of health justice.  Successful candidate will be a passionate, creative, and mission-driven professional to join our growing team of Resource Development Professionals.  This team supports current activities and has the exciting opportunity to contribute to the major expansion of campus infrastructure, addition of new degree programs and the develop of regional medical campuses and research collaborations across the U.S. and the world.     This is a public-facing role – a key relationship builder who works closely with foundation leaders and program officers on behalf of MSM. As such, this individual must model our core organizational values of being bold, collaborative, and adaptive to change. The ideal candidate will have a firm understanding of established fundraising principles and techniques, strong project and time management skills, and a track record for superb interpersonal, written, and professional communication and relationship management skills.

The Senior Director, Foundation Relations must have an already established network of local, regional, and national foundation contacts and funding relationships.  The individual will lead the cultivation and stewardship of foundation-focused philanthropy efforts and will be responsible for coordinating activity, developing strategies, building relationships, and raising funds from foundations including capital investments, seed funding for new programs and multi-year special initiatives across the MSM education, research and medical enterprise. This position reports to the VP of Philanthropy & Capital Campaign and manages a team of advancement professionals.    Specifically, the Senior Director – Foundation Relations will:

• Oversee a high-functioning Foundation-focused fundraising efforts to advance health equity, improve care, support biomedical research, interdisciplinary education, and community engagement efforts of the MSM enterprise with special emphasis on priority initiatives set forth by MSM leadership.
• Will work collaboratively with SVP and VP Philanthropy & Comprehensive Campaign to design, articulate, and execute a comprehensive foundation engagement, strategic moves management program for small and large foundations.
• Personally manage an extensive portfolio of 50-100 foundation prospects with an explicit intention to proactively execute a moves management strategy ranging from first gift to major initiative support on through multi-year capital and endowment building campaigns.
• Ability to understand and serve as a thought partner to faculty, staff and researchers in conceptualizing, articulating and translating complex program ideas and evaluation plans into compelling proposals and other collateral materials for that make a compelling case for foundations across interest areas – education, research, community engagement, maternal health, mental health, various diseases, LGBT issues, environment, workforce development, etc. – to see the value of investing in MSM programs and initiatives. 
• Actively recruit foundation leaders to serve in advisory roles and co-present at conferences that highlight the programs, initiatives and lessons learned from shared programmatic investments. 
• Design, pitch and manage a foundation-supported, multi-year challenge grant program to build MSM’s core endowment to build financial self-determination in support of health equity. 
• Serve as a leader and support the professional development of the team through intentional role modeling that is inclusive, transparent, and empowering.
• Personally manage a portfolio of top foundation prospects locally, regionally and nationally and must already possess extensive relationships and demonstrated success in this area. 
• Ability to understand and serve as a thought partner to faculty, staff and researchers in conceptualizing, articulating and translating complex program ideas and evaluation plans into compelling proposals and other collateral materials.
• Serve as a leader and support the professional development of the team through intentional leadership that is inclusive, transparent, and empowering.
• Represent the Advancement Office at various cultivation and fundraising events, working in tandem with MSM’s Advancement Team, SVP and VP Philanthropy and Capital Campaign.
• Ensure MSM Advancement protocols are followed in all aspects of the donor process, including gift processing and acknowledgment, prospecting, soliciting, and stewarding.
• In conjunction with the donor relations team, create written reports for foundations and updates for faculty, craft acknowledgment letters, and respond to requests from faculty, donors, and advancement colleagues.
• Partner with faculty and advancement colleagues to build the prospect base through the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of foundation donors.
• As part of engagement efforts, initiate appropriate contact and develop meaningful and effective development events for donors and prospective donors to showcase unique opportunities for support.
• Track progress and results in CRM/Database System, following MSM’s prospect management guidelines.
• Other duties as assigned.

This is a high-profile leadership role that requires a professional with excellent verbal and written communication, an entrepreneurial thinker, and a problem solver.  Candidate must possess strong relationship management skills and oversee the day-to-day operations of the Foundation-focused Philanthropy.  Familiarity working with faculty, top executives, foundation program officers, donor advised fund holders at community foundations and community leaders desired. Applicants should be accustomed to and comfortable with receiving and applying feedback and advice to improve performance. Additionally, applicants should be able to demonstrate a history of success in their prior field/position, with a special focus on success in designing, implementing, and administering innovative programs that require creative solutions and energized problem-solving approaches within the fundraising arena.   Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited university 
• 7 years of major campaign, fundraising, foundation relations and management experience with a progressively growing philanthropic portfolio. 
• Five years managing/supervising a team of volunteers and/or employees. 
• Five years working in program design, evaluation and community engagement efforts.
• Excellent proposal writing experience including ability to write compelling needs statements, articulate program designs and implementation plans that are based on SMART objectives and articulate evaluation plans required for foundation-based funding proposals. 
• Proven analytical/problem solving skills. 
• Strong time management, organizational skills, and detail orientation. 
• Experience working in a dynamic environment with a commitment to meeting deadlines. 
• Demonstrated ability to exercise excellent judgment and discretion in handling highly confidential information. 
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and proven ability to communicate clearly and professionally with individuals at all levels, internally and externally. 
• Ability to handle multiple priorities from various constituents with tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment. 
• A high degree of professionalism and a strong work ethic coupled with a sense of responsibility and integrity required. 
• Ability to resolve problems independently and work with a high degree of autonomy and responsibility. 
• Strong computer proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook required. 
• Demonstrated experience in project management. 
• Candidate must possess an extensive and longstanding network of foundation contacts and documented track record of successfully moving foundation giving along a growth trajectory.
• This is a high-profile leadership role that requires a professional with excellent verbal and written communication, an entrepreneurial thinker, and a problem solver. 
• Candidate must possess strong relationship management skills and oversee the day-to-day operations of the Individual & Family Philanthropy function. 
• A deep commitment to the mission of Morehouse School of Medicine and experience in support of global health equity. 
• Superior thinking, speaking, and writing skills, and an ability to communicate MSM programs, projects, and activities for purposes of fundraising.
• Leadership, collaboration, and consensus-building skills.
• Ability to communicate with a range of people at all levels, including MSM management and program staff, board members, donors, contractors, outside vendors and suppliers, and other administrative staff members, and to proactively seek ways to contribute to team success.
• Proficiency in using Microsoft Suite of products including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and other fundraising-related software.
• Commitment to MSM’s mission, vision, and core values.
• Experience working in complex, deadline-driven environment required.
• Experience using Microsoft 365 suite and Raiser’s Edge (or similar) CRM database.
• Experience conducting and analyzing donor prospect research.
• Accustomed to and comfortable with receiving and applying feedback and advice to improve performance. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree 
• 10 years Major campaign, fundraising, or leadership role managing a foundation relations portfolio.
• 10 years of fundraising experience in higher education with preference given to candidates who possess development experience engaging community, regional and national foundations in support of higher education and programs related to academic medicine – student support, bio-medical sciences, research and/or clinical services.
• High level of comfort engaging with foundation leaders, corporate executives, faculty, and community influencers.
• Demonstrated history of success in their prior field/position, with a special focus on success in designing, implementing, and administering innovative programs that require creative solutions and energized problem-solving approaches within the community, regional and national foundation realm. 
• Candidate must possess an extensive and longstanding network of foundation contacts and track record working successfully on small place-based and large multi-site programs and initiatives. 
• Experience in a high growth organization, scaling a growing team and department. 
• Follows established MSM and department policies, procedures, objectives, performance improvement, attendance, safety, environmental, and infection control guidelines, including adherence to the workplace Code of Conduct and Compliance Plan. 
• Practices a high level of integrity and honesty in maintaining confidentiality.