Job Summary:
The full-time Senior Development Manager, North American
Foundations will work closely with the Managing Director,
Development and the Senior Vice President, Strategic Engagement.
The Senior Development Manager will be responsible for coordinating
efforts across GMF to identify, cultivate, and secure funding for
GMF programs from foundations in the United States and Canada.
This position is primarily donor-facing, providing fundraising
strategy, coordination, and direct engagement for current and
prospective North American foundation funders. The Senior
Development Manager, North American Foundations will additionally
provide fundraising strategic input for donor relationships that
are primarily managed by programs and will share sectoral business
intelligence that our programmatic colleagues can leverage.
The Senior Development Manager, North American Foundations will
work in coordination with the Managing Director of Development,
members of the GMF Development team, the Chief of Staff to the
President of GMF, and select members of the programmatic teams.
Other close collaborators will include the Strategic Engagement and
Enterprise teams (including event planning, M&E and DEI). This
position may have direct reports.
Essential Duties/Responsibilities:
Resource Mobilization and Strategy Development
(75%)
- Conduct a landscape analysis to create and implement a
comprehensive strategy for North American Foundations in alignment
with GMF priorities to increase revenue raised and solidify or
expand current funding. - Prioritize identifying, qualifying, cultivating, and soliciting
contributions at $250,000 and above, supporting proposals below
that level where possible. - Build internal relationships and knowledge of GMF’s priority
programs through regular communication and coordination with
program colleagues. - With some funders, serve as the lead in the relationship, and
with others, coordinate behind the scenes with program and
institutional leadership, other development officers, and
volunteers. - Ensure foundation funder representatives are invited to
appropriate GMF convenings and events. - Create cultivation and solicitation plans for each funder in
the pipeline, considering each prospect’s priorities, motivations,
giving patterns and ask preferences based on public information on
colleagues’ knowledge. Execute plans in a timely and cost-effective
manner resulting in the retention and upgrading of foundation
funders. - Assist program staff with proposal writing by providing
guidance and final edits to create compelling, winning
proposals. - Assist program staff with report writing by providing guidance
and final edits to create impactful interim and final reports. - Use professional knowledge to provide a positive and enriching
experience for all funder and colleague interactions.
Coordination and Communication (15%)
- Work with programmatic colleagues to coordinate fundraising
strategies for North American foundation funder prospects, many of
whom have multiple interests at GMF and/or multiple programs they
fund. - Identify and disseminate funding opportunities to programs,
performing regular searches for funding opportunities. - Prepare relevant GMF staff members for meetings and phone calls
with foundations, and record communications, engagement, briefers,
submissions, reports, and other relevant materials in GMF’s CRM
(Dynamics) and shared library (SharePoint) ensure information is
accessible across GMF. - Identify gaps among GMF’s North American foundation funders,
and proactively coordinate with development teammates,
organization-wide collaborative partners, and volunteers to create
and implement engagement strategies. - Understand the evolving research, convening, training, and
grantmaking outputs of GMF’s priority fields and match these with a
wide variety of foundation funding sources. - Support the development of a compelling story that resonates
with donors in the foundation sector. - Foster a culture of philanthropy within the organization,
working with teammates and programs to elucidate culture of
fundraising. - Gather business intelligence from foundation funding sector for
dissemination across GMF and leverage into actionable funder
strategy. - Coordinate with the donor relations assistant and other
colleagues as appropriate on recognition of and stewardship of
donors following successful solicitation. - With Donor Operations staff support, create monthly and
quarterly tracking that accurately reflects foundation funder
activity and fundraising outcomes at GMF.
Management of Assigned Projects (10%)
- Provide occasional support for or attend GMF events and
convenings as necessary.
Knowledge and Skills Needed:
- 10-15 years of professional foundation fundraising and/or grant
writing for non profits or closely affiliated experience. - Proven track record of successful grant proposals and new
funding acquisitions; success closing $250K+ from a single
foundation ideal - Ability to work across different program teams and manage
differing needs of each program team - Exceptional writing, editing, and proofreading skills.
- Strong research skills and attention to detail.
- Ability to understand and interpret financial information and
budgets. - Excellent organizational and time management skills.
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- Understanding of and experience with prospect management
systems, donor databases, prospect pipeline development - Understanding of and experience working with international
cultures - Project management skills, including planning and analysis
- Ability and comfort coaching mid-career and leadership level
staff to achieve fundraising success - Adept at putting creative ideas forward; taking initiative and
solving problems in a matrixed environment
Education: Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s
degree preferred.
We highly encourage individuals from underrepresented
backgrounds to apply. Historically, underrepresented groups
include (but are not limited to) Black, Latinx/o/a/e, Indigenous,
Asian, Arab, Middle Eastern, Pacific Islander, biracial,
multiracial, female-identifying, the disability community,
LGBTQIA+, and other marginalized identities.
Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that
women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless
they meet every single qualification. At GMF we are dedicated to
building a diverse and authentic workplace, so if you are excited
about this role, but your experience does not align perfectly, we
encourage you to apply. You may just be the right candidate for
this or other roles at GMF.