Community Investment Specialist

The Community Investment Specialist is a full-time position that assists in cultivating and maintaining relationships with grant seekers, grantees, and other internal and external partners by providing guidance to constituents on the foundation's discretionary grantmaking process and technical support to those seeking Akron Community Foundation’s funding.

Reporting to the Senior Community Investment Officer.

• Assist with managing quarterly grant cycles, affiliate funds and other new and emerging grant cycles. Includes anticipating and responding to administrative tasks necessary to implement these processes, such as:
  Confidentially communicating with applicants, grantees, board members and fund holders; responding to initial inquiries, performing due diligence on applicants, verifying compliance with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and community foundation policies and guidelines; facilitating site visits with grant applicants; assisting with grant reports on a quarterly, annual and as-needed basis; reviewing applications and following up on missing information and content questions;
  
  assisting in tracking the status of grants, disbursing payments and maintaining grant files; maintaining updated roster of current applicants and grantees in the foundation’s CRM; assisting the Grants Administrator with grant processing as needed.
• Develop broad local community expertise and contribute to identifying emerging community needs and trends to inform proactive and strategic grantmaking initiatives aligned with ACF’s priority areas (Arts & Culture, Civic Affairs, Health & Human Services, Education).
• Support research and tracking of grantees impact to help identify overall grantmaking impact and successful partnership models.
• Assist with planning and execution for department and related events and educational activities as needed.
• Work with Development Department, especially The Center for Family Philanthropy, to align philanthropic resources with community needs.
• Maintain regular attendance and a visible presence in the office to be accessible to internal as well as external constituents.
• Prepare materials for meetings, such as creating and printing agendas, minutes and handouts, handling refreshments and room setup, etc.
• May attend board and committee meetings and take minutes as needed. Prepare minutes for review by senior staff in a concise and timely manner.
• Assist with department administration when needed, including but not limited to creating a welcoming, organized and efficient environment; and assisting other Community Investment staff with on-site and off‑site event and meeting preparation and execution.
• Assist with database management, in particular related to nonprofits/grantees and including but not limited to updating records, pulling data, reports and lists, etc. Stay current with software updates and help implement changes into grant cycles as needed.
• All other duties as assigned.
• Professional interpersonal style. Ability to interact well with a diverse range of people. Highly desired personal qualities include self-reliant, energetic and diplomatic.
• Required to maintain confidentiality.
• Ability to multitask and work under the pressure of tight deadlines.
• Ability to handle stress.
• Ability to work independently as well as in a team environment.
• Strong oral and written communication skills, in particular the ability to tailor written communications to the audience, understanding what information is pertinent.
• Strong planning and organizational skills. Ability to complete assignments independently, professionally and in a timely manner. Ability to make decisions about how to manage and organize own workload.
• Strong critical thinking, problem‑solving, troubleshooting, and decision‑making capabilities. Demonstrated ability to identify procedural problems or inefficiencies and to recommend and implement improvements.
• Strong research and project management skills.
• Ability to learn new skills, technology and tasks.
• Strong work ethic, reliable, self‑motivated; seeks out ways to be productive and efficient.
• Detail‑oriented and accurate.
• Proficient with basic…