Director, Institutional Giving (TFA)

TEAM: Chicago-Northwest Indiana Regional Team at Teach For America

REPORTS TO: MD, Institutional Partnerships

LOCATION: Chicago, IL

THE ROLE

Teach For America ∙ Chicago-Northwest Indiana is seeking a Director, Institutional Giving. The Director, Institutional Giving serves as the primary grant-writer for the Teach For America ∙ Chicago-Northwest Indiana Development operation. The Director will manage a portfolio of existing and lapsed annual gifts up to $100,000 across corporate and foundation funding and will oversee the grant writing for our government partnerships.

The ideal candidate will have an interest in front-line fundraising as well as a passion for Teach For America’s mission and a developed, nuanced understanding of how to communicate our mission to funders, ensuring alignment in funding requests to partner motivations, our organizational theory of change, and our strategic direction. The Director, Institutional Giving is a member of the Teach For America ∙ Chicago-Northwest Indiana External Affairs team, which is responsible for fundraising and building and strengthening partnerships with the business, civic, philanthropic, and government leadership communities.

The Director reports to the Managing Director, Institutional Partnerships (MD,IP).

THE ORGANIZATION

There are more than 16 million children growing up in poverty in the U.S., and less than 10 percent of them will graduate from college. These statistics are not a reflection of our children’s potential; we know that children growing up in poverty can and do achieve at the highest levels. Rather, these statistics reflect the systemic lack of access and opportunity for children in low-income communities.

Teach For America’s (TFA) mission is to find, develop, and support a diverse network of leaders committed to expanding opportunity for children from classrooms, schools, and every sector and field that shapes the broader systems in which schools operate. We are seeking individuals who align with our mission and core values and are ready to join us in this global movement.

Grant-writing and Reporting (35%)

• Write high-quality proposals, progress reports, and final reports for all existing and lapsed corporate and foundation partners with the potential to contribute up to $100,000
• Set the vision and direction for each written piece, incorporate knowledge of partner motivations and barriers into writing, solicit support and information from other functional teams when writing about a new aspect of our work or when others hold information critical to ensuring the composition of a high-impact piece
• Execute proposals and reports for public grants in collaboration with the Vice President, External Affairs
• Collaborate with Managing Director, Institutional Partnerships, Vice President, External Affairs and Executive Director to set vision and direction for new and complex writing projects, then execute advanced drafts

Portfolio Management & Create and Execute an Operational Plan (30%)

• Set vision and direction, define opportunities, and develop and execute strategies for the portfolio of existing and lapsed corporate and foundation partners with capacity up to $100,000
• Regularly track progress to goal, in part by maintaining accurate partner records for the Institutional Partnerships portfolio through Salesforce
• Once progress to goal is known, conduct analysis to create and implement strategies and solutions to address gaps and ensure adequate progress is made
• Work closely with Managing Director, Institutional Partnerships, Vice President, External Affairs and Executive Director to ensure strategies are implemented, actions are taken, and portfolio progress is made
• Manage the operational systems required to manage a high volume of partner cultivation, stewardship, progress, and research to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, and alignment with all grant guidelines and deadlines
• Efficiently track all communications, actions, events, and fundraising commitments for each partner in the portfolio to ensure high renewal rates and that we meet our fundraising goals

Manage and Build Partner Stewardship and Cultivation Experiences (20%)

• Build and…