Director of National Impact, Catalyst Fund

Director of National Impact for the Fidelity Charitable Catalyst Fund

The Director of National Impact for the Fidelity Charitable Catalyst Fund will lead the Fund's national grantmaking strategy, focused on encouraging individual donors to support promising nonprofits with limited access to philanthropic funding. This role requires experience independently managing a grant portfolio and partnering with donors on their philanthropic giving. Candidates need deep knowledge of the donor support ecosystem and ideally, donor-advised funds and high-net wealthy donors.

Outstanding relationship-building and collaboration skills are necessary. A passion for strengthening nonprofit organizations is critical.

The Catalyst Fund is a grantmaking program of Fidelity Charitable, led by its Board of Trustees and operating separately from Fidelity Charitable's donor-advised fund program. The Fund provides grants to intermediary organizations that encourage donors to give more to promising nonprofits and help nonprofits strengthen their fundraising capacity, confidence, and ability to engage donors. The Fund is focused on growing resources for nonprofits in the Southwest, Deep South, and Central Appalachia, as well as organizations serving communities of color and rural communities nationwide.

The Fund is organized across three portfolio areas—Engage Donors, Elevate Nonprofits, and Field Building—with funding divided between national grantees and state and local grantees.

• Ten plus years of philanthropy experience, including grantmaking at a foundation, corporation, DAF sponsor, or similar institution with independent responsibility for leading a portfolio, assessing and recommending grants, cultivating ongoing grantee relationships, and conducting impact analysis across grants and portfolios; and donor education, engagement, or advising experience connecting individual donors with nonprofits and/or nonprofit fundraising capacity-building programs.
• Strong understanding of the latest trends, research, and organizations influencing donor giving behavior, donor-advised funds, capacity building, and nonprofit fundraising; exceptional analytical, research, and writing skills; and significant public speaking experience with donor and nonprofit audiences.
• Experience collaborating across diverse constituencies, building trust, achieving common goals, solving problems independently, taking initiative, and exercising sound judgment in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.
• High proficiency with PowerPoint, Excel, and Word, along with experience using grants management systems (e.g., Fluxx).
• Manage a portfolio of 40+ grant relationships working across the country, including giving platforms, giving circle networks, nonprofit capacity builders, academic philanthropy centers, and other bridge builders. Develop relationships with potential grantees, complete grant diligence and assessments, make grant recommendations, and partner with grantees to set goals aligned with the Catalyst Fund's learning framework, monitor progress toward those goals, and analyze and synthesize grant reports.
• Serve as a key representative of the Catalyst Fund across the national donor support ecosystem, including speaking at grantee events, participating in funder conferences, and connecting national organizations to local grantees. Recommend revisions to the ongoing strategy and grantmaking priorities for national work by staying current on research, trends, and learning from grantees. Travel will be required for at least 25% of this role.
• Partner with the Executive Director on grantee learning events and communications, process improvements, board communications, and special projects. Partner across Fidelity Charitable teams to coordinate offerings that connect donors to Catalyst Fund grantees, such as philanthropic advising and local donor education events, and launch experiments that encourage donors to give directly to, or in alignment with, the Catalyst Fund.
• Partner with Fidelity Charitable's Marketing team to promote the work of national grantees, coordinate webinars, and inspire donor engagement with grantees.