Senior Development Manager, North American Foundations - The German Marshall Fund of the United States

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.

Salary: $101,676 - $127,095

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.??