Associate Director of Foundation Relations

Department: Development

Reports to: Director of Development

FLSA Status: Exempt

Salary Range: $80,000 – $90,000

ABOUT US

At A Place Called Home (APCH), we envision a world where your zip code does not determine your future; where all children have the opportunity to find happiness and success in life. For 30 years, we have served our community — inspiring, encouraging, and supporting the young people in South Los Angeles to achieve social, emotional, and economic success. APCH operates a dynamic, non-profit youth and community center in South Central Los Angeles, providing year-round programs and services for over 750 youth in the arts, higher education, career readiness, mentoring, sports, urban agriculture, counseling, and case management. As youth participate in our programs, they discover interests and talents and develop a better sense of themselves and their place in the world around them. Our goal is to support youth to stay in school, pursue higher education, enter and succeed in the workforce, and become active community members capable of making positive change in the world in which they live.

JOB SUMMARY

The Associate Director of Foundation Relations is an integral member of a 12-member development team at APCH, responsible for overseeing a robust institutional grant funding pipeline. In the coming year, APCH hopes to raise nearly $3MM from institutional support, contributing to an overall fundraising revenue goal of $6.8MM in FY25. The Associate Director will directly shepherd a portfolio of active grants through the monitoring of upcoming deadlines, development of solicitations and reports, donor stewardship, and grant administration. Responsible for supervising an Assistant Manager of Grants and, from time to time, consultants for special projects, the Associate Director will provide strengths-based coaching and support to ensure that institutional grant funding targets are on track through efficient systems, accurate grant administration, and persuasive submission materials. In keeping with APCH’s commitment to professional development, the role holds potential for continued learning and growth. The position requires strong project management skills; a desire for interdepartmental collaboration; the ability to develop, manage, and maintain systems; excellent coaching, mentoring, and management skills; and stellar written and verbal communication skills.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

60% – Grant Seeking & Fundraising

• Serve as the primary relationship manager for assigned institutional funders and drive the solicitation and stewardship strategies to ensure ongoing support of APCH.
• Prepare and submit timely grant proposals in alignment with APCH’s mission, vision, and programmatic priorities; compose cogent and compelling narratives, letters, and other written communications.
• Partner effectively and enthusiastically with APCH staff to develop content-rich narratives that accurately and ethically depict our programs and services, as well as the outcomes identified in the agency’s logic model.
• Develop proposal and project budgets as required by funders; partner with Accounting to produce accurate and readable grant financial reports, and ensure aligned grant accrual and payment records between Salesforce and Sage Intacct.
• Lead funder site visits and prepare participating staff members in advance by coordinating visit logistics and producing high-level meeting summaries.
• Cultivate strong relationships and stewardship practices on behalf of the agency with assigned institutional funders.

25% – Grant Team Leadership & Administration

• Lead the development and implementation of APCH’s strategic approach to meeting aggressive annual institutional fundraising targets and identify opportunities to grow our existing portfolio of support.
• Monitor the institutional revenue progress to goal throughout the year and suggest modifications and alignment to strategy as needed.
• Provide detail-oriented and thoughtful oversight of APCH’s institutional funding pipeline of approximately 70 active grants.
• Research and develop grant sources (private, state, federal) independently and as per referrals, consistent with APCH’s goals and priorities; interpret proposal guidelines, funder interests, and priorities for program staff and agency leadership as required.
• Ensure data integrity and accuracy of APCH’s donor database (Salesforce), and record donor interactions per moves management protocols.
• Ensure compliance with funder regulations and specific terms and conditions of grant awards; troubleshoot ongoing processes and work collaboratively to refine systems in alignment with agency growth.
• Develop and maintain process and protocol documents for both established and evolving systems, updating as necessary.

15% – Supervision

• Supervise an Assistant Grant Manager with care, compassion, diligence, and a strong focus on accountability, productivity, and goal attainment; provide all necessary coaching and mentoring to achieve excellence in work quality; manage according to agreed-upon metrics and benchmarks.
• Engage and manage independent contractor(s) for grant writing services to support APCH’s institutional funding pipeline; ensure work quality and punctual delivery of work product.
• Provide strong oversight of APCH’s grant-seeking activities and the management and recording of grant activity within the APCH fundraising database systems.

Qualifications

To perform this important job successfully, the Associate Director of Foundation Relations must be able to fulfill all of the elements of the job description to the highest standard, and be able to work well with colleagues in a high-energy, collaborative environment with open communication. As Associate Director, you will be expected to excel in competencies including: internal & external collaboration; communication; prioritizing & planning; analytical thinking; work quality & innovation; and strategic analysis of intersectional grant systems. All employees are expected to contribute to ongoing growth and improvement in their departments via excellent job performance. Additionally, you are encouraged to speak up if you become aware of deficiencies and needs; and to offer solutions and make suggestions for improvements in your purview areas. Likewise, because each employee and each department is integral to the entire APCH community, we expect that as you focus on your area, you will also consider the big picture and the overall mission of the agency, and communicate with the appropriate individuals if/when you become aware of problems and/or have suggestions for ways and opportunities to make APCH stronger and better. Together, we can continue to take APCH to even higher levels of excellence and service to the community.

Technical and Performance Skills

• Strong project management skills
• Excellent written/verbal communication
• Experience with nonprofit budgeting and generation of financial reports
• Strong time management and ability to multitask and work independently
• Technical proficiency with Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.)
• Proficiency with databases, preferably Salesforce
• Mission-driven and service-oriented
• Detail-oriented and hyper-organized
• Troubleshooting and problem-solving skills

Education and Experience Requirements

• A mixture of education and experience
• A minimum of 4-6 years of progressive experience as a non-profit fundraiser with grants-oriented experience
• Proven success in securing five-figure grants or more
• Supervisory and management experience a plus
• Experience with the Los Angeles and California philanthropic landscape and donor relations a plus
• Experience with Salesforce or other donor databases a plus
• Experience with government grants a plus
• Experience in the non-profit youth development sector a plus

Physical and Mental Demands

• Able to work in a dynamic and high noise level environment typical of a youth center
• Able to work some evenings and weekends
• Sitting for long periods, some standing/walking
• Continual use of hands for typing and clerical functions
• Long periods of computer usage requiring good vision and focus

A Place Called Home provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including but not limited to pregnancy), gender expression, gender identity or sexual orientation, military and veteran status, medical condition, ancestry, marital status, citizenship national origin, age, physical and/or mental disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, A Place Called Home complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities.

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