Director of Institutional Giving

  • Full-time
  • Hiring Start Time: Immediate Start (Home Office)
  • HO Team: Development

Company Description

Uncommon Schools (Uncommon) Uncommon Schools is a nonprofit network of high-performing public schools that are increasing the academic achievement of historically under-resourced communities and preparing students for success in college and beyond. Uncommon currently manages 54 schools serving more than 20,000 students in six cities: Boston, Camden, New York City, Newark, Rochester, and Troy. We have achieved outstanding academic results based on internal assessments, statewide exams, and graduation milestones.

Job Description

Title: Director of Institutional Giving

Location: New York, NY

Reports to: Uncommon Schools, Senior Director of Development

Position Overview:

Lead Uncommon Schools’ institutional giving work, securing philanthropy from foundations, corporations, and competitive government grants. Lead all aspects of a portfolio of ~$10M+ annually, including maintaining a portfolio of existing grants and identifying, cultivating, and soliciting new five-, six-, and seven-figure grants to ensure that Uncommon has the resources it needs to grow and thrive.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

The Director of Institutional Giving drives our philanthropic work with foundations, corporations, and state and federal governments by working closely with Uncommon’s Senior Director (SD) of Development and other members of the Development team. This critical work supports capital campaigns for new facilities, innovative programming, and scaling and growing our schools.

The Director will be a strategic, adaptable leader with strong relationship management and project management skills. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

  1. Leading the institutional giving team to meet ambitious fundraising goals;
  2. Developing strategy to improve opportunities for institutional support;
  3. Serving as the primary relationship manager for foundation, corporate, and government funders;
  4. Leading our prospect identification and research process;
  5. Cultivating new funder prospects and stewarding existing funders through school visits, communications, and other opportunities;
  6. Owning the production of all grant proposals and reports;
  7. Building internal systems to facilitate reporting and proposal writing;
  8. Developing a corporate giving program;
  9. Performing other related duties as the need arises and assigned.

Qualifications

Preferred:

  • Experience cultivating, closing, and stewarding gifts from institutional funders at every level.
  • Strong relationship management and interpersonal skills for both internal and external stakeholders.
  • Excellent writing skills.
  • Excellent project management and implementation skills.
  • Strong strategic planning ability.
  • Knowledge of the education reform philanthropic sector.
  • Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.
  • Collaborative and team oriented.

Minimum:

  • 5+ years of progressively responsible experience in non-profit fundraising.
  • A bachelor’s degree.

Additional Information

Uncommon Schools offers salaries commensurate with experience and a very generous benefits and vacation package. All staff members receive extensive professional development, and are equipped with a laptop computer and all necessary supplies.

Uncommon believes in the importance of being a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization that enables our students and staff to thrive. We are committed to building a talented team that reflects the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our students. At the same time, we work to ensure an inclusive community through creating a space for meaningful dialogue about issues of race and identity for our staff and students.  As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status or disability.