POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Institutional Advancement (DOIA) is a strongly supported and highly collaborative leadership position and as vital member of the Forefront staff. The DOIA works in tandem with the executive, program, finance + administration, and external affairs teams to develop, implement, and monitor Forefront’s comprehensive, cross-functional, and diversified fundraising plan. Resulting in increased financial support for Forefront’s operations, programs, and reaching our current $3M support-revenue goal. Forefront’s DOIA will mentor and manage two staff members: the Manager of Foundation Partnerships and Manager of Membership, oversee the effective stewardship + growth of Forefront’s current donor portfolio (90% regional foundation partners), actively identify and cultivate new foundation, corporate, and individual prospects, and secure new general operating and programmatic funding partners. The DOIA role ideal for candidates who have demonstrated progressive fundraising and management skills and are eager to strengthen their fundraising, leadership, and communication acumen – all within a fun, respectful, and diverse team environment.

ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES

Revenue Generation & Strategy Development

• Serve as a thought-partner with Forefront’s Chief External Affairs Officer to design, implement, and monitor a contemporized and creative revenue generating strategy
  • Including but not limited to:
    • Directing grant-management workflows, corporate + major giving, Membership revenue, and Forefront’s annual appeal efforts – resulting in reaching (ideally surpassing) our $3M support-revenue goal. Limited grant writing is required.
    • Managing and mentoring Forefront’s Manager of Foundation Partnerships and Manager of Membership.
    • Overseeing and reporting-on revenue-progression (grants, sponsorships, and Membership), donor/Member acknowledgements in Salesforce, ensure accurate record-keeping of contributions, and evaluate development and Membership budgets.
    • Ensuring all proposals, reports, sponsorship solicitations, and Membership correspondence are submitted in advance of set deadlines.
    • Actively partnering with Forefront’s Executive and Programming teams to offer management, guidance, and evaluation about prospecting, fundraising content/narrative-creation, funding deliverables, submission timelines, budgets, and evaluation.
• Directly contribute to revenue-strategy development, goal setting and implementation of multi-year fundraising and Membership plans. This includes co-creating targeted fundraising and Membership goals with quantifiable outcomes, timelines, and cross-departmental accountability.
• Leverage Forefront’s CRM platform (Salesforce) to collect, organize, and maintain a complete and accurate record of donor and Membership activity.
  • Create funding targets for board of directors and establish tracking tools + reports monitor revenue monthly.

External Stakeholder Engagement and Stewardship

• Serve as one of Forefront’s leading advocates and serve as an enthusiastic and visible spokesperson for our mission, stakeholders, and programs.
• Develop strong relationships within Illinois’ diverse social impact sector resulting in strengthened trust of Forefront and our statewide value proposition – including Forefront’s Board of Directors.
• Employ successful and collaborative prospecting, donor + Member research, and cultivation strategies.

Internal Stakeholder Engagement

• Partner with Forefront’s marketing + communications team to vision and co-produce on-going engagement and stewardship campaigns.
• Consistently collaborate with and learn from Forefront’s programming team, learn + develop accurate and resonating cases for support, proposal narratives, and stewardship reporting.
• Motivate fellow Forefront staff, reinforce a stronger culture of revenue generation, support cross-functional inclusion, transparency, and accountability.
• Make effective use of Forefront systems to manage constituent records in Salesforce to ensure accuracy and support organizational reporting on activities and accomplishments.
• Demonstrate empathetic leadership acumen, help advance Forefront’s mission + strategic plan, and live our values of accountability, authenticity, equity, integrity, teamwork, and learning.

POSITION QUALIFICATIONS

• 5-7 years of quantifiable and progressive success within institutional advancement. Forefront also strongly invites qualified candidates with non-traditional fundraising paths/careers to apply!
• Commitment to advancing racial equity as well as being comfortable serving and communicating with teams consisting of varying identities including gender, race, socio-economic, ability, sexual, and cultural.
• People-management acumen with the ability to motivate and coach teammates with diverse backgrounds, and skill sets, while serving towards a shared goal.
• Demonstrated experience with transparently setting goals and equitably managing a team so that projects are effectively completed and evaluated.
• Consistently welcomes and reflects on feedback, reciprocates the sharing of feedback, and implements into practice.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships with Forefront Board Members, Members, and Illinois’ broader social impact sector culminating in successful revenue generation.
• Strategic in thinking, coordination, and communication with the ability to work independently and entrepreneurially, yet, in close partnership with broader team.
• Keeps abreast of current trends in philanthropy (regionally and nationally), communications, and marketing.
• Fluency is full Microsoft Office Suite, including Office 365, Microsoft Teams, as well as Zoom, and other virtual-communications applications. Experience with Salesforce a plus.

Location:  Candidate must be a resident of Illinois, Northwest Indiana or willing to relocate; Forefront’s headquarter offices are in the FBRK Impact House, and this is a hybrid role which requires some in-person engagement for events and stakeholder meetings (internal and external).

Position Classification:  Full-Time, Exempt

Salary Range:    $75,000 - $85,000

Benefits: 403(b) with employer match; generous paid time off policy; paid parental leave; professional development assistance; employer contributions to dental, health, and vision insurance; employer provided disability and life insurance; flexible spending account.