SeriousFun Children’s Network, founded by Paul Newman, is a growing global community of independently managed and financed camps and programs, which have come together with a common purpose – to provide transformative experiences to children with serious illnesses and their families, free of charge. Through our 30 camps and programs around the world, SeriousFun reaches more than 150,000 children and families annually. Learn more at www.seriousfun.org
About us: The SeriousFun Support Center is in Norwalk CT. Our team of 33 staff members provides support services to SeriousFun camps and partner programs around the world to ensure program and operational excellence, create awareness for the camps worldwide, and foster the continued growth of the Network as a whole.
SeriousFun is committed to fostering and ensuring a culture and environment that values the experiences, knowledge, and voices of all those who work to carry out our mission. We are continually focused on bringing our core principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion to life by embracing individual talents and experiences and encouraging ongoing learning and understanding.
The purpose of our job posting is to provide an overview of the responsibilities and qualifications needed for this role and what it’s like to work with us. If this sounds like the work you would like to do – and if we sound like an organization that you would like to work for – then please apply even if you don’t match 100% of the job description.
Position Summary
This position requires an experienced, strategic, creative, and collaborative development professional with success in corporate and foundation fundraising. As the lead for the Corporate and Foundation Partnerships team, the Director is responsible for strategy development focused on the identification, acquisition, building, maintenance, and growth of SeriousFun’s corporate and foundation partnerships. More specifically, the Director plans, directs, and manages the organization’s fundraising approach to corporations, corporate foundations, private foundations, public foundations, and civic organizations. The incumbent, working with and directing the team, is responsible for identifying, cultivating, and soliciting donations from corporations and foundations to meet SeriousFun’s funding targets and budgets. In doing so, they proactively seek opportunities to generate new proposals of interest to corporations and foundations, while also developing and maintaining strong relationships with existing and potential corporate and foundation partners.
This position requires an individual who is strategic, poised, able to communicate and work effectively with potential donor organizations, comfortable with communicating and influencing across a variety of levels in companies, foundations, and at SeriousFun. The candidate will have a successful track record of managing relationships with a broad spectrum of corporations and foundations. The Director of Corporate and Foundation Partnerships is also responsible for building and maintaining a high performing team.
Individuals at the Director level at SeriousFun Children’s Network are expected to:
· Lead their department, and ensure it is high performing.
· Lead and contribute to the implementation of departmental strategic initiatives and business process improvements.
· Coordinate, collaborate, and work directly with other Directors and senior leadership while providing input into organizational strategies, processes, practices, and policies when requested to do so.
· Engage and interact with camp and partner program staff, donors, third-party vendors, partners and/or service providers to provide support while best-representing the organization.
· To work well independently, but to proactively and effectively manage-up and across the organization.
· Set priorities for, supervise, and coach more junior team members.
Essential Responsibilities
· Reporting to the Chief Development Officer (CDO), support the CEO and CDO to establish key corporate and foundation funding opportunities for the network.
· Lead the efforts of the Corporate and Foundations team in the core areas of corporate partnerships and foundation giving
· Support the development of the strategy, calendar, and the achievement of revenue goals.
· Serve as the primary relationship manager for a portfolio of existing and potential new corporate and foundation partners.
· Identify potential corporate, private, civic and foundation gifts, while cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding those relationships utilizing the organization’s CRM system (currently Blackbaud, Raisers Edge) to manage pipeline development, opportunity assignment, and the overall donor journey.
· Align corporate and foundation goals and needs with SeriousFun priorities to further mission impact.
· Oversee the delivery of high-level constituent experience and recognition programs to cultivate new or expanded relationships.
· Collaborate with other Development, Marketing/Communication, Program/Evaluation and Finance/Administrative staff to ensure coordination of efforts.
· Lead and organize regular meetings with Development Directors of member camps to review and strategize about potential corporate/foundation funding partners.
· Manage proposal writing process, including establishing schedules, gathering information, and coordinating with appropriate staff.
· Develop and implement annual calendar for outreach to current and prospective funders
· Develop account plans for each funder to maximize partnership opportunities.
· Develop and present presentations, proposals, and reporting documents.
· Establish and maintain appropriate files of biographical and financial information as well as funding priorities, application guidelines, and deadlines in the CRM system.
Key Competencies
Job-Specific Skills, Knowledge and Ability: Demonstrating the application of job-specific technical skills, general knowledge, and/or abilities to add value.
Authority and Accountability: Providing direction of processes, projects, programs, and people. Delegating responsibilities and decisions appropriately. Being accountable for results.
Critical Thinking and Decision Making: Making decisions and solving problems involving varied levels of complexity, ambiguity, and risk.
Planning and Organizing: Defining tasks and milestones to achieve objectives and ensuring the optimal use of resources to meet those objectives.
Interpersonal Skills: Building and maintaining productive work relationships, collaborating with others to achieve common goals, listening and communicating in a way that is inclusive, respectful, and supportive of others.
Adaptability: Adjusting one’s own behavior to work efficiently and effectively in light of new information, changing situations, and/or different environments.
Leadership: Setting a positive example, encouraging and supporting collaboration and teamwork, exhibiting humility, helping others achieve success, and being honest and trustworthy.
Minimum Qualifications and Job Specific Skills
· Education: Bachelor’s Degree (e.g. BA, BS) or equivalent
· Years of Relevant Work Experience: 7-10 years
· Proven skills in:
· Microsoft Office suite and various videoconferencing applications
· Professional correspondence
· CRM systems, preferably Blackbaud Raisers Edge
Preferred Qualifications & Job-Specific Skills
· Education: Master’s Degree (e.g. MA, MBA, MFA, MS) or equivalent
· Experience in working in NGO’s or other non-profit organizations, particularly those with federated/networked structures.
· SeriousFun program/camp experience
Company Culture, Perks, and Benefits – please read more about The Support Center here to get a sense of what’s important to us.
· Fun, respectful, and collaborative environment
· Professional Development opportunities (online and company-facilitated offerings)
· Respect for your non-working time (in Eastern Standard Time) unless under special circumstances, we limit contacting staff on evenings and weekends.
· 30+ days for you to enjoy as you see fit, including vacation days, holidays, and opportunities to volunteer at a SeriousFun camp.
· Paid time off for family, medical, and civic service needs.
· Company-sponsored retirement 403b plan after one year of continued service.
· New office located in a fully renovated mixed-used building with great onsite (free) amenities.
· Steps away from the East Norwalk train station
Benefits are subject to change
We will determine where the salary offer will fall within this range of ($110k-$130k) based upon the evaluation of the qualifications during the recruitment process. Our transparent and equitable pay bands, as well as our salary offer based on the qualifications evaluated in our process, are integral parts of our organizational systems and intentional culture. The salary offer is not negotiated as we know that negotiation is not aligned with equity and best practices for ensuring fair pay for employees of all identities and backgrounds.
To apply for this position, please submit your resume, and cover letter for consideration