Cara Chicago | SENIOR INSTITUTIONAL GIVING LEAD | chicago, il

About Cara Collective

Cara Collective seeks to fuel a courageous national movement to eradicate relational and financial poverty. Through our four entities – Cara, Cleanslate, Cara Connects, and Cara Plus – we engage job seekers, employers, and other organizations across the country to break the cycle of poverty through the power and purpose of employment.  

At present, we produce 1,000 jobs each year; however, our results don’t just end with employment. Today, we take the insights gained over the past 30 years to equip other organizations and employers with practices to help build a more inclusive economy. Learn more at www.caracollective.org.

About the Role

The Senior Institutional Giving Lead will work closely with the Director of Institutional Giving to help strategically lead and grow Cara’s portfolio of grant funded partners to raise $4M - $5M annually. The individual will focus on securing five-figure and six-figure grants. The Senior Institutional Giving Lead will initiate and maintain regular communications with active and prospective funders through in-person meetings (i.e. site visits), virtual and electronic communications, and other methods of communication such as written correspondence via letters of inquiry, formal proposals, and stewardship reports. The Senior Institutional Giving Lead will work with staff members at all levels to ensure that proposals are of the highest quality, application deadlines are met, and that grantors’ expectations are fulfilled. This includes collaboration with members of the Leadership Team to ensure prospective opportunities are advancing the priorities of the organizations’ strategic growth, with program staff to gather programmatic information to support grant applications, with finance to assist in developing budgets associated with the grant, and with the data & technology team to ensure Cara is accurately representing metrics and outcomes in communications with prospects and funders. This individual shares responsibility with the Institutional Giving team for the continued growth of annual fundraising conceiving and implementing new strategies for growth.

Reports To

Director of Institutional Giving

Direct Reports

N/A

Responsibilities of the Senior Institutional Giving Lead

• Fundraising - Grants Management & Strategy (85%)
• Implements fundraising initiatives including identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies for foundations and corporations.
• Manages annual grant calendar for foundation and corporate accounts and updates Salesforce regularly to track related grant activity and contacts.
• Conducts prospect/donor research and vetting for the enterprise and advises on viability of funding opportunities in alignment with Cara Collective priorities.
• As a relationship manager and an externally facing point of contact, develops and maintains relationships with foundation and corporate donor program officers, staff, and trustees.
• Arranges site visits and meetings with donors for self or organization leaders, including but not limited to the coordination of meeting logistics.
• Writes meeting preparation materials to prepare participants for cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship visits.
• Writes timely and strategic correspondence that advances relationships and thus keeps prospects involved and informed of projects.
• Project manages a system to effectively engage colleagues in preparing and submitting high quality proposals.
• Works with program, finance, and data teams to write and manage the submission of quality and accurate proposals to foundations and corporations
• Collaborates with Cara Collective’s executive and leadership team to understand the current and future needs of each domain in order to strategically pursue opportunities that will provide adequate funding support.
• Ensures that funder objectives and grant agreements are met and fulfilled by their deadlines through coordination and completion of grant submission and stewardship logistics.
• Ensures that gift and grant acknowledgement is done in a personalized, and expert and timely manner in collaboration with Development Specialist.
• Attends regular meetings with Director of Institutional Giving to review prospects and deadlines, as well as to strategize on donor engagement.
• Maintains collection of relevant research, white papers, articles, data, etc. to be utilized in proposals and other application materials.
• Writes annual case for support, including templates for proposals, reports, LOIs, and cover letters as needed.

Government Grants (10%)

• Produces grant narrative and supplementary materials, when needed, for government grant opportunities.
• Partners with Contract and Compliance to assess alignment with potential new public grants.
• Prospects and evaluates public funding opportunities and partner with Contract and Compliance to assess alignment with potential grants.

Special Events / General (5%)

• Supports the Development Team in promoting and executing all special events.
• Participates in office-wide endeavors such as All-staff meetings, town halls, team retreats, orientation, ad hoc working groups, and other similar activities.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities associated with it.

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Prefer applicants with at least five (5) years of progressively responsible professional experience and success securing foundation grants or comparable experience writing grants and managing relationships with foundation & corporate funders.
• Experience with basic fundraising research techniques and resources is preferred
• Must have outstanding oral and written communication, organization, project management and interpersonal skills, and strong interest in grant writing & fund development.
• Aptitude with Microsoft Word, Excel, PPT.
• Ability to simultaneously manage short-term and long-term plans and goals.
• Familiarity with Salesforce.com preferred, or other fundraising software.
• Flexibility and adaptability in a fast-paced environment.
• Available for some evening and weekend work (for events).
• Commitment to excellence and, most importantly, a passion for the mission and services of Cara Collective

Mental Demands: 

Demonstrated ability to think creatively

Excellent interpersonal communications, including written and verbal communication skills

Ability to maintain confidential information 

Strong organizational and analytical skills 

Ability to manage multiple priorities and spearhead complex projects with minimal direction 

Strong computer skills including work processing, database management, and spreadsheets

Ability to produce quickly turned-around assignments 

High propensity for project management

Physical Demands: 

Keyboarding to communicate by email and to work with Microsoft Office. Conveying nuanced information and interpreting the nuances of others’ communications through written and verbal interactions. Regular attendance and ability to maintain a vigorous work schedule. May include occasional travel locally and nationally (as needed) to plan and execute visits. Additionally, it requires standing or sitting for extended periods of time and engaging in public speaking activities.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Cara Collective is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Cara Collective does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, parental status, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable laws. We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply. If you are a qualified candidate with a disability, please email us at kboelkens@caracollective.org if you require reasonable accommodation to complete this application.