About the Role

Good Reason Houston’s Director, Foundation Relations will play a critical role in driving the organization’s philanthropic growth by developing and implementing institutional fundraising efforts. Reporting to the Chief Advancement Officer (CAO), this role will build and lead Good Reason Houston’s foundation relations and fundraising efforts and is responsible for all aspects of prospecting through stewardship of foundation donors including but not limited to grant writing, reporting and managing donor engagement strategies. In addition, the Director will oversee the approaches and tactics for the foundation relations strategy ensuring alignment with organizational culture and priorities. This role will specifically be tasked with sustaining long-term relationships with key institutional stakeholders and expanding Good Reason Houston’s network of foundation-based funders to broaden the regional and national portfolio.

As a key partner across departments, the Director, Foundation Relations will collaborate to craft compelling grant proposals, organize donor engagement activities, and prepare impactful stewardship reports that reflect Good Reason Houston’s mission and outcomes. This role will also assist in planning and hosting special events aimed at cultivating partnerships across the organizations portfolio. 

The ideal candidate is an intrinsically-motivated, highly organized, and detail oriented professional with a passion for advancing educational equity through philanthropy. This team member must excel in written and verbal communication, possess strong project management skills, and bring an innovative mindset to the development of new donor relationships. 

Primary Responsibilities 

Institutional Donor Development (75%)

• In partnership with the CAO, develop and launch a multi-year strategy for ambitiously increasing the size and number of institutional gifts, including foundations and corporate donors
• Work closely with the CAO and CEO to drive the strategic growth of institutional revenue, focusing on expansion of portfolio with new/unengaged local, regional, and national foundations
• Build and manage a robust prospect pipeline, identifying and researching Foundation Relations prospects, assessing giving potential, and aligning opportunities with organizational goals and timelines 
• Set a strategy (cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship) and execute on an action plan for your portfolio of 75-125 prospects
• Develop and prepare support materials for donor solicitation and stewardship such as:
  • Written donor proposals that showcase funding opportunities that align with prospects' interests and Good Reason Houston's mission and vision
  • Grant reports, and acknowledgements, updates for donors prior to in-person meetings.
  • Prompt, creative and engaging recognition of grantors
  • Talking points to brief the CEO, senior leadership, and board members prior to donor meetings they attend
• Support a range of activities to prospect donors for Good Reason Houston (e.g., conduct initial prospect research, create donor profiles, direct mailings, etc.)
• Ensure all substantive donor interactions are timely detailed in the eTapestry database (e.g. emails, meetings, written outreach, etc.) 
• Build effective relationships to work cross-functionally to support the progression of the donor pipeline especially concerning grant proposals for solicitation as well as outcomes and impact reporting for stewardship with an specific attention to timely submission of all applications and submissions 
• Oversee special stewardship projects such as: follow up letters after events, holiday card mailings, invitations to special events, personal calls to donors, etc. 
• Track annual goals, key performance indicators, deadlines, and accomplish fundraising outcomes in alignment with the Good Reason Houston annual and multi-year strategic revenue plan 

General Advancement and Data Management (25%)

• Ensure data integrity of the donor database, including data entry, gift acknowledgement, reporting, other duties as assigned 
• Maintain and track donor pledges, payments, and reporting needs related to Foundation Relations
• Partner with Finance team to maintain accurate financial records of incoming gifts 
• Support relationship management of top donors within major gift portfolios 
• Coordinate information sharing and collect key information and data cross functionally 
• Draft donor communications, e-mail, and post-meeting follow-ups to ensure timely and impactful follow-up on all donor activity

Qualifications & Key Attributes  

• Bachelor’s degree required
• At least 5 years of experience in fundraising, with an emphasis on grant submissions, impact reporting, and relationship cultivation 
• A proven track record of cultivating, soliciting, and closing gifts of $75,000 and above.
• Experience managing a multi-million dollar annual portfolio with confidence to raise upwards of $7M
• Superior attention to detail and organizational skills
• Ability to prioritize, sequence, and execute projects
• Excellent research, analytical, and problem-solving skills
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Exceptional personal ownership for meeting goals and track record of follow-through  
• Proficiency with MS Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Word required
• Ability to maintain and update databases with a high level of accuracy (Experience using donor database, such as eTapestry, Blackbaud, Salesforce, etc., highly preferred)
• Demonstrated capacity to be flexible and adaptable in changing environment, able to flex to respond to team needs and take on projects when needed
• Passion about the mission, vision, and goals of Good Reason Houston and how this position contributes to the organization’s success 

Our Team

Along with our core beliefs, the traits listed below were generated by the team to capture what it looks like in action when operating at our best. 

We embrace and drive change.

We are flexible and fierce.

We operate with a bold bias toward action.

We fess up when we mess up.

We dare greatly and engage humbly.  

We grow as we go.

We turn up the love when we turn up the heat. 

We root for each other. 

Good Reason Houston staff are expected to support this organizational culture by promoting and adhering to these team traits to maintain an open and cohesive work environment & relationships.

Working at Good Reason Houston

Good Reason Houston offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience in a similar position. The starting salary for this position is $110,000. New hires are offered a salary depending on qualifications, internal equity, and the budgeted amount for the role. 

Good Reason Houston also has a 401(k) (automatic 3% employer contribution), life, medical, dental and vision insurance packages. 

Each employee accrues 35 paid time off days per calendar year in addition to the 19 paid holidays per year. 

Good Reason Houston is an office-based organization, but allows for virtual work on Mondays and Fridays.