Senior Director - Foundation Relations

Morehouse School of Medicine is seeking a talented and experienced advancement professional for the position of Senior Director, Foundation Relations. This role will facilitate foundation support to advance health equity and health justice. The successful candidate will join our growing team of Institutional Advancement professionals. The Office of Institutional Advancement is leading a historic $500 million comprehensive campaign to support campus expansion, new and existing degree programs, educational scholarships, research innovation, and regional medical campuses and collaborations globally.

This public-facing role is key in building relationships with private non-governmental foundations and organizations to advance a strategic foundation giving and engagement program for MSM. The ideal candidate must embody our core values of collaboration and strategy. They should have a solid understanding of fundraising principles, strong project and time management skills, and excellent interpersonal, written, and professional communication skills. As a relatively new role focused on foundation philanthropic support, the Senior Director must be comfortable building and growing a strategic outreach and engagement plan.

The Senior Director must have an established network of foundation contacts locally, regionally, and nationally. They will lead foundation philanthropy efforts, coordinating activities, developing strategies, building relationships, and raising funds. This includes securing capital investments, multi-year partnerships, and sponsorships to support events, projects, special initiatives, as well as partnerships to enhance departments across MSM's education, research, and medical enterprise. This position currently reports to the VP of Philanthropy & Comprehensive Campaign but will work closely with and may ultimately report to the AVP, Philanthropy.

Specifically, the Senior Director, Foundation Relations will:

• Oversee foundation-focused fundraising efforts to advance health equity, biomedical research, interdisciplinary education, and community engagement.

• Collaborate with the SVP, Institutional Advancement and VP of Philanthropy & Comprehensive Campaign to design and execute a comprehensive foundation engagement program.

• Directly manage a portfolio of 50-100 foundation prospects, executing strategies for capital and endowment building campaigns, while developing an overall strategy for all potential foundation prospects.

• Translate complex program ideas into compelling proposals and collateral materials for foundation investment.

• Recruit foundation leaders to advisory roles and co-present at conferences highlighting shared programmatic investments.

• Design and manage a foundation-supported, multi-year challenge grant program to build MSM's core endowment.

• Support team professional development through inclusive and transparent leadership.

• Represent the Advancement Office at cultivation and fundraising events.

• Ensure adherence to MSM Advancement protocols for gift processing, acknowledgment, prospecting, soliciting, and stewarding.

• Create written reports for foundations, faculty updates, acknowledgment letters, and respond to requests from faculty, donors, and colleagues.

• Partner with faculty and advancement colleagues to build the prospect base through identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of foundation donors.

• Initiate development events for donors and prospective donors to showcase unique opportunities for support.

• Track opportunities, contacts, actions, next steps, progress and results in the donor database in real time and produce related tracking reports (weekly, monthly, quarterly).

• Collaborate enthusiastically and professionally with peers in OIA (i.e. Individual Giving, Foundation Giving, etc.)

Required Competencies:

• Fundraising Expertise: Strong understanding of fundraising principles and techniques, with experience in major campaign, corporate donor/sponsorship management, and designing innovative programs.

• Relationship Management: Exceptional interpersonal skills and ability to build and maintain relationships with corporate leaders, donors, faculty, and community influencers.

• Communication: Superior written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate MSM programs and initiatives for fundraising purposes.

• Project Management: Proven ability to manage multiple priorities, projects, and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

• Strategic Thinking: Entrepreneurial thinker with strong problem-solving skills and the ability to execute strategic moves management.

• Integrity and Discretion: High level of professionalism, integrity, and discretion in handling confidential information.

• Creative Problem Solving: Agile thinking to build out a viable engagement plan for short-term and long-term support.

Working Conditions:

• Must be able to travel up to 40% as needed, depending on location of corporate donor locations.

• Frequent sitting, occasional standing and walking.

• Occasional reaching, bending, twisting, or climbing.

• Moderate mental effort and concentration required.

• Noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

• Morehouse School of Medicine offers reasonable accommodations to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited university

• 5-7 years of experience in major campaigns, fundraising, and foundation relations with a progressively growing philanthropic portfolio

• Experience in program design, evaluation, and community engagement efforts

• Excellent proposal writing skills with the ability to articulate program designs and evaluation plans for foundation-based funding proposals

• Strong time management, organizational skills, and detail orientation

• Proven analytical and problem-solving skills

• Experience in a dynamic environment with a commitment to meeting deadlines

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and fundraising-related software (e.g., Blackbaud Raiser's Edge).

Preferred Qualifications

• Masters degree in related field and/or CFRE.

• 10 years of experience in major campaigns, fundraising, or leadership roles managing a foundation relations portfolio.

• Experience in higher education fundraising, particularly in academic medicine.

• Extensive network of foundation contacts and a successful track record in foundation philanthropy.

• Experience in a high-growth organization, scaling teams and departments.

• Commitment to MSM's mission, vision, and core values.

Closing Date Open Until Filled Yes Special Instructions to Applicants Quick Link https://careers.msm.edu/postings/20424 EEO Statement Summary

Morehouse School of Medicine is an equal opportunity/equal access/affirmative action employer fully committed to achieving a diverse workforce and complies with all Federal and Georgia State laws, regulations, and executive orders regarding non-discrimination and affirmative action. Morehouse School of Medicine does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex, gender, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression.

Job Duties

Description of Job Duty

• Fundraising Expertise: Strong understanding of fundraising principles and techniques, with experience in major campaign, corporate donor/sponsorship management, and designing innovative programs.

• Relationship Management: Exceptional interpersonal skills and ability to build and maintain relationships with corporate leaders, donors, faculty, and community influencers.

• Communication: Superior written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate MSM programs and initiatives for fundraising purposes.

• Project Management: Proven ability to manage multiple priorities, projects, and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

• Strategic Thinking: Entrepreneurial thinker with strong problem-solving skills and the ability to execute strategic moves management.

• Integrity and Discretion: High level of professionalism, integrity, and discretion in handling confidential information.

• Creative Problem Solving: Agile thinking to build out a viable engagement plan for short-term and long-term support.

Pre-Employment/Employment Requirements

All offers of employment are contingent upon successful completion of all pre-employment screenings.

Immunization

Immunization Requirements

It is MSM's Immunization policy that all Prospective Employees are required to provide proof that they are vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to commencement of employment. If employment will commence during Flu Season, MSM requires all individuals to provide proof that they are vaccinated against Seasonal Influenza for the current Flu Season, unless granted an exemption. Failure to provide proof of vaccination for any required vaccines or obtain an exemption from MSM will result in rescission of a candidate's offer of employment or disciplinary action up to and including termination.

Posting Specific Questions

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).

• What is your salary requirement

(Open Ended Question)

• Do you have 5-7 years of experience in major campaigns, fundraising, and foundation relations with a progressively growing philanthropic portfolio?

(Open Ended Question)

• Do you have experience working with fundraising-related software (e.g., Blackbaud Raiser's Edge)?

(Open Ended Question)

Applicant Documents

Required Documents

• Curriculum Vitae or Resume

Optional Documents

• Cover Letter