Regional Development & Partnerships Manager

About Leveling the Playing Field:

Leveling the Playing Field (LPF) is a nonprofit organization that brings access and equity to children in under-resourced communities to enjoy the mental and physical benefits of youth sports participation. LPF does this through the collection of used/excess sports equipment from schools, manufacturers, individual families, and others. After being inventoried and sorted by volunteers at the LPF warehouse, the equipment is then redistributed to a school, sports league, or other organization in an underserved community and placed into the hands of a child who cannot afford their own equipment.

LPF Culture

The LPF team culture attracts self motivated people who excel in an entrepreneurial environment, thrive in a workplace that invites innovation, and embrace collaboration. LPF is committed to providing opportunities for professional development to all staff. All LPF staff demonstrate a commitment to strengthening communities and a passion for youth sports participation.

Position Summary:

The Development & Partnerships Manager is primarily charged with managing LPF’s current partner portfolio and offers opportunities for leadership and creativity. LPF’s existing portfolio includes foundations, corporations, professional sports teams, sporting goods companies, local government and our individual donor program. This individual will work closely with both the executive team and program staff to promote a culture of collegiality and philanthropy.

The ideal candidate will bring a passion for LPF’s mission paired with experience working within nonprofit development and partnerships.

Roles & Responsibilities:

1. Manage current donor portfolio and prospective donor calendar (80%):
   1. Take over stewardship and oversight of LPF’s current donor portfolio across select LPF programs, as well as prospective/future donor pipeline including major grants, individual donors, corporate sponsors and other revenue streams. Work with our grant writer to ensure LOIs and proposals are submitted before each respective due date.
      1. Private Foundations: Maintain/manage funder relationships, provide impact reporting and regular progress updates in writing and in person/over the phone.
      2. Corporate Sponsorship: Maintain corporate relationships and provide updates on sponsored activations and their impact and community reach. If necessary, work with program staff to meet benchmarks laid out in the corporate sponsorship agreement.
      3. Government Grants: Maintain relationships with elected and career government officials involved in our grants. Work with program staff to provide updated impact reporting and in person engagement whenever possible.
      4. Individual Giving: Provide timely donor recognition and engagement. Pursue additional funding solicitations where appropriate.
   2. Prepare donor engagement collateral, such as marketing materials, letters of inquiry, full proposals, pitch decks, individual solicitation letters, corporate sponsorship proposals, donor recognition letters, and grant reports. Additionally, work with the marketing and program team on newsletter and social media posts aimed at driving revenue
   3. Track donor pipeline and relationships in salesforce, ensuring all accounts, opportunities and reports are current & well maintained/detailed.
   4. Work with the executive team to provide fundraising updates to the Board of Directors
2. Conduct outreach to further build out our donor portfolio (20%)
   1. Research and engage with prospective donors across multiple funding buckets including private foundations, local businesses, local government, individuals and more…
   2. Work with program staff to engage current corporate volunteer groups around philanthropic giving
   3. Research and engage prospective corporate volunteer groups that can be solicited for funding in the future
   4. Work with program staff to engage individual donors with the goal of cultivating and growing their relationship with our program

Performance Evaluation

The Development & Partnerships Manager will be evaluated based on revenue goals including grant renewals and new business as well as grants submitted. We will also track performance within specific funding buckets including corporate donors, individual donors, private foundations etc…

Qualifications:

• Must demonstrate experience raising money from private foundations, individual donors and government grants (proposal writing/meet & greets) as well as selling corporate sponsorships
• Hands on experience with institutional giving/grant writing, major gift stewardship, annual giving programs, fundraisers, events, online campaigns and corporate sponsorships are a plus
• Ability to function in a work environment with limited supervision and a comfort level proposing innovative and new solutions/ideas to executive leadership is what we are looking for. Ability to implement and execute those ideas is a must.
• Capable of working evenings/weekends when needed for event coverage
• Excellent communication skills such as writing, public speaking & networking
• Experience with Salesforce, WordPress, MailChimp, or Canva a plus
• Writing sample required

Compensation & Benefits:

• Leveling the Playing Field has locations in Washington, DC, Baltimore, and Philadelphia and this position would require occasional travel to LPF locations and events
• Generous PTO and leave policy
• Benefits include health/dental insurance and 401(k)
• Salary range $60,000-$70,000 depending on qualifications and experience

Equity Statement:

Our entire mission is based around the belief that every child deserves to have access to the mental and physical benefits of youth sports participation. Unfortunately, in today’s youth sports industry, access to financial resources plays a major role in whether a kid has the opportunity to participate in a sport.

As an organization, we are making significant efforts to create a board and staff composition that will reflect the constituency that we serve so that we can be better stewards of our mission. It is vitally important that we have authentic voices in our internal discussions when determining how to best make an impact on the kids we serve.

How to Apply:

To apply, submit a resume and cover letter to jobs@levelingtheplayingfield.org with “Development & Partnerships Manager” in the subject line.