Fund Development Manager

Job Summary

We seek an experienced development professional to serve as Fund Development Manager and to articulate our mission to raise capital support of our mission and five-year strategic plan.

ACE has a diverse pool of philanthropic funding partners. The Manager will play a key role in growing our corporate relationships, as well as supporting existing partner relations.

An ideal candidate will bring a record of success developing relationships, particularly with corporate, philanthropic/institutional funders, as well as experience developing and executing effective fundraising strategies. The right person for this position will be able to translate organizational strategy into a tangible fundraising plan across diverse funding sources, with an emphasis on corporate engagement. Will have the ability to share our client stories, facilitate meetings, listen to partner goals, understand overall trends in market and uncover ways for ACE to collaborate in alignment with our mission and strategic objectives to scale solutions and programs that strengthen access to capital and advisory services.

Position Description: This is a salaried position that reports to the Director of Strategic Partnerships. The position is designed to execute development and fundraising activities such as grants management, stakeholder communication, and lead a significant portion of proposal writing and grant reporting. The Fund Development Manager (FDM) supports the Director of Strategic Partnerships (DSP) and collaborates with the full fund development team in the successful achievement of the organization's fundraising plan. The FDM, in partnership with the Grant Development Specialist will manage all proposal writing, and, along with the DSP also provides quality control/final review over all proposals and external communications that bear the ACE brand. This position offers a mix of in-person and remote work.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Fundraising

• Collaborate with the DSP and fund development team to implement work plans; monitor progress; provide updates, and adapt strategies as needed to ensure alignment with ACE strategic goals.
• Support the DSP in working with philanthropic institutions including providing context, small business outcome data, and insight as well as determining how and when to strategically leverage the DSP/CEO in foundation relations.
• Lead annual event sponsorship raising and collaborate on event logistics planning to ensure success.
• Be knowledgeable of ACE offerings (e.g. Lending, Business Advisory Services), understand the needs of the clients, and be able to ideate around potential solutions to amplify work, and determine the partners that should be engaged.
• Gain a comprehensive understanding of the capital funding options provided by ACE's partners.

Grant Management and Engagement:

• Coordinate with fund development team members on data collection and data integrity.
• Oversee grant compliance and manage the entire grant lifecycle, including researching opportunities, preparing and submitting proposals, grant budget development, tracking progress, generating reports, completing wrap-up activities, and conducting follow-up as needed. Ability to trouble shoot and resolve moderately complex issues within reason.

Relationship Building/Community Engagement:

• Manage and strengthen relationships with current funders.
• Identify relevant new collaborations, fundraising and partnership opportunities with ecosystem partners/funders.
• Review and analyze market opportunities and evaluate competitive requirements needed to capitalize on opportunities. Create and execute short and long-term goals to achieve.
• Proactively manage relationships and communications with internal staff, funders, government agencies, and other stakeholders required for successful fundraising and capital campaigns.
• Liaise between marketing staff and program teams in the creation of targeted marketing and outreach materials; support annual report content and planning of annual fundraising event.
• Travel across Atlanta metro region and other ACE offices/meetings as needed.
• Regularly attend ecosystem and industry events within the region.

Fiscal Management:

• Align fundraising goals to ACE’s strategy and financial performance measures.
• Consistently meet and exceed target fundraising goals.
• Work with the DSP and finance team to ensure organizational budget reflects all received funding, and grant funding gets used in accordance with the grant agreement.
• Support cross-functional requests as needed to support compliance and audit success.

Organizational Dynamics:

• Complete relevant research and gather market intelligence on industry trends key to the CDFI or entrepreneurial space.
• Understand and use ACE’s software/platforms, such as Salesforce, to track fund development partner communications and grant proposal status from prospecting to closed/won and reporting.
• Assist in identifying and suggesting any program, system, and process improvements; implement as appropriate.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to gather data from various departments for reporting and grant submissions.

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS AND CRITICAL SKILLS DESIRED

The ideal candidate will possess many of the experiences and qualifications described below but does not need to possess them all to be considered:

• 5+ years of experience in regional or business development, specifically fundraising at a comparable nonprofit or financial institution leading development and/or grantmaking efforts, including proposal writing for government, corporate, and foundation support.
• Experience and/or aptitude to set and obtain annual fundraising goals of $5M+ from a cultivated diverse pool of funders including institutional funders.
• Track record of strong time management, organizational skills, analysis of data and attention to detail.
• Proficiency in MS Office and CRM software (Salesforce), and ability to grasp new technology quickly.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Public Administration or similar field ideal/ Master’s Degree preferred.
• Knowledge of outcome and social impact reporting and best practices.
• Ability to listen to strategic needs and recommend solutions.
• Strong relationship skills with the confidence to cultivate relationships, build rapport, and open doors at the decision-maker level, and with underrepresented and/or diverse communities.
• Excellent English verbal and written communications skills including presentations.
• High-level critical and strategic thinking. Fast-paced and sound decision-making.

Work environment and physical demands:

• The job is performed indoors in a traditional office or remote setting.
• Flexible hours may include nights (e.g. networking events) and weekends, as needed.
• Using a computer while sitting for extended periods is common as well as the ability to move about the office occasionally (accessing files/storage, office equipment, computers and other office productivity devices, attending meetings, etc.), is required.
• No heavy lifting is expected, though occasional exertion of about 10 lbs. of force (e.g., picking up and carrying binders, laptops) may be required. Good manual dexterity required to use common office equipment.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Location: The position is located in Atlanta, Georgia. ACE has a hybrid work environment with hybrid staff currently in the office two days per week.

Compensation: ACE will offer a competitive annual salary commensurate with experience.

Benefits: ACE also offers comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance; 403B and company matching; and generous holiday, vacation, and leave benefits.