Senior Strategist, Institutional Giving

About the Organization

Founded in 1979, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) is a leading non-profit organization (501(c)3) in the U.S. exclusively dedicated to defending and advancing the rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their loved ones. NILC’s mission is grounded in the belief that everyone living in the U.S. regardless of race, gender/gender identity, immigration status, or economic status — should have equal access to justice, resources, and educational and economic opportunities that enable them to achieve their full human potential. Together, NILC and the affiliated NILC Immigrant Justice Fund (IJF), a 501(c)4 organization, work to advocate more directly for federal immigration reform policies. NILC is committed to advancing its mission — which intersects race, immigration status, and class — through racial, economic, and gender justice and equity orientation.

NILC is at an exciting moment in its organizational trajectory, supporting our five-year strategic framework and scaling the organization and its work through influencing systems, policy advocacy at the federal and state levels, engaging in movement and power building, and narrative and culture strategies in addition to continuous improvements to our operational model. [MA1] [GH2] We are looking for entrepreneurial, results-driven, relationship builders who are committed to NILC’s mission and values of racial justice & equity, valuing diversity, fostering partnerships & collaboration, encouraging respect & personal well-being, and striving for transparency, integrity, and honesty.

About the Position

Reporting to the Director of Institutional Giving, the Senior Strategist, Institutional Giving (Sr. Strategist) is responsible for providing strategic guidance on developing and implementing long-term sustainability and growth plans for institutional funding. A forward thinker with exceptional analytical and project management skills, the Sr. Strategist helps devise well-crafted strategies to maintain and expand NILC’s and IJF’s funding from foundations and other institutional supporters, coordinating with senior leadership to ensure that institutional giving strategies align with organizational goals and needs. The Sr. Strategist coordinates closely with the Director to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward institutional donors, and plays a key role in identifying new institutional funding prospects. Given a diverse grant portfolio that makes up nearly 75% of the organizations’ overall revenue base, this position plays a critically important role in helping to mobilize the partnerships and resources required to advance NILC’s and IJF’s mission and goals and ensure the organizations’ long-term health and sustainability.

This role is a member of the Bargaining Unit.

The Senior Strategist, Institutional Giving will be responsible for providing leadership and driving success in the following key areas:

Specific Position Responsibilities

• Identify potential grant opportunities and institutional giving pipeline priorities in coordination with the Director of Institutional Giving.
• Manage an institutional giving moves management system that clearly outlines engagement, cultivation, solicitation, recognition, and stewardship strategies for the institutional giving portfolio.
• Identify and research new grant prospects, and provide strategic guidance around grant renewals and upgrades from current institutional funders based on funders’ giving history and capacity.
• Support strategic institutional funder outreach and communications; manage a small portfolio of institutional funders, in close coordination with the Director of Institutional Giving, maintaining regular correspondence with select funders as needed.
• Contribute to the development of materials for development strategy meetings, ensuring the integration of institutional funding cultivation and stewardship plans.
• Under the direction of the Director of Institutional Giving and as necessary, write material for grant proposals, reports, and funder correspondence, striving to persuasively communicate about NILC’s and NILC IJF’s mission and programs; oversee the production and collection of collateral materials for grant proposals and reports, in collaboration with the Grants Specialist.
• Manage the organization’s CRM record-keeping system in relation to institutional giving, developing strategies to ensure timely, accurate data collection and reporting, in collaboration with the Senior Specialist, Development Data Management and the Grants Specialist. Analyze data regarding institutional fundraising progress data to empower informed institutional giving decision-making.
• Develop and maintain in-depth knowledge of the organization, mission, programs, activities, and resource needs; coordinate closely with the Director of Institutional Giving in developing strategies to articulate needs to institutional funding sources persuasively.
• Play a critical role in the development and implementation of annual development plans and strategies; as necessary, assist with non-grant fundraising activities, such as annual fund campaigns, special events, fee-for-service revenue generating strategies, etc.
• May be a part of larger cross functional projects using the

MOCHA framework/methodology

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Manage outside consultants, third party administrators, and vendors when needed.

Shared Organization Responsibilities

• Champions NILC & IJF’s mission of advancing the rights of immigrants with low income by demonstrating a commitment to human rights, and racial, economic, and social justice.
• Attends and actively participates in NILC meetings at the organization, department, project, and individual level.
• Develops relationships and supports NILC and IJF colleagues across all teams, recognizing that each individual brings a unique background and perspective to the work and assuming good intent from each other.
• Follows through on commitments acting with a clear sense of ownership individually and collectively by taking personal responsibility for decisions, actions, and failures, establishing clear responsibilities and processes for monitoring work and measuring results, and designing feedback loops into work.
• Learns quickly when facing new situations by experimenting to find fresh solutions, taking on the challenge of unfamiliar tasks, and extracting lessons learned from failures and mistakes.
• Acts with integrity by following through on commitments, being direct and truthful, keeping confidences, and showing consistency between words and actions.
• Commits to centering NILC’s values of racial justice & equity, valuing diversity, fostering partnerships & collaboration, encouraging respect & personal well-being, and striving for transparency, integrity, and honesty in all decisions and actions

In recognition of the fluidity of the work and ecosystem that NILC operates in, other duties may be assigned depending on organizational need.

What We’re Looking for in This Role

• Commitment to NILC & IJF’s mission of advancing the rights of immigrants with low income and a demonstrated commitment to human rights, racial, economic and social justice, and equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice for all.
• Collaborative, proactive, and action oriented working style with a strong service mentality promoting mutual accountability and inspiriting trust and confidence from colleagues, other NILC team members, and NILC leaders alike.
• Expressed ability to manage complex projects, seen as 1st line of question for other staff concerning project commitments and outcomes.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills: ability to read, analyze, and interpret as well as draft documents such as reports, correspondence, and presentations for various audiences.
• A “self-starter” with sound judgement in decision-making, high integrity, and utmost respect for confidentiality.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, enthusiasm, and vision, as well as a willingness to collaborate with other team members to develop approaches to overcome challenges.
• Must be able to work independently as well as with others, be committed to following through on commitments, and value the importance of receiving and providing constructive feedback.
• Ability and willingness to manage competing priorities effectively in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications Required

• High school diploma required
• 7+ years relevant professional experience in non-profit fundraising and/or grants management experience required.
• Experience and in-depth knowledge of grant management/administration process and procedures, grant proposal and reporting processes, and general knowledge of applicable laws and guidelines with regard to foundation grant fundraising for 501(c)(3) organizations.
• Experience with grants management systems and processes, including strategic moves management; CRM experience is a prerequisite for the position, with Raiser’s Edge NXT highly preferred; proficiency in basic software programs (MS Office, Google applications, SharePoint).
• Experience in grant proposal and report writing.
• Knowledge of grants management financial methods, procedures, and practices.
• Proficiency with in-office and virtual environments and software such as MS Office, internet research, and virtual collaboration tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• Higher education background in philanthropy, nonprofit management, or other relevant field preferred.
• 3 or more years of grant management and administration.
• Experience with both 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations a plus.

At NILC, we know that talented people may have different backgrounds or experiences, and if your education and experience doesn’t exactly align with the above that’s okay! NILC believes that diversity in all dimensions of the organization supports and bolsters the innovative thinking essential to its success and is committed to providing equal employment opportunity to all qualified applicants. NILC’s goal is for our people to reflect the communities in which we live and serve and to ensure representation of people of color, women, veterans, and individuals with disabilities in our organization. We encourage you to apply and let us know in your cover letter why you are qualified and the right fit for this role and NILC.

Work Environment

Location & Travel:

NILC's offices are located in Washington, D.C. For this role, up to 25% of overnight interstate travel may be required; travel is typically quarterly to the NILC Washington, DC office or another location within the US for 3-5 nights.

Remote work locations are as follows: (Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Maryland, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin). To be considered, applicants must live in one of the work locations.

Compensation & Benefits:

NILC’s compensation and benefits philosophy is to provide a competitive offering in the nonprofit sector and ensure equity across the organization. The salary range for this role is $84,200 - $105,300.

NILC provides an incredible benefit package that includes employer-paid healthcare coverage (100% for employees and 75% for dependents), employer-supported dental and vision coverage, a 403(b)-retirement plan including an automatic contribution from NILC, paid parental leave, monthly cell phone and wellness stipends, pre-tax accounts for transit, health, and childcare benefits (FSA), and employer-paid short- and long-term disability and life insurance. NILC also provides a generous paid-time-off policy, 15 holidays and 22 days of paid time off annually (increased to 32 after 2 years of employment).

NILC is also a qualifying public service employer, which means all full-time NILC employees qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. To learn more about the program, please visit https://studentaid.gov/pslf/.

Physical Demands:

• Remaining in a stationary position, often standing, or sitting for prolonged periods.
• Communicating with others to exchange information.
• Repeating motions, like typing or answering a phone, that may include the wrists, hands and/or fingers.