Job Description

CommonLit is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential through literacy education. Today, CommonLit’s English Language Arts school programming reaches millions of students each school year. The organization is on track to have self-sustaining general operations through earned revenue, with philanthropy supporting innovation, research and development, and support for the populations most in need. CommonLit’s existing funders include major institutional K-12 national foundations, and the organization is in good standing to continue to steward major gifts. Moving forward, the goal is to diversify CommonLit’s fundraising base and expand beyond founder-led relationships in the coming years.

The philanthropy team at CommonLit is responsible for developing, nurturing, and stewarding philanthropic partnerships with a diversified audience including K-12 foundations, high net worth individuals, corporations, and governments. The Director of Philanthropy serves in a critically important leadership role executing against set philanthropy targets for a >$20M budget. The Director will be responsible for overseeing the entire grant lifecycle while managing a team of 2-3 direct reports that specialize in grant writing and reporting, lead generation, and communications. Responsibilities include team management, portfolio management, fundraising operations, donor stewardship, cultivation, and team strategy. We are looking for a leader who is an exceptional team manager and communicator with a background in K-12 education and pipeline management.

Roles & Responsibilities

Fundraising Strategy & Execution (Internal)

• Lead the fundraising team toward meeting annual targets
• Co-develop and execute the annual fundraising strategy with the CEO and leadership
• Set and meet goals for prospecting, pitching, closing, and stewardship – the whole fundraising lifecycle – to continually improve outcomes
• Differentiate approaches for different types of prospects: foundations, corporations, HNWIs, etc.
• Oversee, manage, and mentor the fundraising team
• Shift strategic approaches as the landscape evolves

Team Management (Internal)

• Oversee the philanthropy operation and team
• Execute against the annual + quarterly philanthropy targets
• Lead regular team meeting and pipeline reviews
• Establish weekly/monthly accountability mechanisms, tracking, and targets
• Stay abreast of organizational strategy and operations
• Establish strong relationships with x-team leaders
• Keep the organization abreast of progress to goal, deadlines, and opportunities

Donor Lifecycle Management (Internal & External)

• Oversee the entire end-to-end lifecycle of a grant – lead sourcing, qualification, cultivation, closing, reporting, stewardship, and renewal
• Ensure each stage of the lifecycle is healthy and proactively flag and mitigate challenges based on active monitoring and data
• Stay abreast of network banks, industry trends, and relationships
• Ensure strong documentation and reporting for existing grants
• Ensure reporting deadlines and milestones are met
• Oversee diligence stages, communicating with the donor to ensure expectations are met

Direct Donor Sourcing, Qualification, & Stewardship (External)

• Work with the team and with existing knowledge to source new leads, traveling approximately 2x per quarter to targeted events per year to build relationships alongside the CEO
• Meet with prospective donors to qualify them prior to a meeting with the CEO or leadership team; tee up the CEO to close major grants
• Work directly with donors to schedule meetings, share prep notes, and set agendas
• Manage fast donor follow up following all meetings, setting up accountability mechanisms for the team to ensure communication is happening all year, at every lifecycle stage
• Divide stewardship responsibilities with the CEO for existing grants depending on the nature/size of the gift and expectations for reporting calls
• Act as a representative and spokesperson for CommonLit in meeting and at convenings and events

Qualifications

• Education
  • Bachelor’s degree required
• Years of experience
  • Minimum of 5 years of experience with fundraising or equivalent partnership development for K-12 education role (nonprofit, for-profit, startup)
  • Experience managing sales or fundraising pipeline
• Targeted experience requirement(s)
  • Knowledge and experience of K-12 education and/or adjacent industries strongly preferred
  • Lived experience or work experience in underserved communities
  • Experience with the education landscape and education programs required.
• Experience in team management and project management required
  • Exceptional team manager with a bias for action, concise communication
  • Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a team, effectively prioritizing and delegating tasks as needed
• Strong track record of managing and leading teams to meet or exceed their goals
• Comfortable using or learning how to use Google Suite, Slack, HubSpot, Zoom, Notion, etc., for collaboration
• Outstanding communications skills, including oral, written and presentation including the ability to synthesize complex questions and professionalism when representing CommonLit to external partners.
• Eagerness to grow CommonLit’s donor base to bring our innovative program to low-income schools across the United States
• Readiness to problem-solve and manage relationships both internally across organizational departments and externally with donors
• Strong attention to detail and desire for feedback

Physical & Additional Requirements

• This role involves prolonged periods in a stationary position at a desk and working on a computer
• This role involves domestic US travel approximately 2x per quarter
• Must be US-based
• Must be available to work from 9-5 PM Eastern

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