Strategic Partnerships Director - Heartland Fund

Heartland Fund is seeking an experienced Strategic Partnerships Director to design and lead an ambitious development strategy to expand and deepen support for its growing programs, including Rural Democracy, Rural Climate Partnership, and Resource Rural. This position requires an entrepreneurial senior-level development professional with strong funding relationships who is an excellent writer, verbal communicator, and a skilled project and people manager.

Working in close partnership with the program directors and development team, the Strategic Partnerships Director will drive fundraising for a $35M - $40M+ annual budget to support and expand Heartland programs. They will lead the Heartland team in a variety of donor stewardship activities, including prospect research and donor cultivation, supporting funder learning communities, and oversight of grant writing and reporting, advancing an exciting new field of rural-focused philanthropy.

We are looking for a highly relational, organized, and strategic team member with a commitment to rural people and places, and racial, climate and economic justice. You will have an opportunity to help us design this new senior development role and enable historic, equitable investment in rural communities, democracy, and climate solutions. This is a unique and dynamic position with opportunities for leadership and rewarding collaboration with a network of funding partners.

This is a remote position with a salary range of $150,000 to $205,000 and includes a generous benefits package.

Read the full announcement here.

Applications will be reviewed and considered on a rolling basis with interviews anticipated to start at the end of October/early November. Desired start date by early January 2025.

About the Organization

Heartland Fund is a funding and grantmaking collaborative built to support and connect local leaders and organizations advancing progress across diverse rural communities, small cities and towns. Heartland's grantmaking supports rural people working to transform their lives and communities toward shared prosperity, a healthy climate, and stronger democracy. We invest in building local capacity for issue advocacy, community organizing, economic development and local jobs, climate solutions, civic engagement, and sustainable urban-rural coalitions. We prioritize racial justice in all aspects of our work. In addition to grantmaking, Heartland also supports rural leaders and organizations through convening, research, and communications and storytelling.

Heartland Fund has three programs:

• Rural Democracy, with a network of more than 150 grantees across 25 states where rural action can define policy and democratic outcomes, expands nonpartisan civic participation in rural places and counters narratives and policies that harm our democratic institutions. Heartland’s Rural Youth Voter Fund is a signature initiative of the Rural Democracy program.
• Resource Rural (RR) focuses on effective federal funding implementation to ensure historic climate and infrastructure investments land for maximum impact in rural communities.
• Rural Climate Partnership (RCP) supports hometowns across America to accelerate climate solutions and build healthy local economies.

Both RR and RCP programs help remove barriers to federal funding for rural communities – through place-based technical assistance, local organizing, and a large-scale communications and narrative effort – to make a tangible difference in rural people’s lives and advance climate mitigation and resilience.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

The Strategic Partnerships Director (SPD) will report to the Executive Director. They will collaborate with the Executive Director, Deputy Director, and Resource Rural and Rural Climate Partnership directors to cultivate donor relationships. This team of directors will lead most fundraising and renewal requests, with crucial support from the SPD. Additionally, the SPD will oversee the development team, which includes a Strategic Partnerships Associate and a grant writer.

As a funding collaborative, Heartland Fund has many strong relationships with committed funding partners with annual gifts that range between $100K to $1 million+. These funders may serve as steering committee members and ambassadors, introducing Heartland Fund to their philanthropic colleagues. In addition to cultivating existing funding partnerships, Heartland Fund puts a high priority on expanding our philanthropic relationships and funding

base to grow our programs. The Strategic Partnerships Director will anchor these varied funding relationships, and will be responsible for the following deliverables:

Create & Implement a Collaborative Fundraising Strategy Across Programs

• Drive creation and execution of an integrated, strategic fund development plan across programs
• Quickly understand Heartland’s Rural Democracy, Rural Climate Partnership and Resource Rural programs and financial needs in order to support the organization in funder spaces, oversee compelling proposals, identify promising funding opportunities, and report on impact
• Develop annual revenue projection scenarios for budget and program planning
• Build relationships within the organization to optimize collaborative development processes
• Integrate Heartland Fund’s racial justice goals and plan into development team plan and practices

Cultivate & Steward Funder Community

• Draw upon, develop, and share strong external relationships to introduce new funders and partners to the work
• Track and forecast trends and preferences in foundation and individual giving
• Identify, research, and prioritize funder prospects, including institutional philanthropy, donor-advised funds, and individual donors
• Support the directors with prioritization, scheduling, agenda design, and coordination of donor cultivation and fundraising meetings and events
• Drive planning for funder steering committee meetings, philanthropic conferences, funder affinity group meetings, and other funder learning convenings.
• Embody Heartland Fund racial justice goals in funder engagement and learning opportunities

Develop & Maintain Compelling Fundraising Materials

• Collaborate with program and development staff to understand and translate program plans and outcomes into compelling proposals, reports, funder talking points, and fundraising decks
• Work with the Heartland communication team to review, organize, and package stories of success and impact to motivate giving, including collaborating on yearly impact report preparation

Lead Effective Strategic Partnerships Team & Fundraising Processes

• Establish and oversee systems and processes for managing high quality fundraising and development efforts, including managing staff and coordinating across programs and teams toward these goals
• Communicate with funders, sharing updates, donation instructions and informal acknowledgment for contributions, grants, and other funds received.
• Oversee the Strategic Partnerships calendar and work plan to ensure the team is meeting deadlines, prepared for donor meetings and trips, and completing consistent follow-up
• Work with development staff and program directors to implement efficient processes for managing donor information, keeping donor distribution lists updated, and communicating upcoming next steps with each funder.
• Partner with the Strategic Partnerships Associate and grant writer on project management, content, and writing for grant proposal and report submissions
• Provide management, guidance and mentorship to development team members, including contractors as needed

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will combine senior level fundraising experience with a passion for environmental and economic justice and a thriving democracy. They will bring exceptional people skills, strong organizational talents, and a connection with rural people and places.

Heartland Fund’s growing team takes pride in building an organizational culture rooted in learning, collaboration, racial justice, and a deep commitment to our mission. All staff are expected to provide leadership and vision to advance our mission, vision, and core strategies.

Qualifications

We realize that some great candidates may not have every single thing on this list. If you believe you would be a great fit for this role, we encourage you to apply.

Fundraising & Development Skills

• Minimum of 7 years of experience in fundraising and development for nonprofit social change organizations and/or philanthropy
• Experience overseeing cultivation and stewardship of 7-figure+ gifts
• Demonstrated ability to design fund development strategy grounded in partnerships with aligned foundations and large donors
• Existing relationships with foundations, donors, and/or philanthropic networks - ideally in democracy, climate, and/or economic justice philanthropy

Experience & Expertise

• Familiarity with solutions and strategies relevant to at least 1-2 of Heartland Fund’s programs: climate, rural development, democracy, economic justice
• Basic understanding of new federal funding programs (e.g. American Rescue Plan, Inflation Reduction Action, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act) and how decision-making related to these programs flows from federal to state to local officials
• Fluency with equity practices and racial justice lens
• Professional or lived experience in rural places (preferred)

Communication & Interpersonal Skills

• Excellent oral presentation and writing skills, including writing clear, concise, compelling materials and speaking publicly as necessary
• Outstanding interpersonal and relationship management skills

Project Management & Leadership

• Demonstrated ability to independently own, manage, and drive complex projects, involving a high degree of cross-organizational collaboration
• Strong attention to detail and ability to ensure a team is organized and efficient
• Proven ability to supervise staff and help them grow and contribute to a team, as well as coordinate and manage work across teams

Values & Characteristics

• Connection to and passion for rural people and places
• Strong commitment to equity and racial justice
• Resourceful and creative