Posted on January 29, 2013

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Director of Foundation and Corporate Relations

The beautiful country of Nicaragua – with its awe-inspiring volcanoes, lakes, and pristine beaches – has long struggled with extreme poverty and burdens inconceivable in the developed world. Fabretto Children’s Foundation envisions a prosperous Nicaragua where all children have meaningful opportunities to grow and learn. Inspired by the legacy of Padre Fabretto, the organization’s mission is to empower underserved children and their families in Nicaragua to reach their full potential, improve their livelihoods, and take advantage of economic opportunity through education and nutrition. This mission is achieved through five strategic program areas: early and primary education enrichment, rural secondary education, vocational and life skills education, community well-being and development, and food security and nutrition.

For more than 50 years, Fabretto has built relationships within the Nicaraguan urban and rural communities served in order to provide hope and a better future to the children in need. Today, the organization serves approximately 10,000 children through seven Fabretto-owned centers and more than 50-plus rural school as well as an additional 10,000 children indirectly through a massive teacher training program. Despite dramatic growth in the numbers of children served, staff size, and program offerings in recent years, the need for Fabretto’s programs continues to expand. Fabretto currently expends approximately $5M annually in program and fundraising/ administrative costs, and of that, approximately $1.5M is raised through government, foundation and corporate giving. To ensure Fabretto’s ongoing impact, the organization is focused on expanding and increasing its funding sources. With this organizational vision, Fabretto recently hired a Vice President, Chief De velopment Officer to lead the strategic growth of fundraising and build a diversified and sustainable flow of funding form private and public sources. To complete the development team, Fabretto seeks an energetic, creative and highly organized Director of Foundation and Corporate Relations.

The individual will report to and work closely with the Chief Development Officer, be a critical member of a fast moving, dedicated, collaborative development team and play an integral role in a relationship-based and donor-centered approach to build a sustainable base of philanthropic support for Fabretto. The ideal candidate will be a mission driven, self-motivated, upwardly mobile, entrepreneurial professional who has a successful fundraising background and a proven track record with foundations, corporations and ideally some experience with US Government agencies. S/he will steward existing Foundation and Corporate partnerships and will proactively identify, qualify and personally engage prospects while developing creative strategies to secure new revenue streams from institutional sources. S/he will also have the ability to assess the current systems and determine what changes are needed to improve the day-to-day functioning of the department and to achieve long term goals.

Major Responsibilities:

• Expand the organization’s foundation and corporate support by identifying new prospects and cultivating and stewarding relationships with special emphasis on five and six figure philanthropic commitments
• Maintain a rigorous schedule of contacts with institutional representatives, creating moves management plans related to them, compelling presentations and comprehensive fundraising proposals
• Coordinate submission of grant proposals, letters of interest, concept papers and reports with the Nicaraguan team leader for proposal development, providing input and clearance to strengthen offerings. While proposal development, reporting, budgeting and financial reports will be managed and produced in Managua, the incumbent will work closely with the Managua staff and provide input based on his or her experience with institutional and corporate giving and U.S. market trends.
• Research and identify new prospective funders by working with staff across the organization and virtually with team in Managua.
• Develop and facilitate a multi-year strategy in consultation with the Chief Development Officer for the institutional fundraising program
• Ensure comprehensive, timely and accurate internal reporting, tracking of contracts and detailed records of solicitation activities, deadlines and follow-up compliance.
• Participate in organization-wide planning, fundraising and events activities
• Prepare reports for the CEO and Board of Directors
• Assist the Chief Development Officer in general office organization and serve as a team leader for selected projects.
• Other responsibilities related to special projects as assigned by Chief Development Officer

Qualifications:

• Ideally a minimum of 6 years of proven, successful fundraising in the institutional sector, ideally for international development programs
• Excellent oral and written communication and listening skills, including the ability and stature to serve as a spokesperson in various settings and compellingly articulate Fabretto’s case for support
• Entrepreneurial instincts and ability to work independently and as a team member.
• Resourceful and agile; self-starter; collaborative and patient
• Highly attuned cultural sensitivity and ability to work effectively with colleagues, donors and prospects
• Supervisory experience to manage and motivate diverse teams in different geographic locations (US and Nicaragua)
• Ability to set priorities, manage time, leverage limited resources, and meet deadlines
• Intellectual curiosity, combined with a sincere interest and understanding of the developing world, geo-politics, public policy, global trends, challenges and events, industry trends
• Willingness to travel within the US and occasionally to Nicaragua
• Bilingual language skills (English and Spanish) preferred
• Experience with Donor Perfect and other fundraising tools
• Bachelor’s degree required

Compensation:

The compensation and benefits package for Director of Foundation and Corporate Relations will be competitive and commensurate with the selected candidate’s background and experience.

Location:

This position is based at the Fabretto U.S. office in Arlington, Virginia.

Application Instructions

Applications and Nominations:

Please send all confidential inquiries and information to mgartner@fabretto.org

No Phone Calls please.

All applicants must include 1) up-to-date resume and 2) formal letter of intent that specifically cites the experiences that best prepare the applicant for this role and why this particular opportunity is the logical and desired next step in his/her career. Additional materials and information will be requested during the search and interview process.