Associate, Foundations, Development

Description & Responsibilities

The Associate’s efforts will be focused on writing proposals to raise funds from national and regional foundations, and to a smaller extent, from corporate foundations and federal agencies. In addition, he/she will draft grant reports in response to these awards. The Associate will work closely with program staff across the organization to articulate strategic plans and document success and progress toward goals to funders. The Associate will report directly to the Director, Foundation Development, and will work as a member of the development team.

Primary responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Support managing portfolio of specific foundations
• Write foundation letters of inquiry and proposals across multiple program areas
• Write foundation reports and capture success stories
• Help craft foundation proposal budgets
• Track, manage and meet foundation deadline, particularly managing the involvement of program and executive staff as needed
• Report on foundation portfolio activity, after review by Director, Foundation Development, to President
• Interact with Foundation staff in an increasing manner over time as designated by Director, Foundation Development
• Participate in the creation of the foundation development agenda and the foundation development plan, critical to Ceres’ growth
• Provide Ceres staff with appropriate documentation as they collaborate with foundation funders
• Attend meetings with program staff regularly to discuss funding opportunities for new, expanding or continuing projects
• Maintain careful records, including entering data into Salesforce.com database
• Coordinate with Development Coordinator to support ongoing stewardship of relationships with foundations, including creating and distributing reports and updates to foundation partners and prospects
• Oversee special projects as assigned by Director, Foundation Development.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required
• 2 or more years of previous work experience
• Demonstrated skill and interest in persuasive writing (writing samples required  - see below)
• Highly developed writing skills
• Demonstrated ability to meet multiple deadlines in a timely manner
• Strong oral communication skills
• Ability to work well independently and collaboratively
• Knowledge of climate change, environmental and/or sustainability issues, a plus
• Ability to handle and prioritize multiple tasks, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Proficiency with database applications and MS Office Suite
• Previous development experience a plus, but not required.

How to Apply

We encourage all applicants to review our website to familiarize themselves with Ceres before applying (www.ceres.org). In addition to a resume and a list of three references, interested applicants should submit a letter describing their qualifications, interests, and potential contribution. Two writing samples are required, including persuasive writing samples that are relevant to a work environment and are not exclusively from an academic setting.

Please list “Associate, Foundations, Development” in the title of your e-mail message.

Address all correspondence to:
Careers at Ceres
ATTN: Associate, Foundations, Development
99 Chauncy Street, 6th Floor
Boston, MA 02111
Fax: 617-267-5400
Email: careers@ceres.org

Ceres is an equal opportunity employer and seeks qualified applicants without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation.