Institutional Giving Manager

Institutional Giving Manager

Lawndale Christian Legal Center (LCLC) was founded to provide a unique form of community holistic defense representation grounded in restorative justice values to minors and emerging adults (26 and under) in the North Lawndale area caught in the criminal justice system. LCLC's highly relational, community-led model of representation is performed by an interdisciplinary team of attorneys, case managers, outreach workers, circle-keepers, and community partners. In addition to providing full criminal defense representation, LCLC's community holistic defense team identifies and meets the legal and social needs of our clients at every phase of the criminal justice system: from diversion, arrest, through trial, and the completion of any period of probation, supervision, and parole.

In early 2025, LCLC opened a new $22 million facility named the Dr. Dennis Deer Community Justice Center. In this new facility, LCLC owns and operates a three-story office building plus twenty units of studio-style housing (hereinafter "Deer Housing") for emerging adult men, 18-26 years old, who are or have been represented by our community holistic defense team. The community holistic defense team will identify emerging adult men at high-risk of going to prison and negotiate for them to stay in one of the twenty units of Deer Housing as an alternative to incarceration.

By serving justice-involved minors and emerging adults holistically in their community, LCLC is leading the transformation of the traditional criminal justice system by building out age-appropriate interventions and new best practices grounded in repair and restoration that are more effective, cost less, and result in greater public safety for all. Our holistic, community-led model of restorative justice is a template for creating a justice system that better serves Cook County and the nation. More information on LCLC can be found at

North Lawndale is a vibrant and resilient community, and we are proud to be a part of it. Our Freedom Center office site is located just next door to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Apartments and Exhibit Center, built on the site where Dr. King lived for six months during his Chicago Freedom Campaign in 1966. North Lawndale is tightly knit, and we are gratified by our affiliation with the Lawndale Christian Community Church and North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council, two organizations that have done much to bring necessary health and legal services to the community.

As a result of decades of disinvestment, "white flight", redlining, and other harbingers of systemic poverty and violence, North Lawndale suffers from high levels of poverty, economic hardship, violence, and over-policing. In North Lawndale, approximately 850 officers are assigned to the two police districts that patrol 35,000 residents. In addition, a significant percentage of specialized units (which are historically aggressive and abusive) rove in our community. More than 1,500 youth are arrested in North Lawndale yearly, the second highest rate in Chicago. Indiscriminate stops and searches of North Lawndale residents are a daily occurrence; 66% of adults surveyed perceived no legitimate reason for their most recent police stop. A startling 59% of adults in North Lawndale have been arrested, 30% convicted, and 27% jailed.

Despite the seemingly insurmountable odds that our youth encounter within North Lawndale, they demonstrate hope, resolve, and a drive to make their neighborhood a better place. We are continually inspired by our clients' resilience and positivity in the face of external challenges. It is both an honor and a privilege to help them walk them through and away from the criminal justice system and equip them to take control of their future.

LCLC reaches over 350 minors and emerging adults in the criminal justice system annually with the following services:

• Community Holistic Defense for Juveniles and Emerging Adults: Free legal representation for indigent clients grounded in holistic defense practices which acknowledge that quality of representation and criminal legal outcomes are improved for youth when their unique developmental needs are simultaneously addressed by an integrated, interdisciplinary team of attorneys and social service providers.
• Community Housing: LCLC owns and operates 20 units of studio style housing for emerging adult men, 18-25 years old, inside the Deer Community Justice Center. In addition, LCLC has created a network of approximately 275 private landlords and funders that place other LCLC clients and their families in subsidized affordable housing units.
• Restorative Justice Community Court: LCLC was the lead agency that gathered numerous communities and cook county court stakeholders together to design and launch the first Restorative Justice Community Court in the country in North Lawndale in September 2017. This court is based upon the tradition of restorative justice circle keeping and other restorative justice practices to enable repair and community integration for emerging adult men, 18-25, facing qualifying felony criminal legal charges. LCLC hopes to add a juvenile call to this court to serve minors 17 and younger under the same model.
• Community Holistic Juvenile Diversion: Since 2020, LCLC has worked with the mayor's office and the Chicago Police Department to close the Juvenile Intervention and Support Center (JISC) and create a new model of juvenile diversion for Chicago. LCLC is one of eight service providers in the city and focuses on serving youth from the west side diverted from the courts by the Chicago Police Department.

LCLC looks to continuously innovate our program portfolio to build upon new best practices for serving minors and emerging adults and better serve our communities.

Position Summary

The Manager of Institutional Giving is responsible for developing, growing, and stewarding LCLC's portfolio of foundation and corporate funding partners, in addition to writing grant proposals for federal, state, and local entities for grants and/or proposals in response to RFPs for services rendered. This position manages a growing portfolio of institutional funders and prospects, leads the development and submission of annual proposals, oversees all grant reporting requirements, and collaborates across the organization to secure and sustain institutional investments that advance LCLC's mission and strategic priorities.

The successful candidate will combine exceptional writing and project management skills with a strategic fundraising mindset and the ability to build strong relationships with institutional partners.

Responsibilities

Institutional Giving Strategy & Portfolio Management

• Develop and manage a strategic pipeline of foundation, corporate, and public-sector funding opportunities at the local, state, and national levels.
• Manage a portfolio of institutional funders and prospects, developing strategies for cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and renewal.
• Identify opportunities to increase institutional support through expanded partnerships, multi-year investments, and new funding sources.
• Monitor trends in philanthropy, education, workforce development, and public funding to identify emerging opportunities aligned with LCLC's mission.

Proposal Development & Grant Management

• Lead the development, writing, coordination, and submission of high-quality grant proposals, letters of inquiry, concept papers, and other funding applications.
• Produce compelling, data-driven narratives that communicate organizational impact, program outcomes, strategic priorities, and funding needs.
• Partner with programmatic and executive leadership to identify funding priorities and develop strong cases for support.
• Coordinate proposal development across departments, gathering information related to program design, implementation plans, budgets, evaluation methodologies, staffing, and outcomes.
• Manage all proposals, reporting, and renewal deadlines to ensure timely and accurate submissions.
• Maintain a robust grants calendar and proposal pipeline that supports organizational fundraising goals.

Funder Cultivation & Stewardship

• Serve as a primary relationship manager for assigned institutional funders and prospects.
• Coordinate and participate in funder meetings, presentations, site visits, stewardship activities, and other engagement opportunities.
• Prepare high-quality grant reports and impact updates that demonstrate accountability, outcomes, and return on investment.
• Ensure funders receive timely communication and recognition consistent with organizational policies and partnership agreements.

Data, Systems & Process Improvement

• Maintain accurate institutional giving records, proposal documentation, funder interactions, and reporting requirements within organizational databases and CRM systems.
• Generate reports to inform fundraising strategy and organizational decision-making.
• Develop presentations, briefing materials, and stewardship reports for current and prospective institutional partners.
• Ensure institutional giving systems, proposal development processes, templates, and cross-functional workflows are efficient and effective.

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree or other certification a plus
• Minimum of three years of progressively responsible experience in nonprofit grants management, including direct responsibility for local, state, and federal grants required
• Demonstrated success in developing competitive grant proposals and securing foundation, corporate, and government funding
• Exceptional written communication skills, with the ability to translate complex programmatic information into compelling funding proposals and reports