Associate Director of Development, Institutional Giving

Overview:

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) develops and delivers collaborative solutions to global ocean challenges. We are dedicated to the resilience of the Gulf of Maine ecosystem and the communities that depend on it. To learn more, visit gmri.org.

The Associate Director of Development, Institutional Giving works closely with the Development team to plan, implement, and coordinate effective multi-year fundraising strategies for gift prospects, with a primary emphasis on foundation and corporate relationships, non-federal grant support, strategic corporate partnerships, and major philanthropic opportunities.

This position serves in a senior strategic fundraising role on GMRI’s Development team. The role manages a portfolio of qualified institutional funders, builds strong relationships, and leads strategy for corporate and foundation prospects with significant giving capacity. The position maintains a detailed understanding of funding needs across GMRI, identifies funding gaps, and aligns private grant, sponsorship, partnership, and major gift opportunities with organizational priorities.

The Associate Director of Development, Institutional Giving is responsible for direct asks and competitive proposal development, including case development, writing, editing, draft review, and final preparation of charitable letters of inquiry, proposals, and reports sent from the Development department. This position collaborates closely with program leads, the Chief Development Officer, the President and CEO, board members, fundraising volunteers, and other Development staff to activate networks, steward funders, and grow GMRI’s philanthropic support.

Responsibilities:

Strategic Fundraising and Relationship Management

• Develop, manage, and implement a portfolio of approximately 75-125 qualified corporate/foundation funders and prospects.
• Build and maintain long-term relationships with fundraising constituents, including foundation program managers and trustees, corporate representatives, board members, fundraising volunteers, and individual donors as needed.
• Lead and support direct asks to meet funding needs, including gifts of $25,000 or more and annual fundraising goals of $1,000,000 or more once the portfolio is fully developed.
• Design individualized cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and recognition plans that connect donor and funder interests with GMRI’s mission, programs, and funding priorities.
• Persuasively convey GMRI’s mission to diverse external audiences and confidently discuss major, planned, legacy, corporate, foundation, and non-cash giving opportunities.
• Support and guide corporate and foundation portfolios held by other Development team members and GMRI leaders, including the Chief Development Officer, Chief Executive Officer, program leads, and board members.

Corporate and Foundation Grants Strategy

• Hold primary responsibility for GMRI’s corporate giving strategy, serving as lead relationship manager for high-level corporate partnerships, sponsors, and institutional funders.
• Acquire non-federal grant support from private foundations, family foundations/offices, corporations, and other grant-making nonprofit organizations.
• Maintain a detailed understanding of program funding needs across GMRI; identify funding gaps; and lead the pursuit of funding through strategic grant, corporate partnership, and sponsorship opportunities.
• Lead development of competitive proposals and support proposal mechanics, including case development, proposal budgets, writing, editing, and draft review.
• Serve as final editor for charitable letters of inquiry, proposals, and reports sent from the Development department.
• Oversee research on corporate and foundation prospects with support from Institutional Giving team members

Leadership, Supervision, and Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Act independently and in the supervisor’s stead as needed, using sound judgment to identify and solve problems with potential program-wide impact.
• Supervise Institutional Giving team members, including coaching, professional development, regular check-ins, annual performance reviews, and goal-setting in accordance with GMRI practices.
• Provide the Chief Development Officer with regular updates about direct-report performance and the needs of the corporate and foundation grants program.
• Collaborate with GMRI staff, especially program leads and the Sponsored Projects Office, to align funding opportunities with budget needs, program priorities, reporting requirements, and compliance obligations.
• Interface with the President and CEO and board of directors to activate networks and fundraising portfolios in the corporate and foundation grants field.
• Participate in Development team meetings, GMRI-sponsored supervisory trainings, and cross-functional project teams as needed.

Operations, Compliance, and Administration

• Ensure compliance with GMRI policies and procedures and external donor, legal, IRS, grant, and sponsorship requirements.
• Demonstrate sensitivity and discretion when handling confidential information.
• Work within approved budgets; recommend and meet fundraising goals; understand project budgets; and develop or support proposal budgets as needed.
• Ensure electronic and paper filing systems for corporate and foundation prospects are accurate, accessible, current, and compliant with GMRI standard operating procedures in Box and The Raiser’s Edge NXT.
• Maintain quarterly and annual accuracy of a calendar of planned cultivation, stewardship, reporting, and recognition opportunities.
• Communicate upcoming reporting requirements for program grants, identify needed support services, and draft materials as needed.
• Convey grant-related news, requests for proposals, resources, and training opportunities to GMRI staff through internal communication channels, encouraging a culture of philanthropy and shared grant intelligence.

Other Responsibilities:

• Develop, manage, and participate in formal and informal networks of volunteers as needed.
• Direct or participate in negotiations for complex, high-profile, or sensitive agreements when appropriate.
• Assist with donor events to support production and relationship-building as necessary.
• Support the Chief Development Officer to advance priotired donor relationships with special writing projects, such as impact reports, endowment report narratives, campaign materials, case statements, and other Development communications.
• Perform other duties as assigned to support GMRI’s commitment to growing its base of support and increasing public awareness of its mission.
• This role is based in Portland, Maine. Frequent travel, short-notice availability, and flexible hours may be required to support donor engagement, proposals, events, and organizational priorities.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree and at least 6 years of related experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Proven writing ability in a professional setting, including strong proofreading and editing skills; prior grant writing experience for a science or education organization is a strong plus.
• Experience building and maintaining long-term relationships with fundraising constituents and serving as a front-facing representative of an organization with donors, funders, corporate representatives, and partners.
• Experience asking for and closing gifts of $25,000 or more and managing/tracking multiple prospects and donors.
• Experience with fundraising principles and practices, prospect research, cultivation and solicitation strategies, and current trends in charitable giving, including capital campaigns, major gifts, planned giving, corporate partnerships, and foundation grants.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams and communicating effectively with a wide range of stakeholders, including program staff, foundation staff and trustees, corporate representatives, board leadership, volunteers, and colleagues.
• Self-discipline to meet deadlines, anticipate what is needed from others, manage priorities, and accomplish multiple tasks in a demanding environment.
• Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, data management software, and internet-based research tools; proficiency with The Raiser’s Edge NXT required or strongly preferred.

Other Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to determine an individual’s or institution’s interests, capacity, and potential for helping GMRI meet its goals, and to tie those interests to GMRI’s work.
• Ability to educate and inform prospective and existing donors about appropriate giving vehicles, including charitable gift planning and legacy giving opportunities.
• Ability to design and manage comprehensive fundraising plans, including individualized cultivation, solicitation, reporting, stewardship, and recognition plans.
• Demonstrated ability to use listening, diplomacy, tact, and judgment to build strong relationships and motivate donors, funders, and volunteers.
• Proven ability to negotiate complex, high-profile, or sensitive agreements.
• Working knowledge of corporate/foundation relations, charitable gift planning, prospect research, and proposal budget development.
• Understanding of the marine, scientific, and/or educational communities or market spaces.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a broader team, with strong analytical, planning/time-management, and organizational skills.
• Multilingual skills and multicultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
• Strong work ethic, impeccable attention to detail, flexibility, stamina, good humor, and commitment to working in a diverse and inclusive work environment.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office, The Raiser’s Edge NXT, Asana, Slack, Box, and related collaboration and data systems.

Diversity and Inclusion:

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) has a long-standing policy and commitment to providing equal access and equal employment opportunities in all terms, conditions, processes, and benefits of employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, family status, veteran status, or any other classification protected by law. GMRI's employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, family status, veteran status, or any other classification protected by law.

Applicants and employees are encouraged to voluntarily provide certain status data to assist GMRI in fulfilling various reporting requirements of the federal government. This self-identification is completely voluntary, will be kept confidential and separate from your application data, and used only to meet certain state or federal reporting requirements. Providing or declining to provide this information will not result in adverse action of any kind.