Director, Institutional Giving

At Fountain House, we believe in the power of community to transform the lives of individuals with serious mental illness. Every day, thousands of members choose to come to Fountain House to contribute their talents, learn new skills, access opportunities, and form friendships. Members and staff operate successful employment, education, wellness programs and work as partners to perform all the functions that keep our community going. The Fountain House model has been replicated in more than 300 locations in 30 countries and 32 states and currently serves more than 100,000 people with mental illness worldwide. As originators of this approach, we provide leadership by constantly advancing the practice and by leading the conversation around mental health recovery. As a result, Fountain House has created a comprehensive Community System of Care. This includes Clubhouses in Manhattan, the Bronx, Hollywood, California and Care Management, Home and Community-Based Services, and a large housing program ranging from 24-hour supervised residences to scattered-site supported apartments. We are committed to reducing social isolation, advocating for mental health policy change, and driving solutions that empower our members.

Your Impact

The Director, Institutional Giving at Fountain House will embody the values of the clubhouse model, demonstrating what we call our HERO characteristics: fierce optimism, professional curiosity, and a deeply communitarian approach to partnerships, leadership, and engagement.

The overall role of the Director of Institutional Giving position is to grow public and private funding revenue by identifying, securing, and stewarding grant opportunities for Fountain House from new funding sources, and to strengthen current relationships. This is a relationship-driven role. The Director is expected to know their portfolio well, be in front of funders regularly, and create the kind of ongoing engagement that turns a first gift into a multi-year partnership. Writing is one part of this work, and a comparatively small part. The larger part is strategy, cultivation, stewardship, and presence. This position will cultivate relationships with private and public (city, state, and federal government) funders and other external partners to build support for Fountain House and its mission to help people living with serious mental illness overcome social isolation and build the community and the resilience needed to thrive in society.

The Director actively works to reduce cold submissions. Every proposal that goes out to a funder with no prior relationship represents a missed opportunity for cultivation. The Director is responsible for building a pipeline in which most asks are preceded by real engagement: meetings, site visits, informal check-ins, tailored updates, and the creative touchpoints that make Fountain House memorable to a program officer.

This position supervises and coaches development staff, including grant writers, and is accountable for their growth as well as their output.

Salary: $100k - $110,000

Minimum x2 days per week on-site (Hell's Kitchen)

During the 3-month onboarding period, a greater on-site presence may be required

Requirements

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Own and actively steward a portfolio of current and prospective institutional funders, maintaining regular contact independent of proposal and reporting cycles.
• Design and execute creative, tailored touchpoints that keep Fountain House visible to funders between formal deliverables. This includes program updates timed to a funder’s interests, invitations to clubhouse events, connections to relevant Fountain House research, and introductions to leadership and members.
• Take the lead in funder meetings. The Director is expected to be comfortable representing Fountain House directly, speaking to the model, the outcomes, and the case for support without relying on senior leadership to carry the conversation.
• Schedule, coordinate, and lead site visits with foundation, corporate, and government prospects and partners.
• Reduce cold submissions by building relationships in advance of asks. Develop and execute cultivation plans that move prospects from initial contact to a warm ask and track that progression.
• Build and sustain relationships with program officers, foundation leadership, and government agency staff, understanding each funder’s priorities, decision-making process, and timing well enough to position Fountain House accordingly.
• Collaborate across the Development team and with program, research, finance, and communications colleagues, and leverage Board connections to plan how Fountain House approaches each prospect and opportunity.

Strategy and Portfolio Growth

• Work with the Senior Director of Institutional Giving to build an annual development plan aligned with the organization’s strategic focus areas and translate it into a concrete cultivation strategy for the assigned portfolio, including both private Foundation and Government opportunities.
• Continue to grow public funding revenue, currently more than $22M in city and state government funding, while identifying new city, state, and federal opportunities that fit Fountain House’s mission, programs, and strategic pillars.
• Develop working knowledge of when relevant government funding opportunities will be released and build the internal process that allows Fountain House to be prepared rather than reactive.
• Assess prospects critically and make clear recommendations about which opportunities to pursue and which to decline. This includes creating profiles of RFPs summarizing the opportunity for other departments involved in the go/no-go decision.

Supervision and Team Development

• Supervise a grant writer, setting goals and work plans aligned with the annual fundraising plan.
• Provide ongoing coaching, feedback, and professional development, building the capability of the staff supervised rather than absorbing their work.
• Ensure that all external funder communications produced by the team, including proposals and reports, are of exceptional quality and persuasive to funders. This position both coordinates and participates in the writing process.

Systems, Data and Process Management/Administrative

• Work fluently within Fountain House’s development systems and infrastructure, and use them as the operating backbone of the portfolio rather than as after-the-fact record keeping
• Manage all renewals of current foundation grants in coordination with the grant writer.
• Record and track all activity and progress in Salesforce database, including prospecting, moves management, pipeline of opportunities/deliverables, grant management/admin/filing, etc.
• Maintain and regularly update the calendar of government and foundation deadlines (i.e., due dates for grant applications, reports, concept papers, etc.) in Salesforce and Asana database.
• Ensure grant compliance and complete all required grant reporting, including narrative and financial reports, working with program, research, finance, and other staff to ensure timely submission.
• Perform related duties as assigned by supervisor.

Who You Are

• Excellent Communicator. Strong presentation skills, analytical skills, and the ability to create excellent content and persuasive narratives, including a proven track record of success writing winning proposals for government agencies and /or private foundations.
• Demonstrated relationship-building ability. A track record of cultivating funder relationships over time and converting them into renewed and increased support, not only of writing successful proposals.
• Comfort and confidence in funder meetings. Able to lead a conversation with a program officer or foundation executive, respond to questions in real time, and represent the organization credibly.
• Sound Judgement and critical thinking. Able to form an independent view, raise concerns or dissenting opinions, and hold a position when it is the right one for the organization.
• Knowledgeable in government contract application submissions, with impeccable attention to detail.
• Excellent project and time management. Able to carry multiple priorities simultaneously and move them forward, with a demonstrated ability to meet deadlines under pressure.
• Strategic Thinking: Experience in creating annual fundraising plans, and leading and motivating fundraising teams to execute projects.
• Systems-driven work style. Genuinely comfortable operating within established systems and infrastructure, with working knowledge of donor management platforms, ideally Salesforce, and an understanding of how to use a CRM to manage moves, not just to store records. Experience in Microsoft Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Teams, Outlook, etc.) and internet research and prospecting skills. Experience with, and/or knowledge of, the public health, social justice, and mental health fields.

What You Bring

• Undergraduate degree required.
• 5-7 years’ experience in nonprofit fundraising with a focus on government grants and private foundation fundraising at agencies with organizational budgets greater than $10,000,000 or comparable experience in growing and diversifying government and private revenue sources.
• Supervisory experience is required.
• Demonstrated success in securing public and private funding grants from city, state, or federal funding opportunities and private foundations.
• Demonstrated success in stewarding and growing a funder portfolio over multiple years, including securing renewals and increased commitments from existing funders.

Why Join Fountain House?

• Empower Marginalized Communities – Elevate the voices of individuals with lived experience and drive real systemic change.
• Innovate in Mental Health Advocacy – Join a mission-driven team at the forefront of mental health reform.
• Professional Growth & Leadership – Access mentorship, training, and career development opportunities in a rapidly evolving field.

The Physical Requirements Of The Position Include The Following

• Extensive computer use, reading, writing, analysis, attention to detail, and concentration.
• Regular, punctual in-person attendance at Fountain House’s main headquarters and other business locations.
• Occasional long hours, including evening or weekend work.
• In the case of work conducted remotely, the position requires reasonable access to phone, email, and video conference and a dedicated place to work that is reasonably free from interruption and where confidentiality is secure.

Fountain House, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Salary Description

100,000 - 110,000