Director of Foundation Services

Co Act Detroit; Detroit (MI); Hybrid; USD 108,000 - 132,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/dental/vision

Life Insurance & disability

401(k) match

25 days PTO

Mental health days

Bereavement leave

Professional development stipend

Hybrid scheduling

Job summary

Co.act is seeking a Director of Foundation Services to lead our work with foundations, philanthropic partners, grant administration, and collaborative funding initiatives. This leader ensures exceptional service to funders while building systems that move philanthropic dollars efficiently and equitably into communities.

The Director serves as Co.act's primary relationship manager for institutional clients and leads a team of three overseeing grantmaking operations and foundation services across

Qualifications

• 7+ years in philanthropy, grantmaking, or foundation relations.
• Experience with private, family, or corporate foundations or institutional funders.
• Experience managing full grant lifecycles and funder relationships end to end.
• Strong operational skills with systems, templates, and workflows.
• Excellent written and verbal communication with funders, boards, and executives.
• Commitment to equitable philanthropy and community-focused funding.
• Knowledge of Southeast Michigan's philanthropic landscape.
• Experience supervising a small team.

Responsibilities

• Build and grow foundation partnerships across Southeast Michigan.
• Serve as lead relationship manager for foundation and institutional clients.
• Identify and pursue new funding opportunities and develop proposals.
• Oversee the full grant lifecycle and grantmaking operations.
• Ensure compliance, budgets, and reporting for grants.
• Develop and maintain grants management systems and templates.
• Design participatory grantmaking processes and recruit community panels.
• Set team goals, coach staff, and manage workload.
• Improve dashboards and reporting for funder satisfaction.

Skills

Foundation relations

Grant lifecycle management

Funder relationship management

Operations & process design

Proposal writing & pitches

Diversity & equitable philanthropy

Staff supervision

Southeast Michigan knowledge

Job description

Description

Reports To: Executive Director
Location: Detroit, MI (hybrid; in-office Tuesdays and Thursdays)

Compensation: $120,000 (non-negotiable, per internal equity policy)

ABOUT CO.ACT

Co.act is a trusted hub aligning social impact leaders, institutions, and resources across Detroit and Southeast Michigan. More than a space, Co.act is connective infrastructure, bringing people, resources, and ideas into alignment to unlock collaboration, expand access to capital, and strengthen the ecosystem as a whole. We work alongside funders and investors, nonprofits, social entrepreneurs, and community leaders, in service of a restorative future where meaningful change is collaboratively advanced.

POSITION SUMMARY

Co.act is seeking a Director of Foundation Services to lead Co.act's work with foundations, philanthropic partners, grant administration, and collaborative funding initiatives. This leader ensures exceptional service to funders while building systems that help move philanthropic dollars efficiently and equitably into communities.

The Director serves as Co.act's primary relationship manager for institutional clients and leads a team of three overseeing grantmaking operations and foundation services. A central part of this role is building and growing Co.act's base of foundation partners, including private foundations, family foundations, and corporate philanthropy, across Southeast Michigan.

Why This Role at Co.act

At Co.act, innovation and support go hand in hand. You'll join a small, mission-driven team shaping how philanthropic dollars flow into Detroit's nonprofit sector, with the opportunity to grow a portfolio of foundation partnerships and build participatory grantmaking models that center community voice. You'll have the autonomy to lead a team, a seat at the table with funders and civic leaders shaping Detroit's future, and a workplace that genuinely invests in your growth and well-being.

Location

Co.act is headquartered in Detroit, MI, in a 6,500 SF nonprofit coworking and event space. This is a hybrid role, in office Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Compensation

The salary is set at $120,000 and is non-negotiable, a structure that ensures internal equity and a consistent, unbiased hiring process.

Benefits

Co.act is committed to supporting our team members’ health, well-being, and professional growth with a comprehensive benefits package that offers:

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage beginning the first of the month following 30 days of employment.
• 100% employer paid life insurance, short-term disability, and long-term disability coverages.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan with an employer match of up to 6%, available after 6 months of employment.
• Full-time employees receive 25 days of PTO annually, in addition to paid organizational holidays.
• 10 paid mental health days available from day one, plus up to 10 days of paid bereavement leave.
• $2,500 annual professional development stipend to support continued learning, training, and career growth.
• Flexible, hybrid-based scheduling options available for eligible positions, supporting a healthy and sustainable work-life balance.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Foundation Partnerships & Business Development

• Build and grow Co.act's portfolio of foundation partners, including private foundations, family foundations, and corporate philanthropy, across Southeast Michigan.
• Serve as the lead relationship manager for foundation and institutional clients, ensuring exceptional customer service and account management.
• Identify and pursue new business opportunities to expand Co.act's philanthropic services.
• Develop proposals and pitch materials for new partnerships and funding initiatives.

Grantmaking Operations

• Oversee the team's execution of the full grant lifecycle (intake, review, award, disbursement, and reporting), ensuring funds move accurately and on schedule.
• Oversee agreements and administration for partner projects and collaborative funds.
• Ensure grantee and grantor compliance with funder requirements, including budget tracking, spend-down deadlines, and required reporting.
• Direct the development and maintenance of grants management systems, templates, and workflows that reduce administrative burden for grantees and staff.

Participatory Grantmaking

• Set the strategic direction and design for participatory, community-centered grantmaking processes, including community review panels, for applicable funds.
• Guide the team's recruitment, training, and facilitation of community advisory committees and review panels, ensuring diverse representation.
• Develop equitable scoring rubrics, review guidelines, and decision-making frameworks that reduce bias and increase transparency.
• Ensure participatory grantmaking models are documented and continuously refined based on committee and grantee feedback.

Team Leadership

• Directly supervise a team of three, setting clear goals and performance expectations.
• Establish and document consistent operating procedures, checklists, and templates for grantmaking and foundation services.
• Coach team members and support their professional development through regular 1:1s and growth plans.
• Manage team capacity and workload across grant cycles and foundation partner deliverables.

Systems & Continuous Improvement

• Evaluate and set direction for the technology stack, including CRM and grants management systems, supporting foundation services.
• Direct the team's development of dashboards and reporting tools to track grant pipeline, funder satisfaction, and team performance metrics.
• Conduct regular process reviews to identify bottlenecks and implement efficiency improvements across foundation services.
• Ensure funder and grantee feedback is gathered and used to continuously refine service delivery.

Requirements

Preferred Qualifications

• 7+ years in philanthropy, grantmaking, or foundation relations, including time in a funder-facing or business development role.
• Experience inside a private, family, or corporate foundation, or selling and managing services to institutional funders.
• Track record running the full grant lifecycle, from intake through disbursement, compliance, and reporting, while owning the funder relationship end to end.
• Strong operational and project management skills, with a history of building systems, templates, and workflows that hold up across concurrent grant cycles.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including proposals, pitch materials, and presentations to funders, boards, and executive audiences.
• Demonstrated commitment to equitable philanthropy, including moving dollars into community with speed, transparency, and community input.
• Working knowledge of Southeast Michigan's philanthropic landscape, with existing relationships among private, family, and corporate funders.
• Experience directly supervising a small team, setting performance goals, and developing staff.

Bonus Points

• You have designed and run a participatory grantmaking process end to end: recruited and facilitated community review panels, built the scoring rubrics, and refined the model based on what the panels told you.
• You have personally sourced and closed six or seven-figure foundation partnerships and wrote the proposals that landed them.
• You have stood up or replatformed a grants management system or CRM and built the dashboards leadership actually used to run the pipeline.
• You have advised or consulted for foundations and can name the Southeast Michigan program officers you would call in week one.