Director of Institutional Relationships

Family Promise of West Michigan; Grand Rapids (MI); Hybrid; USD 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Family Promise of West Michigan seeks a Director of Institutional Relationships to secure and grow philanthropic support from family, corporate, and private foundations. This externally focused role serves as the organization’s primary relationship manager for institutional partners.

The role reports to the Vice President of Strategic Growth and requires building a robust funding pipeline, developing competitive proposals, and collaborating with program, finance, and leadership to maximize

Qualifications

• 3+ years of successful experience securing funding from family, corporate, and private foundations.
• Exceptional interpersonal, networking, presentation, and written communication skills.
• Strong project management and organizational abilities with the capacity to manage multiple priorities.
• Experience collaborating across departments and working with CRM and grant management systems.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a comprehensive strategy to secure funding ( ~$1M+ annually) from family, corporate, and private foundations.
• Build and manage a diversified institutional giving pipeline that increases both the number and value of foundation and corporate philanthropic relationships.
• Develop and execute strategies to acquire new institutional funders, renew existing investments, and increase the level of support from qualified prospects and current partners.
• Maintain a qualified pipeline of prospects at various stages of identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship, with clear revenue projections and next steps.
• Represent Family Promise of West Michigan at networking events, foundation meetings, conferences, community events, and site visits.
• Identify new funding opportunities through research and community engagement.
• Monitor philanthropic trends and develop strategies to expand long-term foundation partnerships.
• Lead the development of letters of inquiry, grant proposals, concept papers, budgets, and supporting materials for private foundation opportunities.
• Collaborate with program, finance, and executive leadership to identify funding priorities and develop competitive proposals.
• Manage the proposal pipeline, submission calendar, revenue forecasting, and foundation stewardship activities.
• Maintain accurate records of foundation activity, proposals, awards, and relationship history within the organization's CRM.
• Partner with the finance team to ensure grant reporting, compliance requirements, and award administration are completed accurately and on time.
• Communicate grant expectations, allowable expenses, reporting requirements, and funding opportunities with program and finance staff.
• Track foundation revenue, proposal success rates, and relationship activity while providing regular updates to leadership.

Skills

Fundraising

Relationship building

Grant writing

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

CRM systems

Grant management software

Google Workspace

Donor management tools

Job description

Salary Range: $70,000.00 To $80,000.00 Annually

Family Promise of West Michigan strives to give parents the hope and encouragement they need to create a better future for their children and end the cycle of homelessness. Through our diversion services, emergency shelters, housing programs, homeownership initiatives, family stabilization, and early childhood services, we have helped more than 2,500 families overcome homelessness and achieve lasting stability.

At Family Promise, our culture is centered on compassion, collaboration, and commitment to families. We value teamwork, integrity, and a solutions-focused approach as we work together to serve our community with excellence and care.

We are seeking a Director of Institutional Relationships to join our team. This role is responsible for securing and growing philanthropic support from family foundations, corporations, and private foundations. This highly external-facing, revenue-generating role serves as the organization’s primary relationship manager for institutional partners by cultivating and stewarding long-term relationships that result in increased philanthropic investment.

This position reports to the Vice President of Strategic Growth.

Family Promise of West Michigan Core Values:

• Has Passion for Mission
• Prioritizes Accessibility, Belonging and Community
• Is Dedicated to Hospitality
• Collaborates Intentionally
• Is Hungry, Humble, and Smart
• Assumes Good Intent
• Strives for Excellence and Sustained Impact

Our Ideal Candidate will get to:

• Develop and execute a comprehensive strategy to secure funding ( ~$1M+ annually) from family, corporate, and private foundations.
• Build and manage a diversified institutional giving pipeline that increases both the number and value of foundation and corporate philanthropic relationships.
• Develop and execute strategies to acquire new institutional funders, renew existing investments, and increase the level of support from qualified prospects and current partners.
• Maintain a qualified pipeline of prospects at various stages of identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship, with clear revenue projections and next steps.
• Represent Family Promise of West Michigan at networking events, foundation meetings, conferences, community events, and site visits.
• Identify new funding opportunities through research and community engagement.
• Monitor philanthropic trends and develop strategies to expand long-term foundation partnerships.
• Lead the development of letters of inquiry, grant proposals, concept papers, budgets, and supporting materials for private foundation opportunities.
• Collaborate with program, finance, and executive leadership to identify funding priorities and develop competitive proposals.
• Manage the proposal pipeline, submission calendar, revenue forecasting, and foundation stewardship activities.
• Maintain accurate records of foundation activity, proposals, awards, and relationship history within the organization's CRM.
• Partner with the finance team to ensure grant reporting, compliance requirements, and award administration are completed accurately and on time.
• Communicate grant expectations, allowable expenses, reporting requirements, and funding opportunities with program and finance staff.
• Track foundation revenue, proposal success rates, and relationship activity while providing regular updates to leadership.
• Additional duties as needed to support the agency.

Our Ideal Candidate will have:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
• 3+ years of successful experience securing funding from family, corporate, and private foundations.
• Demonstrated success cultivating philanthropic relationships resulting in significant institutional investments.
• Exceptional interpersonal, networking, presentation, and written communication skills.
• Strong project management and organizational abilities with the capacity to manage multiple priorities.
• Experience collaborating across departments and working with CRM and grant management systems.
• Comfortable working in a multi-faith based, mission-driven environment.
• Proficiency in Google Workspace, donor management tools, and digital platforms.
• Documented valid driver’s license.

This position is in-person with remote options, with work performed at the Family Promise administrative office. The Director of Institutional Relationships must be available to work full-time hours, with potential evening/weekend availability, if necessary.

Family Promise of West Michigan offers a robust employee benefit package including health, dental, vision, short-term, and long-term insurance, maternity/paternity leave, 401k plan, and paid time off.

Family Promise of West Michigan is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to recruiting, hiring, compensating, and promoting employees based on their qualifications and experience, without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran or military status, marital status, familial status, height, or weight.

We maintain a drug-free workplace and perform pre-employment background verification checks.