Foundation Grants Lead — Strategy, Storytelling & Stewardship

United Way of Metropolitan Chicago; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 64,000 - 86,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental and Vision

Life and AD&D Insurance

Disability Leave

Paid Family Leave

Employee Assistance Program

401k Plan

Paid Time Off including Personal Time,

Sick Time & Paid Holidays

Job summary

United Way of Metro Chicago is seeking a Senior Manager, Foundation Giving to lead foundation fundraising in the Chicago region. You will manage prospecting, grant writing, and grant reporting, coordinating with development, community strategy, finance, and marketing teams to align messaging and ensure timely deliverables.

The role requires 5–7 years of foundation fundraising experience, exceptional writing, and strong collaboration across departments.

Qualifications

• A minimum of 5 to 7 years of foundation fundraising experience, including experience in the successful solicitation of $100,000+ gifts.
• Exceptional written communication and storytelling skills.
• Demonstrated success in managing grant proposal and reporting workflows involving multiple stakeholders and timelines.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work collaboratively across departments.
• Highly organized, meticulous attention to detail, ability to multi-task, prioritize, delegate, and execute concurrent projects and day to day tasks.
• Ability to be discreet and maintain highly confidential information required.
• Possessa collaborative and entrepreneurial spirit, self-motivated, innovative, resourceful, flexible; consistently delivers a high level of service to the team and organization.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of foundation donors and prospects through identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Collaborate with organizational leadership to build and activate relationship strategy for current and prospective funders.
• Write, edit, and finalize high quality and compelling materials including letters of inquiry, proposals, and reports.
• Create a master calendar of submission deadlines and reporting; track deadlines, submissions, and deliverables in the CRM.
• Collaborate with the community strategy, programs, finance, and marketing and communications teams on data collection, program content, and program budgets.
• Build and maintain a robust pipeline of prospective funders; identify alignment with organizational priorities, keeping abreast of key giving trends and opportunities.
• Oversee grant reporting process for foundation funders, ensuring compliance with deliverables and effective communication of program outcomes.
• Partner with the Corporate Grants Manager on internal grant processes and content alignment.
• Produce internal dashboards and progress reports for leadership and board reporting.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Skills

Grant writing

Storytelling

Fundraising

Interpersonal skills

Organization

Job description

United Way of Metro Chicago is seeking a Senior Manager, Foundation Giving to lead foundation fundraising in the Chicago region. You will manage prospecting, grant writing, and grant reporting, coordinating with development, community strategy, finance, and marketing teams to align messaging and ensure timely deliverables.

The role requires 5–7 years of foundation fundraising experience, exceptional writing, and strong collaboration across departments.