Specialist, Partnerships & Business Development

Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 98,000; Full time

Job summary

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, based in Cambridge, MA, seeks a Partnerships and Business Development Specialist to turn fundraising ideas into funded awards and to manage donor relationships across programs. You will coordinate cross-functional teams, ensure compliance, and support narrative development for competitive proposals.

With a focus on prospect research, reporting, and CRM stewardship, you will help professional staff advance fundraising goals while maintaining thorough

Qualifications

• Experience turning external funding ideas into funded proposals.
• Ability to draft funder-friendly narrative and budgets.
• Strong coordination across teams and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Drive fundraising workflow from concept to awards with external partners.
• Maintain documentation for funded contracts and financial reporting.
• Support budgeting, timelines, and narrative development for proposals.
• Develop training and documentation on fundraising processes.
• Maintain CRM data, dashboards, and reporting on prospects, proposals, and awards.

Skills

Fundraising

Proposal writing

Stakeholder engagement

Project coordination

Tools

Salesforce CRM

Microsoft Excel

Job description

About The Lincoln Institute Of Land Policy

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy seeks to improve quality of life through the effective use, taxation, and stewardship of land. A nonprofit, private operating foundation whose origins date to 1946, the Lincoln Institute researches and recommends creative, nonpartisan approaches to land as a solution to economic, social, and environmental challenges. Through education, training, publications, and events, we integrate theory and practice to inform public policy decisions worldwide. We organize our work around three impact areas: land and water; land and fiscal systems; and land and communities. We envision a world where cities and regions prosper and benefit from coordinated land use planning and public finance; where communities thrive from efficient and equitable allocation of limited land resources; and where stewardship of land and water resources ensures a livable future. We work globally, with locations in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Washington, DC; Phoenix, Arizona; and Beijing, China.

Partnerships And Business Development Team Overview

The Partnerships and Business Development team (PBD) exists to grow the Lincoln Institute's impact through strategic external partnerships. We work with our programmatic teams to identify opportunities, cultivate relationships with funders and partners, develop competitive proposals, and ensure excellence in stewardship and compliance. The PBD team’s values include ethical fundraising, operational excellence, and strategic relationship-building that advances the Institute's mission.

Position Overview

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is looking for a specialist to join the Partnerships and Business Development (PBD) team. You will focus on the process of turning external funding proposals into accepted awards, work with teams across the Institute, reinforce data systems, and promote fundraising activities, including prospect research and relationship management tracking.

What You Will Do

Drive Fundraising Workflow - Management and Execution (65%)

• Aid the workflow that turns fundraising and partnership ideas into fully executed arrangements and awards, from the drafting of proposals to navigating submission processes and legal agreements with external partners.
• Aid internal and external partners through each stage of the funding arrangement lifecycle, from initial submission of concept notes or proposals through negotiation, execution, compliance monitoring, and closeout.
• Maintain thorough, standardized documentation for all externally funded contracts, by driving and delivering financial reporting, deliverables, acknowledgments, and recordkeeping.
• Monitor funding deadlines and deliverables to ensure program staff have the information and tools to safeguard project progression is proceeding as agreed and that donors receive all required reports on schedule.
• Help program staff to develop realistic, compliant budgets, timelines, and work plans, and assist with narrative development for external funding proposals.
• Develop training and documentation to ensure staff are informed about fundraising processes.

Fundraising and Relationship Management Work (35%)

• Contribute to operational efficiencies through cross-functional collaboration across the organization.
• Sustain and enhance our CRM system through meticulous documentation of all partner and donor relationships in Salesforce, including data entry, training, and routine review and cleanup.
• Build and maintain dashboards and reporting mechanisms that give the team visibility into the pipeline of prospects, proposals, and awards across all Lincoln programs.
• Research potential prospects and fundraising opportunities to advance LILP cultivation efforts.