For thirty years, The Trust for Public Land has been working to connect land and people across the Southeast. The Trust’s accomplishments include supporting the vision and implementation of the Atlanta BeltLine and Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park. The Trust has worked to connect 30,000 residents of Chattanooga, Tennessee via the 25-mile South Chickamauga Creek Greenway. Current efforts include expanding Chattanooga’s linear network of parks and trails, a partnership with Atlanta Public Schools to convert schoolyards to community park spaces, and a bold vision to protect and create over 100 miles of greenway and blueway along the Chattahoochee River – featuring parks, trails, boat launches, campsites, and public amenities – that will link 19 metro Atlanta cities and seven counties to serve millions of people throughout the region.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

The Director of Institutional Giving, Southeast will:

• manage and grow a portfolio of 75-120 institutional and corporate prospects and donors based primarily in the Southeast with the capacity to make grants of $25,000 – $500,000+ and/or support multiple programmatic areas;
• conduct donor visits regularly and often with a goal of 45-60+ meaningful visits per year, including qualifying at least 24 prospects per year;
• submit at least three solicitations of $500,000+ and thirty solicitations of $25,000 – $499,999 each year;
• contribute to Philanthropy’s overall success in the Southeast and across the country;
• create gift opportunities with internal partners (state directors, philanthropy colleagues, program directors, and project managers) to meet organizational priorities and pursue funding in support of these goals;
• identify foundation and corporate prospects;
• write letters of inquiry, corporate pitches, concept papers, and research briefings;
• visit with foundation and corporate prospects to establish contacts, gather information, qualify prospects, present ideas, develop networks, promote understanding of TPL’s initiatives, request invitations for proposals, and conduct stewardship;
• strategically partner with Trust Leadership, volunteers, and staff on such visits and prepare with pre-meeting planning and post-meeting debriefing and follow up;
• develop, write, and carry out prospect engagement strategies by identifying, qualifying, and cultivating prospects, determining amount and timing of requests;
• write and oversee the creation of proposals;
• solicit prospects in face-to-face meetings;
• provide verbal and written communication necessary to secure gifts and deliver appropriate stewardship (including corporate engagement) and report on gifts made to the organization;
• determine an effective sequence of work, including planning and monitoring activity timelines for each donor or prospect including proposal due dates, reporting dates, cultivation and stewardship activities, and managing simultaneous proposals and strategies while meeting required deadlines;
• coordinate with Finance, Legal, Marketing, State and Program directors, and Philanthropy colleagues to develop proposal budgets, deliver engagement opportunities, and monitor deliverables for grant contracts; and
• work with philanthropy counterparts in coordinated, Trust-wide activities, such as joint grant requests and stewardship to secure optimum gifts, and participate in collaborative team meetings; and
• prepare internal teams for foundation site visits and corporate engagement, and implement donor recognition.