Position Title: Fundraising Manager

Employee Status: Part Time (averaging 25-30 hours per week), hourly, non-exempt.

Food Connects believes that a workforce of individuals from varied backgrounds is essential to a thriving and adaptable business. Therefore, we encourage individuals of all walks of life to apply to join our team.  

Position Summary

The Fundraising Manager leads the organization’s fundraising, outreach and strategic community partnership initiatives. The position collaboratively develops and implements the organization's Annual Development Plan, cultivating a strong corporate and individual donor base. In addition to leading the organization’s Community Outreach Team, the Fundraising Manager works in close partnership with the Deputy Director, Leadership Team, Development Manager and other program staff to execute a comprehensive development plan. The position requires someone who is approachable in various interpersonal situations and comfortable speaking in public, enjoys problem-solving, thrives in highly organized environments, communicates proactively, and can confidently prioritize their tasks independently. They play an integral role in supporting our organizational mission to create healthy families, thriving farms, and connected communities.

Core Competencies

Building Collaborative Relationships: The ability to develop, maintain, and strengthen partnerships with others inside or outside the organization who can provide information, assistance, and support.

Strategic Thinking: The ability to analyze the organization’s competitive position by considering market and industry trends, existing and potential customers (internal and external), and strengths and weaknesses as compared to competitors.

Managing Performance: The ability to take responsibility for one’s own or one’s employees’ performance, by setting clear goals and expectations, tracking progress against the goals, ensuring feedback, and addressing performance problems and issues promptly.

Attention to Communication: The ability to ensure that information is passed on to others who should be kept informed.

Results Orientation: The ability to focus on the desired result of one’s own or one’s unit’s work, setting challenging goals, focusing effort on the goals, and meeting or exceeding them.

Empowering Others: The ability to convey confidence in employees’ ability to be successful, especially at challenging new tasks; delegating significant responsibility and authority; allowing employees freedom to decide how they will accomplish their goals and resolve issues.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

Development Administration

• Collaborate on management of the Annual Development Plan with the Development Manager, with support from the Deputy Director.
• Nurture Food Connects’ culture of philanthropy, serving as ambassador to external stakeholders and educating staff and Board about the importance of charitable support.
• Maintain the donor database with support from the Administrative Coordinator, including: gift entry and acknowledgment; quarterly and annual reporting to ED and Board; revenue reconciliation process with finance.

• Along with the Marketing Director, advise design updates to any publications related to fundraising or donor stewardship.

   

Fundraising & Community Engagement 

• Identify and pursue potential funding opportunities.
• Leads fundraising efforts pertaining to community engagement and donor (corporate and individual) stewardship.
• Manages company Outreach Team, ensuring and expanding FC’s presence at key regional gatherings.
• Manage fundraising event coordination and execution.
• Manage the Annual Appeal process.
• Assists in creation of Development's content calendar - utilizing email, social media, and annual appeal letter
• Travel as needed (in the region) to support communications and development priorities, as well as occasional paid off-hours meetings and events (with plenty of advance notice).
• Manage any future Capital Campaign process deemed necessary for fundraising goals.

• Lead Board members in development efforts, monitoring fundraising data and compiling regular reports for the Board.

   

Grants

• Work with the Development Manager to develop the annual grant portfolio. 

   

Additional Responsibilities

• As needed for various projects, coordinates and collaborates with Marketing, Development, Finance and program teams to execute projects.
• Develop internal systems to support fundraising efforts.
• Assist with other projects as needed to support FC’s growth.
• Maintain professional and technical knowledge by attending educational workshops and reviewing professional publications.

• Fill in for other staff with related roles when needed. 

   

Skills and Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 3+ years experience in relationship cultivation and fundraising for nonprofits.
• Demonstrated success developing and nurturing corporate, donor and community partnerships.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating and executing community events.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Detail-oriented organization, planning, and management skills.
• Ability to work both collaboratively and independently and effectively handle multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Effective time management and task prioritization skills.
• Demonstrated comfort with technology.
• Ability to collect and analyze data to measure the fundraising effectiveness of various projects

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or higher degree in a related field.
• Familiarity with our regional food system or local farming community.

• 3+ years prior experience in a related field.

   

Working Conditions & Physical Demands

Food Connects aims to make reasonable accommodations to enable individuals of all abilities to perform the essential functions of their role.

• Schedule: This position is expected to work 25-30 hours per week with available hours during the traditional Monday-Friday 8a-5p schedule. We expect this role to scale to full time in the Fall of 2025.
• Location: The position is based in the Food Connects office in Brattleboro, although Food Connects promotes a flexible working schedule that allows for a hybrid-remote model. This role is required to work a minimum 2 days per week in office, in order to experience what it's like to live out our mission on a day-to-day basis. Evening and weekends may be required rarely, and with plenty of notice for planning.
• Working Conditions: This position entails extensive use of a desktop or laptop computer, sitting or standing at a desk workstation.