Senior Director of Institutional Partnerships

Asphalt Green is in search of an exceptional fundraising professional to join the organization’s growing development program. Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, the Senior Director of Institutional Partnerships will drive efforts to recruit institutional partners and will be responsible for developing strategies to attract strategic investment by foundations and corporations in Asphalt Green’s mission and work. This on-site position is based at Asphalt Green’s Upper East Side campus.  

Qualified candidates will have extensive experience in managing a strong portfolio of lead New York-based foundation partners, and will lead efforts to engage, cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of corporate and foundation prospects at all major gift-levels ($50K+), with a focus on securing six and seven-figure grants. The Senior Director should be an experienced development professional with strong relationships with corporate and other foundations that are aligned in mission with Asphalt Green. 

Asphalt Green is an iconic 50-year-old not-for-profit New York City institution that provides the transformative gifts of sports, fitness, and play to individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities.  Asphalt Green has trained Olympians and is home to some of New York City’s most elite sports programs, in addition to recreational sports, summer camp, and fitness programs. It has taught 100,000 New Yorkers to swim and given away $40 million worth of free swim lessons to children, and provides more than $1.2 million in scholarships annually to our youth sports and camps and to senior fitness programs.  

Every day, Asphalt Green brings equitable and accessible sports and physical activity-based recess, after-school programs, and no-fee community sports leagues to schools, parks, playgrounds, and underserved communities throughout the five boroughs. It provides active program partnerships with New York City Public Schools, the New York City Parks Department, the New York City Department for the Aging, and numerous nonprofit agencies. 

This year, Asphalt Green launched a new strategic plan to expand its impact in service to NYC, and received a $1.5 million grant to fund Wave Makers, an innovative partnership between the Gray Foundation, New York City Council Members Julie Menin and Shekar Krishnan, and Asphalt Green’s Safe Swim NYC initiative. The Wave Makers pilot program provides free, comprehensive swimming lessons for thousands of second graders across New York City, regardless of their socio-economic background, and will demonstrate the most effective, efficient, outcome-driven pathways to large-scale free swim instruction for children in New York City and beyond. 

Responsibilities 

• Cultivate and steward relationships with institutional funders and develop funding opportunities that align with regional and national foundations and their priorities. Conduct prospect research to identify new potential foundation and corporate partners for Asphalt Green. 

• Cultivate and manage a portfolio of foundation prospects, and serve as a primary partner to the Chief Development Officer and program and executive team members to build a strong prospect pipeline for Asphalt Green. 

• Identify six and seven-figure grant opportunities for Asphalt Green and prepare compelling proposal ideas that align with foundation priorities and motivate investment in Asphalt Green’s core mission elements and capital spaces.  

• Serve as a key partner to the Chief Development Officer and executive team toward the development of a comprehensive capital campaign for Asphalt Green.  

• Write and edit grant proposals, letters of inquiry, concept papers, and reports in appropriate language for donors. Successfully manage the process of preparing and submitting proposals, letters of intent, budgets and reports and meet all donor/prospect deadlines. 

• Work with executive team to write and execute gift agreements and terms for grants. 

• Organize and prepare for site visits, presentations, and events with foundation donors. Prepare leadership briefings for the executive team and Board members as needed.  

• Prepare timely fundraising progress reports. Comply with all grant terms and reporting as required by donors. Provide necessary follow-up and stewardship. Meet all grantor deadlines. 

• Develop training materials to coach program leaders in grant strategy and best practices.  

• Create and manage a stewardship calendar and associated communications and touchpoints to support successful long-term partnerships with institutional funders.  

• Develop strong and collaborative working relationships with members of the organization to best understand Asphalt Green’s mission and programs, and effectively articulate this information to donors and the public. 

• Document all development activity related to donor identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship using the Salesforce/CRM system.  

• Create and manage systems for pipeline and forecast data analysis and tracking. Report regular progress against goals, including key donor engagement, solicitation and closed gifts metrics, and moves management progress. 

• Suggest potential prospects for the board and volunteer committees. 

• Perform other duties as assigned. 

Education 

• Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent, is required. 

Experience and Core Competencies 

• 10+ years of relevant development experience (at least 7 years of experience in foundation relations), including strong existing relationships and portfolio experience with large public, private, and NYC family foundations, and a proven record of success in grant writing and grants management. 

• Experienced in creating project budgets, and tracking outcomes and financial progress throughout the grant cycle.  

• Desire to reach aggressive goals, and the ability to independently solicit and secure private gifts. 

• Experience building and sustaining trusted relationships with large corporations and foundations. 

• Success supporting organizational leadership in donor cultivation and solicitation. 

• A strong understanding of and ability to communicate the mission and programs of Asphalt Green. 

• Ability to conceptualize and describe funding needs in a way that is compelling to prospects, donors, and other stakeholders. 

• Strong writing and editing skills. 

• Knowledge of software and web-based applications, including Excel budget spreadsheets, MS office, development database experience (Salesforce), and Foundation Center and other foundation directories.  

• Passion for Asphalt Green’s mission and the ability to serve as an ambassador for the organization.