Head Of Fundraising And Development Strategy

About Project EATS
Founded in 2009 by artist Linda Goode Bryant, Project EATS (PE) is a living installation of art, food, and human ties.  
PE works to create community-based food value chains, consisting of small-plot, high yield farms; raw, prepared food, and agricultural products; distributors; retail outlets; and waste reduction methods to increase access and consumption of locally grown, healthy, affordable food in food-insecure communities in New York City and beyond.
 
Through partnerships, creativity, collaboration, and innovation, PE seeks to support, strengthen, and extend the human ties and economies of small communities and their ability to shape the conditions they need to live healthy lives and thrive where they live.
Our Strategy
PE is a non-profit social enterprise that joins with residents and stakeholders to use the resources they have, to create what they need.
About the Head of Fundraising and Development Strategy role
The Head of Fundraising and Development Strategy will work alongside the President and Founder to attract, retain, and grow a community of ambassadors, institutional partners, and individual donors. PE is fortunate to have a phenomenal fundraiser as our President in Linda, but as we grow, we need to not solely rely on her abilities and bring in a true development professional to solidify this discipline within the organization. 
The Head of Fundraising and Development Strategy will be both fully in charge of all things development at PE, and besides Linda, the only other person on the “Development Team.”
As the Head of Fundraising and Development Strategy, you will have the opportunity to grow and deepen our relationships with an ecosystem of supporters, thus ensuring that we are well-resourced to scale our impact. To do so effectively, you’ll have to keep a solid pulse on what is happening in the organization while also keeping up-to-speed on the shifting external landscape.
Your role will include: 

• Building and cultivating relationships with key stakeholders: You will lead and/or support ongoing management of relationships with PE’s existing and prospective funding community. At times, you will own the entire relationship life cycle, from pre-meeting research and preparation to post-meeting follow-up and ongoing engagement. 
• Improving and maintaining a relationship management system: You will assess and update PE’s funder management tool and be the primary person tracking ongoing cultivation with prospective and current partners.
• Research public and private grant agencies, foundations, and corporations to identify potential sources of funding for food insecurity and access, local food systems, nutritional health, social art, and community vitality. 
• Sourcing and managing a growing arsenal of outreach collateral: You will manage PE’s arsenal of outreach materials, ensuring we are continuously refreshing our content as our value proposition and offerings evolve. Collaboration with Communications and Design Associate.
• Conducting ongoing research on new and existing stakeholders:  You will conduct research at regular intervals and maintain a healthy pipeline of prospective leads for outreach and cultivation.
• Writing proposals and briefs for grants: You will heavily support Linda in developing proposals and grant reports, identifying opportunities for institutional funding, managing grant requirement reporting, and completing budget submissions.  
• Leading the planning of all special events, including our Annual Gala  (November 2024)

On a typical day, you might: 

• Lead a working session with Linda to evaluate outreach strategies and build a 3-month outreach plan.
• Support Linda on a call with a prospective funder.
• Work with the Employer Success team to pull together a results one-pager for a current funder.
• Create a virtual “shadow afternoon” for a champion who wants to introduce Project EATS to their extended network.
• Update the prospecting tool with activities from the last week.
• Gather relevant documents for an upcoming grant submission.
• Hold a planning session for our Annual Gala.

You could be our Head of Fundraising and Development Strategy if:

• You are excited about using a broad range of skills in your job, ranging from ideation to data entry and everything in between
• You like getting creative when a solution doesn’t exist and are someone who finds it easy to put yourself in others shoes when deciding how to solve a problem
• You’re a doer and a problem-solver with an eye for continuous improvement - you’re known for getting stuff done while also constantly asking if there’s a better, faster, or more effective way to do it
• You understand that any type of stakeholder management is part art/part science and get the inherent value in using systems to track communications and outreach as part of an effective donor acquisition/cultivation strategy

Who You Are:

• A Convener - You recognize that a well-prepared and supported community can achieve far more than a single, highly talented individual. You can bring together sector leaders and facilitate conversations to identify ways to attract resources to our cause.
• A Relationship Builder - You thrive on meeting new people and like to foster relationships. You like learning what motivates people, what inspires their giving, and what makes them feel appreciated.
• An Exceptional Communicator - You have excellent oral and written communication skills. You can craft high-quality proposals and presentations and explain complex concepts in a clear manner, combining intellect and intuition.
• Resourceful and Adaptable - You're at ease with ambiguity and rapid change. You possess a positive attitude and identify creative solutions to obstacles. You can juggle many essential responsibilities at once, and you're rigorous about prioritizing.
• Committed to Inclusion - You're always asking, "whose voice is not at the table?" You have experience working with diverse teams and successfully navigating cross-cultural communication in both local and global.
• Passionate about Community Impact - You are driven by the desire to contribute to making positive change in our society, making the economy work for everyone. 

What You'll Need 

• 5+ years of overall professional experience (we are background agnostic and are excited by candidates with unique and different work histories; with that said, you need to be able to confidently attract and secure dollars).
• A love for writing. We need an excellent writer who can self-edit.
• Impeccable organization: you are highly detail-oriented and someone who gets a real sense of satisfaction from producing polished work and managing smooth and orderly processes.

Why this role is compelling
Working directly with an extraordinary leader in Linda Goode Bryant, you will experience first-hand what it means to lead a well-run, growing organization toward a particular vision. You will be exposed to an unusually wide range of people and issues in the community development, urban-ag, and art spaces. 
A successful candidate will develop and grow a broad set of professional skills, honing them to the level of excellence in a demanding and fast-paced environment. You will work with, learn from, and grow alongside a high-performing and diverse team (and board) in which each individual is committed to the development of themselves and others.
This role has the option to serve as a leadership development path for the right candidate. If you see yourself as a nonprofit founder, a VP of Development, or even an Executive Director in the future then this is the right job for you. 
Project EATS Values
We are currently in a phase of transitioning from a small start-up to a more established organization, growing our senior management and program teams, conducting strategic planning, analyzing programs, introducing more prepared food, and implementing new farming methods and technologies. With this growth, our goal is to create a strong organizational culture for our team, which translates to clear mission communication and effective work. Candidates should share a belief in and commitment to PE’s essential values:

• Imagination: Project EATS is rooted in uncovering possibilities - in soil and in communities. Our team is seeing the big picture.
• Creativity: We are built on the fundamental belief that all humans are artists with the ability to translate what we imagine into something we can perceive. Our team explores our work, goals, and relationships from all angles.
• Resourcefulness: We believe that we can create what we need from what we have. Our goal is to create programs and infrastructure to serve communities to the fullest.
• Determination: Turning a “can’t” into a “can” is key to PE. Our team will keep going until our goals are reached.
• Strategic Problem-Solving: We do more than check tasks off a list. Our team is going deeper to ensure our work is meeting PE’s purpose, goals, and intent.

Compensation and Location
PE provides a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Employer-covered medical insurance; In April 2024, our intent is to add commuter benefits, FSA, (optional) employee-paid dental + vision + supplemental insurance (short-term disability)
• 10 paid holidays per calendar year, plus the week between 12/25-1/1 and the employee’s birthday
• 15 Vacation days + 5 Sick days
• 50% off Project EATS produce and Prepared EATS

This position is full-time, and you must already be based in, or be willing to relocate to, New York City. This role is expected to be in the office (Manhattan) three days a week. You are free to work from home during our regular office hours the rest of the week, but you may be required to come into the office on additional days, or work evenings as events arise.
The hiring range for this position is an annual salary range of $95,000-110,000 per year. The final salary within this range will be determined based on relevant experience.
The Application Process
Project EATS has engaged Equitable Hiring Group to support this hiring process. To apply, please complete the short form to the right. 
Individuals who apply by Thursday, February 8th, will be given priority; therefore, we encourage you to submit yours soon!
When you apply, we kindly ask you to remove your schools from your resume. There is no need to reformat your resume and leave your degree as is; simplify it to “B.A. Economics,” for example. Just remember to remove any undergraduate and graduate school name references where possible. This “bias-reduced” process is aimed at opening this opportunity to more candidates, reviewing applicants on performance assessments instead of resume proxies (e.g., where you went to school).
This evaluation process will follow practices shown to reduce bias in decision-making and may be different from other application processes you have experienced.
The overall evaluation process will look to follow this anticipated timeline:

• Early February: Selected candidates asked to complete short answer questions
• Mid-February: Video interview with PE staff
• Mid-February: Finalist candidates will be asked to complete a paid, timed, trial assignment
• Late February: Finalists will participate in a multi-team member, in-person, panel interview
  • Candidate references will also be checked at this step
• Early March: Offer extended

If you have any questions about the opportunity, please feel free to email abe@equitablehiringgroup.com.
 

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