Institutional Relations Manager

Description

Department: Development

Grade Range/Job Status: Full Time/Exempt

Reporting Relationship: Chief Development Officer

Supervisory Responsibilities: NA

Typical Schedule: Primarily M-F Days. Must occasionally be willing and able to work flexible hours/days, including evenings and weekends, reflective of the dynamic schedule of the organization.

Position Summary

The Institutional Relations Manager leads Hammer & NER's institutional fundraising strategy and manages a portfolio of foundation, corporate, government, and community funding partners. The Manager is responsible for developing and managing a robust institutional funding pipeline, achieving annual revenue goals, and building long-term relationships that advance the organization's strategic priorities .

Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, the Manager works independently and collaboratively with organizational leadership, program, finance, communications, and development colleagues to identify funding opportunities, develop compelling proposals and partnerships, steward institutional funders, and ensure effective grant reporting and compliance. The Manager serves as Hammer & NER's internal subject-matter expert on institutional philanthropy and provides the Chief Development Officer with analysis and recommendations regarding institutional fundraising opportunities, priorities, and risks .

All employees are expected to center, model and champion Hammer & NER’s core values: Person-Centered, Relational, Opportunistic and Stewardship to provide people with intellectual and other disabilities the opportunity to live life to its fullest.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

1. Institutional Portfolio and Pipeline Management

• •Manage a portfolio of foundation, corporate, government, and other institutional prospects and donors through all stages of identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and renewal.
• •Develop cultivation and solicitation strategies for priority institutional prospects in partnership with the Chief Development Officer and organizational leadership.
• •Maintain an active pipeline of prospective funders sufficient to achieve annual and long-term institutional revenue goals.
• •Develop and manage annual institutional fundraising goals and work plans in partnership with the Chief Development Officer.
• •Monitor institutional revenue, pipeline activity, proposal success rates, renewals, and other key performance indicators.
• •Provide regular forecasts and pipeline reports to the Chief Development Officer.

2. Grant Writing and Management

• •Research and identify grant opportunities from foundations, corporations, and government entities.
• •Write and submit high-quality grant proposals, letters of inquiry, and reports.
• •Maintain a calendar of deadlines and ensure timely submission of applications and reports.
• •Develop and maintain compelling institutional case materials, proposal language, program descriptions, outcomes, organizational data, and other content that can be adapted across funding opportunities.
• •Track grant performance and maintain accurate records in the donor database.
• •Coordinate government and other grant applications and required reporting in collaboration with program, finance, and administrative staff.
• •Maintain documentation of grant agreements, restrictions, reporting requirements, and funder commitments.
• •Proactively identify potential compliance issues or changes affecting grant deliverables and coordinate appropriate communication with funders.
• •Manage external grant writing or institutional fundraising contractors as needed, including assigning work, establishing priorities and deadlines, reviewing deliverables, and ensuring alignment with Hammer & NER's institutional fundraising strategy.

3. Sponsorship Development

• •Develop and manage sponsorship packages for events and initiatives.
• •Cultivate relationships with corporate sponsors and community partners.
• •Coordinate sponsor benefits and recognition in collaboration with the Communications and Events teams.
• •Ensure fulfillment of sponsorship agreements and timely follow-up.

4. Institutional Donor Stewardship

• •Build and maintain relationships with institutional funders through regular communication and engagement.
• •Organize site visits, presentations, and impact reports to showcase program outcomes.
• •Prepare and engage organizational leaders, board members, and other key stakeholders in institutional donor cultivation and solicitation when appropriate, including development of briefing materials and follow-up strategies.
• •Maintain donor records and correspondence in Raiser’s Edge/NXT.

5. Strategic Partnerships

• •Identify and cultivate strategic partnerships with foundations, corporations, businesses, and community organizations that advance Hammer & NER's philanthropic revenue, visibility, and organizational priorities.
• •Represent Hammer & NER at networking events, conferences, and community meetings.
• •Support cross-sector collaborations that enhance visibility and funding potential.
• •Monitor philanthropic trends, funder priorities, and changes in the institutional funding landscape and provide recommendations regarding emerging funding opportunities and risks.
• •Conduct prospect qualification and recommend where organizational leadership should invest cultivation time.

Essential Knowledge and Qualifications

• •Strong commitment and demonstrated passion for the organization’s mission to support individuals with disabilities.
• •Minimum 3-5 years of progressively responsible fundraising experience, with demonstrated success securing institutional support from foundations, corporations, government sources, or other institutional funders.
• •Demonstrated experience independently managing a portfolio of institutional donors and prospects and advancing relationships through cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and renewal.
• •Demonstrated ability to develop fundraising strategy, manage revenue goals and pipelines, and provide analysis and recommendations to organizational leadership.
• •Excellent verbal, written and interpersonal communication skills.
• •High energy, maturity, and leadership with the ability to work independently and collaborate effectively.
• •A strong track record as an implementer who thrives on managing a variety of key initiatives concurrently.
• •Strong attention to detail, effective time manager, meets deadlines.
• •Take knowledge and transform it into exciting and useful messages and disseminate it to the right audiences.
• •Be a problem solver, learn software functionality quickly, be flexible and develop systems that evolve with a growing team and organization.
• •Prior experience, writing, planning, coordinating, and evaluating grants required to achieve the fundraising goals.
• •Demonstrated experience communicating/networking effectively and persuasively in oral and written communication on an interpersonal or group level.
• •Proficiency with Microsoft Office Products (Word, Excel, Teams, PowerPoint,).
• •Proficiency with CRM software (Raiser’s Edge - NXT) and Project Management software (Asana)
• •Experience managing important and highly confidential donor data with a firm understanding of donor database management best practices.
• •Experience with or willingness to learn institutional prospect research tools.
• •Requires a valid driver’s license, access to a personal auto and driving record that meets Hammer & NERs insurance requirements. Ability to travel in own vehicle to locations in the greater metro area on a frequent basis to meet with donors.
• •Must receive a MN DHS Background study clearance and show freedom from Tuberculosis.
• •Demonstrated work experience prioritizing and managing competing priorities and multiple deadlines.
• •Physical demands include frequent use of a telephone, frequent use of repetitive motion activities including typing on a computer keyboard and the ability to work for several hours at a t