The ORGANIZATION

American Public Media Group (APMG) is a dynamic, multifaceted media organization with broadcast and digital content creation and distribution arms operating across the country. It is the 501c3 nonprofit parent organization of regional radio operations Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) and Southern California Public Radio (SCPR), and the audio content brand American Public Media (APM). MPR has grown from a single public radio station in 1967 to the largest regional public radio network in the country, with 45 stations across the Upper Midwest reaching one million radio listeners each week and an even larger digital audience. MPR's three program services News, Classical and The Current broadcast award-winning independent local and regional news, world-renowned classical music and an eclectic mix of contemporary music featuring national, local and emerging artists. American Public Media's 20-plus nationally distributed programs include an increasing and diverse array of podcasts featuring the best in food, culture, entertainment, business and investigative journalism. Among its portfolio are such public radio staples as the BBC World Service, Live from Here with Chris Thile, Marketplace, Performance Today, Classical 24, The Daily, powered by the New York Times, The Splendid Table and special reports produced by our national investigative and documentary unit, APM Reports. One thousand stations carry these programs, reaching 20+ million listeners a week by radio and digital streaming.

APMG has an annual operating budget of $135MM and total assets of more than $330MM. Its 850 employees work in significant operation centers in California, New York and the District of Columbia and its Saint Paul, Minnesota headquarters. As the $75M Inspired By You Capital Campaign nears completion, the Organization has invested over $34M of the campaign's proceeds in new skillsets and talent, digital programming, technology to expand and reach new audiences, and the endowment. https://inspire.mpr.org/

Exciting new and ongoing initiatives include the award-winning investigative and documentary unit APM Reports, an independent research arm The APM Research Lab, and The Glenn Nelson Center, an incubator that supports the discovery of emerging talent, supporting new and existing business ventures at the frontier of media and technology.

Through the support of its highly engaged members, generous donors, visionary board and talented staff, APMG's 52-year history is highlighted with many successes. APMG's new strategic plan, Audiences First 2025, poises it for continued success in the future. The media industry has never been more dynamic, complex and influential in our lives than now. It's an exciting time to join APMG!

Position Summary

The Director, Institutional Giving (IG) supports the programs and initiatives of American Public Media and Minnesota Public Radio (APM|MPR), by driving the acquisition of institutional revenue from national and regional foundations, corporations and state and federal governments. Reporting to the SVP, Chief Development Officer, the Director is member of the Philanthropic Development division's Revenue Leadership Team, as well as a member of APM|MPR's enterprise-wide Senior Leadership Team.

The Director will leverage considerable knowledge of, and proven success with, national foundations to strengthen the Organization's case for giving, engaging senior leadership to build multi-level relationships with funders, and strengthening the visibility of APM|MPR on a national level.

This position is responsible for significantly increasing institutional revenue overall; contributing to the completion of a $75M capital campaign, for which Institutional Giving has a $21M goal; and preparing for a 3-year, $15M special gifts initiative that will fund 2-3 strategic priorities, launching immediately after the completion of the current campaign.  

The Director manages a growing portfolio of approximately 100 regional and national grantors in a fast-paced entrepreneurial nonprofit. The Director leads a proactive, high performing team with responsibility for developing a comprehensive, annual plan to maintain and increase corporate and foundation support for a wide variety of programs and projects. This leadership role authentically models and champions the Organization's values, and ensures focus and progress on its diversity, equity and inclusion journey. The Director manages a staff of 4.5 professionals.

Reports to:                               Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer

Direct Reports:                         Development Officers - 4 FTE

                                                 Institutional Giving Coordinator - .5 FTE

Total Team:                               4.5 FTE

Position Location:                     Saint Paul, Minnesota

Application will remain open until filled.

Strategic and Thought Leadership

• Taps into one's current, active network in the national foundation community to deeply understand the priorities, challenges and trends in philanthropic funding.
• Informs, educates, inspires and coalesces internal partners and senior management on funding opportunities that align with APM|MPR's initiatives, impact, and/or future goals, with an intentional focus on national foundations.
• Demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of, and enthusiasm for, the programs and initiatives of APM|MPR; evaluates and strengthens cases for funding; and collaborates with internal partners to identify and shape ongoing and potential projects suitable for grant funding.
• Creatively and collaboratively develops strategies to achieve revenue targets and facilitates cross-functional teams as necessary to drive grant development and fulfillment.
• Continually monitors changes within the corporate and foundation funder community, and regularly communicates those to internal partners.
• Effectively communicates APM|MPR's overall strategy for grant funding, revenue goals and achievements to internal and external audiences.

Building Relationships

• With an emphasis on identifying national funders whose priorities align with APM|MPR, successfully builds and sustains relationships within the funder community that result in financial support.
• Establishes credibility, develops strong relationships and builds collaborative partnerships with content leaders.
• Leverages insight gained from enterprise-level knowledge of APM|MPR programs and initiatives to connect dots, propose synergies, and facilitate collaborative opportunities to attain new or unique sources of funding.
• Strategically facilitates relationships between corporate and institutional partners and the Chief Development Officer, CEO, EVP and the senior programming leaders at MPR and APM to ensure multi-level engagement that maximizes potential for support.
• Advances the culture of philanthropy among staff and Board.

Driving Results

• Drives strategic identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship strategies for funders and prospects.
• Mobilizes network of national and regional relationships that support institutional giving growth.
• Leads a high-performing IG team in maintaining and growing financial support from regional and national funders.
• Leads the creation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of annual and multi-year grant plans to achieve six to seven figure revenue goals.
• Ensures regular communications, both written materials and verbal conversations, with funders and prospects.

Operational Excellence

• As a member of the Revenue Leadership Team, effectively collaborates with peer directors to achieve divisional goals.
• Develops and oversees IG's annual budget and forecasting.
• Ensures grant seeking and grants administration processes are operating effectively; oversees writing and editing of fundable proposals; ensures IG team produces high quality materials and solicitations that successfully secure grants.
• Proactively collaborates with colleagues in Major Giving and Underwriting Sales departments to maximize potential for institutional support.

Team and Culture

• Hires, supervises, trains and evaluates staff; provides on-going performance feedback; annual written reviews; on-going coaching and support; and support for individualized development plans.
• Establishes annual and multi-year goals with individual staff members. Creates development opportunities for staff and training to enhance skills and foster growth.
• Participates in organization-wide engagement opportunities and selected Employee Resource Groups (ERGs).
• Embodies the Organization's values, demonstrates a personal commitment to its mission, has enthusiasm for its programs and services and demonstrates knowledge of/interest in public media.
• Fosters a diverse, inclusive, creative and productive work environment.

Leadership Expectations

The following core competencies are expected of all leaders at APMG:

• Authenticity, Integrity and Trust
• Interpersonal Effectiveness
• Innovation and Creativity
• Cultural Competence
• Business Development Acumen
• Execution
• Learning Agility
• Inspire Employees to Grow and Thrive

Candidate Profile

In addition to demonstrating the Leadership Expectations outlined above, qualified candidates must have a minimum of eight years of development experience in securing significant grants from foundations and government institutions. A current, active network of relationships within, and proven success securing funding from, national foundations are critical requirements for this role. Must have relevant knowledge of the interests, priorities, guidelines, staff and the current trends in institutional philanthropic communities. The successful candidate will have contributed to enterprise-wide fundraising strategy and partnered cross-functionally to achieve revenue goals. Demonstrated success in researching, identifying and matching funders' interests with organizational programming priorities is essential. Must have the ability to quickly synthesize complex ideas and activities for coherent and compelling major grant projects in media production, journalism, arts, outreach, communication, technology and more. The ideal candidate will have experience raising financial support for media, the arts, communication, education or related endeavors.

The successful candidate will be a creative, future-oriented thinker who thrives on complexity, enjoys working in a fast-paced, dynamic media environment, and successfully navigates ambiguity, clarifies priorities and coalesces internal partners around common goals. Must have the proven ability to develop revenue acquisition strategies, build grant timelines and budgets, manage multiple projects, navigate changing priorities, drive team engagement and deliver results. The successful candidate will be a highly effective communicator with exceptional written, verbal and presentation skills suitable for a range of constituents including foundation personnel, colleagues and senior executive personnel. Must have demonstrated the ability to recruit, motivate, lead, inspire, develop, manage and retain staff with high standards for quality and drive for achievement.  

A bachelor's degree or equivalent experience is required. A master's degree in Development, Public Administration, English, Journalism, Business, Media, Communications or a related field is preferred. CRFE or ACFRE designation is preferred. Other requirements include self-sufficiency using Windows-based software and CRM database applications (Salesforce experience is a plus.) Local and national travel is required approximately 10% of the time to meet with funders and prospects.

TO APPLY

All candidates must submit an application, resume and cover letter via the APMG Careers Website.

The deadline for applying is November 6, 2019.

Ash Talent Solutions LLC is pleased to represent this exceptional career opportunity on behalf of its client, APMG. Contact Jen Hanlon Ash for more information: jen@ashtalentsolutions.com.