The Manager of Development will play a critical role on ReFED’s Development Team, ensuring the organization is adequately resourced to fulfill its mission work. This role will primarily focus on leading ReFED’s corporate and individual giving efforts. Partnering closely with the Director of Development and Strategic Impact, the Manager will develop and implement a corporate giving strategy that strengthens existing relationships, creates new engagement opportunities, and builds a robust corporate donor pipeline. The Manager will also lead ReFED’s individual giving initiative, managing mass giving appeals and building a pipeline of high-net-worth donors.
This is a remote position, reporting to the Director of Development and Strategic Impact, and will require approximately 20% travel to represent ReFED at conferences and to meet with donor prospects in person.
About The Organization
ReFED is a U.S.-based nonprofit working to catalyze the food system to take evidence-based action to stop wasting food. We do this by cultivating and convening the food community, delivering actionable evidence and insights, and seeding and accelerating food waste solutions. Starting with the 2016 Roadmap to Reduce U.S. Food Waste, ReFED has produced first-of-their-kind tools and resources, providing a full-supply-chain picture of U.S. food waste, cost-effective solutions to reduce it, and methods to track progress. In 2021, ReFED launched the Insights Engine, an online data center serving as the next generation of data, insights, and guidance on U.S. food waste reduction. Reducing food waste will have a significant impact on mitigating climate change, optimizing the use of water, land, and other resources, and providing meals for the over 47 million people in the United States who currently face food insecurity. We are growing our team to further build our capacity to achieve our vision of a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive food system that makes the best use of the food we grow.
We are a team of doers, and we get a lot accomplished. We create outsized impact, and everyone on the team contributes to accomplishing our shared goals. Learning and professional development are heavily embedded in ReFED’s culture. We promote cross-functional work to embrace diverse perspectives, experiences, and skills to ensure we are an inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you are excited about this role but your experience does not align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.
\n- In partnership with the Director of Development and Strategic Impact, develop a corporate giving strategy with potential to significantly increase the level of philanthropic support ReFED receives from corporate partners.
- Manage and build a portfolio of corporate partners – identifying prospects, cultivating relationships, and securing support from this key donor segment.
- Secure sponsorships for ReFED programs, including Food Waste Solutions Summit, roundtables, webinars, and ReFED’s membership communities.
- Develop and execute a comprehensive grants strategy for corporate funders, researching opportunities, preparing high-quality grant proposals, managing grant reporting and compliance, and fostering strong relationships with partners.
- Working with the Operations Team, maintain grant budget reports.
- Working with program teams, monitor and track grant performance to demonstrate impact and fulfill reporting obligations to funders.
- Design creative corporate engagement opportunities that may yield funding from product sales partnerships, point of sale donations (i.e., round up programs), etc.
- Establish an Equity Giving program for founders, early employees, and investors of private companies.
- Build and steward a portfolio of high-net-worth individual donors, cultivating deep relationships through personalized engagement strategies.
- Supporting broad-based donor outreach, including responsibility for online giving portals and managing general solicitations a few times per year
- Maintain accurate and up-to-date records in ReFED’s CRM (Salesforce), tracking donor interactions, engagement history, and pipeline activities.
- Working with the Communications Team, develop content and collateral (presentations, impact reports, program overviews, social media posts, etc.) that are tailored to donors.
- Working with our Events Team, support regional event programming to engage current and prospective donors.
- Represent ReFED at events, conferences, and speaking engagements to bring ReFED’s work to new donor audiences.
- Maintain awareness of and conduct periodic research on activities of affiliated or collaborating organizations, as well as trends and opportunities in fund development.
- 5-7+ years of professional nonprofit fundraising or sales experience. Experience managing corporate partnerships and individual giving programs is a bonus.
- Exceptional communications skills, both verbally and in writing; proven relationship manager with experience building and maintaining client relationships, and the ability to become a trusted partner to donors, philanthropic advisors, and volunteers.
- Detail-oriented with strong organizational skills, with an ability to apply those skills to one’s own work as well as in the service of others.
- Ability to manage multiple tasks or projects concurrently without losing sight of core objectives or the complexities of any single task.
- Experience and comfort with data entry and management, especially using independent CRM tools (e.g., Salesforce, Blackbaud products, Donor Perfect, etc.).
- Ability to communicate and align with internal and external stakeholders well in a remote working environment; preference given to candidates with experience with remote/virtual work environments.
- Proficiency with Google Suite (Gmail, Calendar, Sheets, Docs, Slides, etc.), MS Office Suite, Slack, Salesforce, and a willingness and ability to learn new systems and tools. ReFED also uses AirTable, Zoom, LastPass, Adobe, as well as project management tools.
- Comfort with ambiguity and ability to thrive in a fluid, entrepreneurial environment, and willingness to “roll up the sleeves” and extend beyond formal responsibilities as needed for the work.
- Demonstrated success working to promote diversity, equity and inclusion and working with remote teams.
- Specific degrees or certifications.
ReFED values a diverse range of skills and experiences and encourages all interested candidates to apply, even if they don't meet all of the criteria listed. Our organization recognizes that everyone brings unique perspectives and strengths to the team, and we are committed to considering all applicants fairly and thoroughly. If you are passionate about our mission and excited about the role, don't hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself!
Our Recruitment Process
Our recruitment process includes the following steps:
* Initial screening interview over video call.
* 2-3 interviews over video call with different members of the team.
* Skills assessment over video call which may or may not include an assignment to complete beforehand and present during the skills assessment meeting. All necessary information and guidance will be provided in advance.
* References, usually three, will be requested, and reference checks will be conducted.
We strive to maintain clear and frequent communication throughout the recruitment process, however, due to capacity limitations we may not be able to respond to every initial application. Our process always includes input from multiple team members with diverse backgrounds and perspectives from across the organization.
Our Operating Environment
ReFED is a distributed organization, with a team of 20+ working remotely from various locations across the United States. We use a range of digital collaboration and connectivity tools to facilitate our work, including Google Workspace, Slack, Zoom, Airtable, Salesforce, Miro, MS Office, Adobe, and Insperity.
Our remote culture is built through a variety of means, including 3-4 annual in-person gatherings. These events include our annual team retreat, department retreats and the Food Waste Solutions Summit, a national convening of the food waste movement that we host annually. We also foster team connections through informal virtual get-togethers, ask-me-anything sessions with our Board and Advisory Council members, and peer recognition on our shoutouts channel in Slack. We also have a “Big Dill” spot bonus program and engage in conversation through our watercooler channel in Slack. Our in-person events are essential for team building, learning, and fun.
Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Commitment
ReFED is committed to creating an inclusive work environment where all individuals have equal opportunities to contribute and grow. We recognize that our success is rooted in the diverse perspectives and backgrounds of our team members, and we strive to foster a culture of belonging where everyone feels valued and respected. As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to recruiting, hiring, developing, training, and promoting individuals regardless of their gender identity, sex, race, religion, age, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status. We acknowledge that systemic barriers limit opportunities for certain groups, and we are dedicated to actively working to remove those barriers and promote justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) in all aspects of our organization. Our commitment to JEDI is an ongoing journey, and we are committed to continuously learning, listening, and improving our practices to create a more equitable and inclusive workplace for all.
Sam Buck is the hiring manager for this position. All correspondence should be addressed to Sam. Applications must be received by January 5, 2025, to be fully considered.