Institutional Partnerships Manager

Who We Are

American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 6.5 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and helped thousands of farm families make a go of it (primarily through programs that increase farm viability and/or enhance farmland access). Long a pioneering leader, AFT is now riding a new wave of growth, driven by agriculture’s most pressing needs and opportunities. 

Job purpose

The Manager of Institutional Partnerships leads relationships with institutional funders that include government agencies and foundations. This position may also play a key role in interacting with other types of funders and supporting other American Farmland Trust (AFT) Development and Programmatic staff in securing funding for its programs and projects. The Manager of Institutional Partnerships is also responsible for identifying ideal funding prospects for AFT’s work and making recommendations to staff on which funding opportunities to pursue. This position may also play a key role in supporting AFT staff in the development of projects and programs, as well as assisting Finance and Accounting staff in compliance with funding award requirements. The Manager of Institutional Partnerships manages funding awards throughout their duration, including any necessary amendments, extensions, and other changes that may be necessitated.

Position summary  
Reporting to the Deputy Director of Institutional Partnerships, this position leads applications to institutional funding source opportunities to support AFT’s mission. The position coordinates teams of staff and partners to develop proposals and applications to grants and other contract agreements that will fund AFT’s programs, projects, and operations. The Manager of Institutional Partnerships is also a key member of strategy development for fundraising for AFT’s regions and initiatives and collaborates with program staff as well as corporate and individual giving staff in implementing fundraising strategies. This position provides grant writing, research, and reporting support and is assigned a portfolio of AFT program areas.

Duties and responsibilities

• Oversight of Institutional Partnership fundraising for assigned Regional Programs and National Initiatives.
• Coordinates with the Managing Director of Institutional Partnerships, Assistant Directors of Institutional Partnerships, other Managers of Institutional Partnerships, Institutional Partnerships Coordinators, and other Development, Finance and Administrative, and Program staff on the execution of Institutional Partnerships fundraising goals. 
• Recommends and vets potential funding opportunities to pursue.
• Leads and coordinates teams of staff and partners in proposal and application development to grants and other funding agreement contracts, ensuring compliance with funding solicitations and guidelines and submission deadlines are met.
• Carries out key proposal and application development tasks that can include narrative writing, budget development, supplemental documentation coordination and development, and completing associated forms. 
• Supports Program staff in joint proposals with partners in which AFT will be a subawardee or subcontractor. 
• Collaborates with other Institutional Partnerships and Program staff to identify and research new funding opportunities, including foundations and relevant government funding opportunities.  
• Cultivates new and manages existing institutional funding relationships. 
• Manages and develops strategies to help meet and exceed annual revenue targets and develops pipelines for future work. 
• Partner with programmatic staff in program planning processes, such as work planning, to provide insight to related fundraising opportunities.
• Manages grants and other institutional funding contracts throughout their duration, leading any related administrative functions.

This is not necessarily an all-inclusive list of job-related responsibilities. Management reserves the right to revise the job or to require other or different duties be performed as assigned.