Senior Director, Foundation Relations

Goodwill is one of the leading non-profit brands in the world and one of the largest non-profits in Southern California. We are a rapidly evolving organization and yet we have never been more focused on our Mission, on our people, and on our future. It’s always a GOOD day in SoCal! 

The Senior Director of Foundation Relations develops and executes a strategy to ensure Goodwill Southern California secures grants, philanthropic gifts, and sponsorship funding from private foundations, community foundations, and other private sources to grow Goodwill Southern California’s social enterprise and 85+ community impact programs across Los Angeles and the Inland Empire. Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, the Senior Director of Foundation Relations will be responsible for expanding Goodwill Southern California’s existing foundation portfolio and creating new relationships with the most prominent foundations locally and nationally aligned with our mission to drive systems change and prosperous outcomes for underserved individuals one opportunity at a time.

This senior leader will work closely with the Development Team and Goodwill Southern California’s Workforce Career Development (WCD) program leaders to directly prepare inspirational $500K-$15M funding proposals, drive revenue through incremental growth of current and prospective funding opportunities, and build relationships with foundation representatives, key philanthropists, and charitable funding organizations. This role emphasizes the development of collaborative requests to top-tier foundations, often with multiple internal stakeholders and external partners. This role includes foundation compliance and reporting, data analytics, grant revenue sustainability planning, strategic planning, and proactive renewal efforts.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities 

1. Develop and execute a plan to secure multi-year grants, unrestricted gifts, and sponsorship funding from private foundations, community foundations, & other sources to innovate, operate, and expand Goodwill Southern California’s social enterprise and 85+ social impact programs across Los Angeles and the Inland Empire.
2. Identify, solicit, negotiate, and steward foundation partners for specific program initiatives, general operating support, and capacity building.
3. Drive revenue through new and existing sources of private foundations, community foundations, federated fund grants, and donor-advised funds, among others.
4. Directly write and lead the preparation of $500K-$15M proposals in collaboration with WCD department subject matter experts to develop data-driven, compelling, and viable initiatives.
5. Cultivate, engage, and steward current foundation funders. Oversee off-site and on-site visits with Foundation partners and senior leadership of GSC.
6. Conduct 1-3 campus visits with prospective and current foundation partners monthly.
7. Conduct 6-10 field or virtual visits with prospective and current foundation partners monthly.
8. Submit a minimum of 80-90 requests for funding annually with a first year’s revenue solicitation goal of $4.5-8.5 million and will increase annually thereafter.
9. Prioritize and manage Grant application timelines, submission requirements, and reporting deadlines for a portfolio ranging from $5M-20M annually. Prepare and submit funder’s performance reports.
10. Coordinate with WCD program and Finance teams to ensure Goodwill service teams comply with funding program requirements, monitor grant performance, track outcomes, and prepare regular progress reports as needed. Maintain organized digital database of all grant submissions, communications, and reporting packages.
11. Serve as a senior representative of Goodwill Southern California.
12. Supervise grant support staff and volunteers and provide mentorship on proposal development, foundations grant management, and reporting.
13. Contribute to foundation event programming and mission messaging to increase awareness, visibility, impact, and scale of Goodwill Southern California’s mission.
14. Assure personal and departmental compliance with Association of Fund-Raising Professionals’ Code of Ethics and Donor Bill of Rights.
15. Regular Southern California travel is required to attend weekly in-person department meetings and working sessions, foundation meetings, and to become familiar with Goodwill SoCal’s workforce and community development services teams and program centers (>50% of the time); valid CA driver’s license and state required auto insurance.

Education & Experience      

• 7-15 years proven foundations relations experience for a non-profit organization, large foundation, or equivalent organization.
• Demonstrated track record of securing 7-figure foundation funding, a current knowledge of the competitive foundation landscape in Southern California and nationally, expertise in developing program proposals and complex grant budgets, and experience working with executives from community foundations and a variety of charitable funding sources. The successful candidate will engage highly competitive, top-tier private foundations (including those listed by Candid, Charity Navigator, and the Chronicle of Philanthropy), high profile family foundations, and other charitable organizations.
• Bachelor's degree from four-year college or university required.
• Excellent oral and written English communication skills.
• Possesses satisfactory driving record acceptable by Goodwill’s insurance vendor.
• Ability to empower colleagues, collaborate with a fast-paced team, and work independently.
• Must have advanced knowledge proficiency of computer programs in a Windows environment, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and E-mail.
• Possesses a valid driver's license and state-required auto insurance.
• Required to travel extensively (> 50% of the time).
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills. Must be able to write concise reports and possess strong presentation skills.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to details
• Strong project management skills including organization and time management to expedite project completion
• Non-profit experience preferred

Pre-Employment Testing

• Drug Screen
• Background Check
• Employment Verification
• Live Scan
• Education Verification
• MVR

Goodwill Industries in Southern California is an equal opportunity employer and gives consideration for employment to qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. If you'd like more information about your EEO rights as an applicant under the law, please click here:

Goodwill gives preferential consideration to persons with barriers to employment.   Persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. 

Equal Employment Opportunity

Goodwill is committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity for applicants and employees. 
Employment decisions will comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination in employment including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination Employment Act of 1967, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and any other characteristic protected by federal or state law.  

Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disabilities

In furtherance of our commitment to end discrimination against qualified disabled individuals, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and all regulations properly issued thereunder to protect the rights of qualified disabled persons, it is Goodwill's policy that no program or activity administered by it shall exclude from participation, deny benefits to or subject to discrimination any individual solely by reason of his or her disability.   Equal employment opportunity will be extended to qualified disabled persons in all aspects of the employer-employee relationship, including recruitment, hiring, upgrading, training, promotion, transfer, discipline, layoff, recall and termination.   We further affirm that we will provide reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified disabled employee or applicant.  

It is the policy of Goodwill to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified persons with disabilities who are employees or applicants for employment.  If you need assistance for accommodations to interview because of a disability, please notify the Human Resources Department. 
Employment opportunities will not be denied to anyone because of the need to make reasonable accommodations for a disability.