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Associate Director, Foundation Giving

Reports to: Senior Director, Philanthropy

Status: Full-time, exempt

About True Ground

True Ground Housing Partners (formerly APAH) was founded in 1989 by four families motivated to address affordable housing in Arlington, VA. Today, we have grown into one of the region’s leading nonprofit affordable housing developers. Our rental communities provide affordable housing to more than 5,000 people in the Washington DC Metro Region for neighbors earning between 30% and 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI). True Ground exists to provide quality affordable housing and resident-centered programming to help our residents make the most of their home. True Ground is a mission driven, community minded and resident focused organization guided by seven core values: compassion, integrity, collaboration, innovation, excellence, impact, and racial equity.

Summary Description

True Ground's Philanthropy and Communications Team works to increase True Ground's visibility and engagement with the community, raise funds to advance our mission and support programs, and tell the stories that connect donors, partners, and the public to the impact of affordable housing.

Reporting to the Senior Director, Philanthropy, the Associate Director, Foundation Giving, serves as a leader of the Philanthropy team’s institutional engagement strategy with local, national and government foundations. The Associate Director will provide strategic and operational leadership for a comprehensive institutional giving program aligned with True Ground’s multiyear fundraising goals. The Associate Director supervises the Philanthropy Manager, who leads day-to-day grants administration, submission, and reporting logistics.

Key Responsibilities

Grants Strategy and Funder Relations (45%)

• Develop and execute a comprehensive strategy for foundation fundraising, including: the identify, cultivate, and solicit foundation and government funders, in partnership with the Senior Director, Philanthropy, and the Associate Directors, Resident Services.
• Translate organizational priorities into compelling funding opportunities and build enduring partnerships that advance the mission of True Ground.
• Bring institutional fundraising expertise, exceptional judgement and a collaborative approach to working across programmatic, financial and development functions.
• Lead the research, development, writing, and submission of grant proposals, collaborating and engaging frequently with program departments — particularly Resident Services — to reflect accurate needs and impact.
• Build and steward relationships with institutional funders, ensuring regular, meaningful engagement and communication of True Ground's impact.
• Receive and respond to inbound funding inquiries from potential institutional partners.
• Cultivate and grow a portfolio of institutional funders in support of True Ground's fundraising goals.
• Identify and pursue new institutional funding opportunities aligned with True Ground's strategic priorities and future growth

Grants Administration, Compliance, and Reporting (35%)

• Lead the grants program's compliance, ensuring all deliverables, reports, and funder requirements are tracked and met on time and in full.
• Leverage project management tools to streamline submission processes, pipeline, and awarded grants, ensuring clear visibility across key department stakeholders, and philanthropy leadership.
• Manage the grants calendar, overseeing prospect research timelines, application deadlines, and reporting deadlines across the portfolio, with the Philanthropy Manager executing day-to-day tracking and logistics.
• Partner with the Senior Manager, Data, Evaluation and Strategy to ensure grant proposals and reports draw on accurate, current program data and evaluation findings.
• Partner with the accounting team to ensure grant budgets, drawdowns, and restricted-fund spending are tracked accurately and comply with grant terms.
• Oversee the maintenance of all foundation records and grant files and records within Raiser’s Edge in accordance with funder and organizational requirements.

Team Leadership and Collaboration (15%)

• Supervise and mentor the Philanthropy Manager, providing guidance on grants administration, submission logistics, and professional growth.
• Ensure cohesion between the institutional giving program and other fundraising portfolios, including individual donors and Celebrate Home, so that donor experience is consistent across the organization.
• Coordinate with the Senior Manager, Data, Evaluation and Strategy and the Accounting Manager to ensure smooth handoffs of data and financial information across the grant lifecycle.
• Represent the institutional giving function in Philanthropy team planning and organization-wide fundraising strategy discussions.

Other (5%)

• Other duties and special projects as assigned.
• Cultivating a culture of philanthropy
• Creating written standard operating procedures as the department grows

Supervisory Responsibility

Supervision of the Philanthropy Manager and other team members as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; equivalent professional experience considered.
• Demonstrated successful development experience with a minimum of 5-7 years of nonprofit fundraising experience, including significant grant writing and grants management. Experience with grants for social services or housing a plus.
• Excellent writing skills, with a demonstrated track record of securing foundation, corporate, and/or government grants.
• Experience managing a grants portfolio and calendar across multiple concurrent deadlines.
• Prior supervisory experience preferred.
• Experience partnering with finance/accounting staff on grant budgets and compliance preferred.
• Experience with Raiser's Edge or other donor/grants database strongly preferred.
• Well-organized and creative self-starter who is conscientious and able to work collaboratively and independently in a fast-paced environment.
• Commitment to True Ground's mission, experience working in social service or housing organizations a plus, willingness to learn affordable housing issues required.
• Positive "can do" attitude, flexible, team-oriented with a high degree of initiative.

Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time, exempt position.  Typical workdays are Monday through Friday, with a total of 40 hours worked a week between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. This position is designated as 50% - 100% in person.  Occasional evening or weekend hours for funder engagement or special events; additional work hours as required.

Working Conditions/Physical Requirements

This job operates in a professional office environment. On occasion this position may work off-site at events. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, and filing cabinets.