Insight Garden Program is a nonprofit organization that facilitates an innovative 48-week curriculum that combines environmental education, permaculture gardening, “inner gardening” and re-entry skills. Our core purpose is to reconnect people in prison and re-entry to “self, community, and the natural world”. This “inner” and “outer” gardening approach transforms lives, ends ongoing cycles of incarceration, and creates safer communities. We currently run our program in ten adult prisons and one youth facility in the state of California, as well as one program in Indiana. We recently expanded our work to include reentry support for incarcerated IGP participants who are being released from prison through pre- and post- release referrals for housing, employment and educational opportunities; safe and compassionate transport; and emotional support.
Grounded in the belief that access to the natural world is a human right, our holistic program seeks to empower IGP participants and alumni to become food justice leaders, environmental stewards, urban gardeners, and criminal justice reform advocates both within prison and in the communities to which they return.
Open Positions:
Insight Garden Program (IGP) is seeking a full-time Director of Development. Our ideal candidate is someone who has experience in fund development and is passionate about social, criminal, and environmental justice. Direct experience with philanthropy, corporate giving campaigns, and the ability to build strong partnerships is a plus. This role is responsible for developing, diversifying and implementing the strategic fundraising direction of the organization to increase financial support in line with IGP’s overall strategy and goals. The ideal candidate can combine high-level strategy with hands-on implementation and enjoys fostering relationships to support IGP’s sustainability and strategic growth in California and nationally. They will also thrive in a diverse workplace, and be energized to join a team with a proven commitment to justice through restoration. IGP is at an exciting moment where we are poised to significantly raise our visibility and our financial sustainability.
Who We Are
Founded in 2002, IGP is a nonprofit organization that facilitates an innovative 48-week curriculum that combines environmental education, permaculture gardening, “inner gardening” and reentry skills. Our core purpose is to reconnect people to self, community, and the natural world in prisons and beyond. We currently run our program in ten California state prisons and provide reentry support to all IGP participants.
For more information, please see www.insightgardenprogram.org
Position Summary
The Director of Development will be a strategic thought-partner and leader who will report to our Executive Director and will be responsible for all of IGP’s fundraising activities, including institutional giving (foundation, government, corporate) and individual donors to meet IGP’s annual budget of over 2 million dollars. They will play a key role in strategic planning and implementation of the development plan. In this position, the Director of Development will supervise a development staff and will collaborate across departments and teams to further IGP’s vision and mission.
Responsibilities:
Development & External Partnerships (75%)
- In consultation with the Executive Director and senior leadership, create and implement a development plan that aligns with IGP’s strategic goals, diversifies funding streams and supports the organization’s current and future budgets and sustainability goals.
- Develop and strengthen a culture of philanthropy throughout the organization: Coordinate development activities with other facets of the organization, particularly communications and finance. Engage, inspire and support staff and board in their role in fund development.
- Develop new, innovative strategies to advance IGP’s financial sustainability.
- Collaborate closely with the Finance Director to ensure budgets reflect fundraising strategy and revenue management and projections are timely and accurate.
- Network & Represent IGP: Build and maintain good working relationships with the philanthropic community and institutional donors.
- Grow institutional support: Lead and partner with the Executive Director in the identification, cultivation, and solicitation of foundation, government, and corporate donors. Be the primary relationship holder with select foundations and corporations. Actively manage relationships with all funders, including prospecting, preparing staff for funder meetings, stewarding current relationships and following development best practices.
- Actively engage and partner with a Board Development Committee that will commit to supporting IGP’s financial growth and raise new funding for the organization.
- Grow IGP’s individual giving: Oversee IGP’s individual giving, including but not limited to leading donor campaigns and events, community events etc. in collaboration with the Executive Director and IGP staff.
- Materials and communications: Develop and write concept papers, grant proposals, and reports in collaboration with the Executive Director and IGP staff. Supervise all grant writing and reporting deadlines and timely submission of narrative & financial reports and annual report to funders in collaboration with development and other IGP staff. Work closely with communications staff to build a communications strategy (including social media, newsletters and promotional materials) towards raising IGP’s profile amongst funders and donors.
- Ensure effective data tracking and systems: Oversee the evaluation of systems to support development and inform data-driven planning. Work with development staff to ensure excellent donor and gift record-keeping, processing and acknowledgement.
- Leadership and management: Lead and manage the development and fundraising function of IGP, including hiring, supervising, coaching and developing the staff. Prepare work plans, goals, budgets and performance evaluations.
Special Projects (15%)
- The Development Director will own special projects and areas of responsibility that are directly or indirectly related to fundraising. These areas could include: communications, capacity building, program evaluation and learning. These areas will be determined by the Executive Director in alignment with the Director’s expertise, interests and IGP’s needs.
Organizational Responsibilities (10%)
- Organizational leadership: Serve as a key member of the senior leadership and participate in Board meetings with shared responsibility for achieving the organization’s vision and goals.
- Model leadership and participation in all IGP fundraising campaigns.
- Collaborate and work with staff across departments and teams towards achieving organizational goals.
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities required:
Our ideal candidate for this position brings experience in three areas: fundraising, social and/or criminal justice and environmental justice. What IGP values most is that the candidate is strongly aligned with IGP’s mission and programming, and that the candidate is a strong relationship builder: The Director of Development will need to be able to speak fluidly about IGP’s work to key funders and critical community based partners.
- Minimum of 7 years of experience in the nonprofit sector overall with at least 5 years of fundraising experience specifically having experience cultivating and soliciting foundations or corporations. Experience with state and federal grants is preferred.
- Demonstrated experience setting strategy, managing goals and developing & implementing plans for a team or department. Ability to think strategically and connect implementation to organizational priorities, objectives and opportunities.
- Experience successfully managing people. Ability to work with diverse individuals and support their growth and development.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Proven experience in crafting proposals and donor or funder correspondence.
- Strong writing skills, with the ability to clearly articulate IGP’s core values, organizational strategies and programmatic details and align these with foundation and corporate priorities and goals.
- Good judgment and decision making, particularly in interactions with foundations and funders.
- Excellent interpersonal skills to develop relationships with staff to foster collaboration and mutual accountability.
- Understands how digital tools and platforms function, and also understands how they support organization, productivity, collaboration, and efficiency. Willingness to learn new tools and know how to intuitively navigate different platforms.
- Familiarity with customer relationship management (CRM) software, specifically Salesforce will be a plus.
- Strong commitment to social/criminal justice and environmental justice.
- Ability to travel once or twice a month statewide or occasionally nationally.
- If based outside of California, ability to travel about 4 times a year to California.
What Else You Should Know
Insight Garden Program is an equal opportunity employer and we value having staff who come from communities that are most impacted by the issues we aim to address. We especially encourage people of color, LGBTQ people, people directly impacted by the carceral system and/or with lived incarceration experience and people with disabilities to apply.
Salary & Benefits: This is a 1.0 FTE position with a salary range of $93,600 – $130,000 and a target start date of January 8, 2024. Benefits include unlimited PTO, IGP paid holidays, retirement plan, and medical, vision, and dental coverage.
Location: This is a hybrid position that includes some traveling to attend meetings, fundraising events and training.
How to Apply
To apply, please submit a resume and a cover letter explaining why you are interested in the position to the Hiring Committee at jobs@insightgardenprogram.org
Deadline to Apply: November 20, 2023. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.