Apply for a Grant
West Side United does not currently have any available grant opportunities, but check back often for new grants.
Internship Opportunities
Earn class credit while contributing to our mission.
Join the West Side United Team
We are currently seeking to fill a full-time position, Associate Director of Development, to join the West Side United team.
Associate Director of Development
Job Summary
The Associate Director of Development is a grant-funded position. The successful candidate will be hired as an employee of RUMC, reporting to the Executive Director, Corporate and Foundation Relations in the Rush Office of Philanthropy, with a dotted line to the Executive Director of West Side United (WSU). Following WSU’s successful application for nonprofit incorporation and 501(c)(3) status, s/he will report directly to the WSU Executive Director as an employee of the independent organization.
The Associate Director is responsible for developing and implementing plans to maximize WSU’s support from philanthropic sources both prior to and following the transition, acting as a frontline fundraiser, a writer, and a strategist. S/he will work with members of WSU’s senior leadership staff and its program managers to develop content for proposals and reports, and will keep WSU’s Executive Leadership Council and Development Committee abreast of fundraising progress and challenges. The Associate Director will also collaborate productively with Rush Office of Philanthropy colleagues and with other Rush departments, e.g., Fund Accounting, Marketing Communications. S/he exemplifies the Rush mission, vision and values and acts in accordance with Rush policies and procedures.
Position Responsibilities
- Cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of assigned corporations and foundations.
- Support other Philanthropy prospect managers in executing strategies to engage the WSU donors and prospects in their portfolios.
- Organize, brief leaders in preparation for, and host site visits.
- Work with Rush Corporate and Foundation Relations to complete Legal/Compliance review, execution of grant agreements, and establishment of new funds.
- Coordinate with Rush Stewardship, Development Communications, Media Relations, etc. to develop, circulate for approval, and execute recognition plans.
- Conduct keyword prospect research, draft profiles, and assess RFPs for alignment with WSU goals and potential benefit relative to the effort required.
- Serve as primary author of and project manager for WSU proposals and reports, assuring that all elements of the submission are complete, accurate, tailored to prospect priorities and guidelines, and reinforce consistent messages.
- Set and monitor timelines for review of drafts by subject matter experts and leaders.
- Consult with the WSU Director of Evaluation to obtain metrics.
- Collaborate with Finance Director, Rush Community Health Equity and Engagement, to produce clear and accurate proposal budgets, expenditure reports, and budget revision requests.
- Maintain WSU boilerplate documents, e.g., history and mission statements.
- Create and maintain calendar of prospect and donor deadlines and events.
- Develop and deliver fundraising reports to the WSU Executive Leadership Council and Development Committee.
- Support Rush Philanthropy prospect managers in logistics of closing out or restructuring active grants (if and as necessary) when WSU formally separates from Rush and attains independent 501(C)(3) status.
- Contribute to creation of post-transition plan for communications between WSU and Rush Philanthropy.
Position Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree.
- 5 years of nonprofit fundraising experience, including substantial work in corporate and foundation relations.
- Evidence of professional growth demonstrated through success with solicitations of increasing size and complexity.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
- Sophisticated writing and editing skills; mastery of standard proposal elements.
- Poise in briefing and responding to questions from internal and external leaders.
- Comfortable accepting edits to one’s writing.
- Ability to independently manage one’s time to initiate and complete multiple projects with overlapping deadlines.
Preferred Job Qualifications
- Graduate degree
- Evidence of interest in/commitment to advancing health equity, racial and social justice, community well-being, and economic opportunity.