Program Director, Fidelity Charitable Catalyst Fund

Note: Fidelity will not provide immigration sponsorship for this position.

The Role

The Program Director for the Fidelity Charitable Catalyst Fund will lead the Fund’s state and local giving infrastructure work in the Deep South as well as its national grantmaking portfolio focused on donor engagement and education. This work aims to encourage individual donors to support promising nonprofits with limited access to philanthropic funding. This role requires experience engaging donors and nonprofits in the Deep South (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina) and independently managing a grant portfolio. Candidates need deep knowledge of the philanthropy ecosystem, particularly in the South, and ideally, donor-advised funds and high-net wealthy donors. Outstanding relationship-building and collaboration skills are necessary. A passion for strengthening nonprofit organizations is critical.

The Catalyst Fund is a grantmaking program of Fidelity Charitable, led by its Board of Trustees and operating separately from Fidelity Charitable’s donor-advised fund program. The Fund provides grants to intermediary organizations that encourage donors to give more to promising nonprofits and help nonprofits strengthen their fundraising capacity, confidence, and ability to engage donors. The Fund is focused on growing resources for nonprofits in the Southwest, Deep South, and Central Appalachia, as well as organizations serving communities of color and rural communities nationwide. The Fund is organized across three portfolio areas—Engage Donors, Elevate Nonprofits, and Field Building—with funding divided between national grantees and state and local grantees.

The Expertise and Skills You Bring

• 8 plus years of experience leading donor education/engagement/advising programs that connect individual donors with local nonprofits and/or nonprofit fundraising capacity building programs. Leadership and management experience at a community foundation, public foundation, giving circle, association of nonprofits, or similar community-based intermediary preferred.
• 4 plus years of experience as a grantmaker with responsibility for independently leading a portfolio (e.g., at the program officer or senior program officer level), assessing and recommending grants, managing ongoing grantee relationships, and conducting impact analysis on grants and across a portfolio.
• Lived experience in the Deep South required, with demonstrated knowledge of philanthropy and the nonprofit sector across the region. Preference for candidates based in one of our current priority states, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, or South Carolina.

• Strong understanding of the latest national and local trends, research, and organizations influencing donor giving behavior, donor-advised funds, capacity building, and nonprofit fundraising; exceptional analytical, research, and writing skills; and significant public speaking experience with donor and nonprofit audiences.
• Experience collaborating across diverse constituencies, building trust, achieving common goals, solving problems independently, taking initiative, and exercising sound judgment in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.
• High proficiency with PowerPoint, Excel, and Word, along with experience using grants management systems (e.g., Fluxx).
• Manage a portfolio of 40 plus grant relationships working in the Deep South and across the country, including community foundations, women’s foundations, giving platforms, giving circle networks, state associations of nonprofits, and other bridge builders. Develop relationships with potential grantees, complete grant diligence and assessments, make grant recommendations, and partner with grantees to set goals aligned with the Catalyst Fund's learning framework, monitor progress toward those goals, and analyze and synthesize grant reports.
• Serve as a key representative of the Catalyst Fund across the Deep South and national donor support ecosystem, including speaking at grantee events, participating in funder conferences, and connecting national organizations to local grantees. Recommend revisions to the ongoing strategy and grantmaking priorities for local and national work by staying current on research, trends, and learning from grantees. Travel will be required for at least 50% of this role.
• Partner with the Executive Director on grantee learning events and communications, process improvements, board communications, and special projects.
• Partner across Fidelity Charitable teams to launch experiments that encourage donors to give directly to, or in alignment with, the Catalyst Fund.
• Partner with Fidelity Charitable's Marketing team to promote the work of local and national grantees and inspire Fidelity Charitable donor engagement with grantees.
   

The Team

The Catalyst Fund team is led by an Executive Director who works closely with the Fidelity Charitable board of trustees and senior staff on strategy, impact assessment, finances, and external relations. The team represents Fidelity Charitable at many philanthropic and nonprofit convenings. The team also includes a Program Director responsible for managing our state and local strategy in the Southwest and Central Appalachia along with national grantees that elevate nonprofits and a Program Associate that supports the entire team and our grantees.

Fidelity Charitable Catalyst Fund | Fidelity Charitable

Fidelity’s Onsite Working Model
Fidelity is transitioning to a full-time onsite working model through a phased rollout across regions and roles. Currently, some roles and locations require 100% onsite presence, while others require less. Onsite expectations are likely to evolve as the rollout continues. This transition does not apply to fully remote roles.