The Daniels Fund, established by cable television pioneer Bill Daniels, is a private charitable foundation dedicated to making life better for the people of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming through its grants program, scholarship program, and ethics initiative.
The Daniels Fund strives to ensure its work reflects Bill Daniels’ written directives, values, and unmistakable style. Bill was a patriotic American who served our country in two wars. He was a capitalist who loved our free enterprise system and was well known for his generosity to people from all walks of life. Guided by his compassion, Bill transferred his $1 billion estate to form the assets of the Daniels Fund to carry forward his legacy of giving.
Since its founding, the Daniels Fund has become a permanent fixture in the communities it serves and continues to make significant and lasting impact. The Daniels Fund has been named one of the “Best Places to Work” by the Denver Business Journal reflecting its dedication to creating an atmosphere where associates thrive, grow, and contribute in a meaningful way. To learn more about the Daniels Fund and its impact to date, please visit: www.danielsfund.org.
The Opportunity
The Grants Strategy & Innovation Officer is a unique opportunity that provides high levels of autonomy, a dynamic work environment, and the chance to make life better for the people in our four-state region while honoring Bill Daniels’ incredible legacy. The Grants Strategy & Innovation Officer leads a set of internal and external efforts to validate and maximize impact within the funding areas defined by Bill Daniels. This position is a critical part of a dynamic team that collaborates closely on how best to achieve the Daniels Fund’s overall objectives through high-impact, strategic grantmaking.
The Daniels Fund is one of the largest private foundations in the region and makes grants in eight funding areas: Aging, Amateur Sports, Disabilities, Drug & Alcohol Addiction, Early Childhood Education, K-12 Education Reform, Homeless & Disadvantaged, and Youth Development. Grants are made throughout Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
The Role
To execute Bill Daniels’ donor intent, the Grants Strategy & Innovation role will:
- Execute and deliver on grants program strategy and alignment to identified goals, in partnership with the Senior Vice President, Grants Program.
- Design, lead, and monitor strategic efforts to validate and maximize the impact of grantmaking.
- Execute and oversee a system that continually evaluates the effectiveness and impact of the Grants Program portfolio.
- Collaborate with individual Grants Program Officers to align measurement and evaluation across regions and individual funding areas.
- Oversee all aspects of a rapid-response fund that works with local community partners to address immediate needs of individuals in crisis.
- Support a strategic communications effort to engage grantees and share community impact.
- Deepen partner relationships to enhance and amplify grants impact.
- Foster a culture of innovation through idea sharing, iteration, and relationship building.
- Represent the Daniels Fund frequently at meetings, events, and fundraisers in the community.
- Travel occasionally (both locally and nationally) to gather information, build relationships, and identify new opportunities for impact (at times up to 25% travel).
- Assist with many special projects and perform other duties as assigned.
The Person
You are mission-oriented and values aligned. You have a passionate commitment to Bill Daniels’ mission and values and an eagerness to incorporate his thinking into programmatic activities. You understand first-hand the importance of the foundation always adhering to Bill Daniels’ principles, style, and direction. You value and respect the Fund’s uniqueness, reputation, and impact. You are aligned with Bill Daniels’ values and stated priorities to advance his legacy.
To learn more about Bill Daniels, please visit https://www.danielsfund.org/billdaniels/values
You are extremely curious and love taking on new challenges. You always want to understand “why.” You find creative ways to overcome obstacles and build relationships with people who want to help achieve the desired outcome. You pivot quickly and are not afraid to take on new tasks. Change does not scare you. You understand that risk-taking is part of the entrepreneurial spirit.
You are driven to succeed and hungry to maximize impact. You are a seasoned professional and experienced leader who has faced challenges head on and succeeded. You understand that strategic leadership is about more than just execution. You have an unyielding focus on impact and are driven by a desire to achieve outcomes. You are results-driven and find real fulfillment in challenging high-paced work. You work effectively with qualitative and quantitative data to form strategic insights. You are ready to make your mark on the world. You take ownership of results and instill accountability in those you lead.
You command a room and thrive in almost any environment. When you speak up, people listen. Your experiences and presence draw others to join your cause. You have excellent interpersonal, facilitation, and presentation skills. You are comfortable working with spreadsheets in the morning, doing a site visit with a grantee in the afternoon, and networking at a formal black-tie event in the evening.
You are fun to work with and bring unique talents to the team. You love coming to work and it shows. Being around your colleagues at work energizes you. You understand that doing mission-driven work is an incredible gift. You apply skills from a variety of experiences to achieve organizational priorities. You may not have any experience working at a foundation or nonprofit but are eager to learn and grow in any environment.
You are an effective planner and approach problems analytically. You enjoy managing and coordinating projects, especially the challenge of managing multiple projects simultaneously and projects with high levels of complexity. You are determined to achieve deadlines and adjust to changing priorities or challenges that arise. You tackle new problems in a systematic way. You are comfortable working with data. You know how to develop systems to capture and utilize new data. You are adept at building alignment and shared goals across a variety of areas.
You are an excellent communicator and collaborator. You use clear and concise language. You understand the context in which you are communicating, and tailor your language accordingly. You have superb written and verbal communications skills, whether in one-on-one or in large gatherings. You represent yourself and your organization in a highly competent and professional manner both internally and externally. You value collaboration and working with various perspectives to achieve outcomes. You convey findings in a cohesive story, including summarizing insights from analysis, identifying next steps, and developing plans; You effectively communicate with all stakeholders.
There is no explicit experience requirement. We are looking for the right person to grow within our foundation and team.
Compensation and Benefits
The total compensation for this position will be in the range of $100,000 to $155,000 and is commensurate with experience and qualifications. Daniels Fund offers a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off, paid holidays, health, dental, vision insurance, long-term disability, life insurance, a matched 401k retirement plan and a host of additional benefits.
Equal Employment Opportunity
The Daniels Fund is an equal employment opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, sex, color, religion, national origin, disability, military status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, citizenship or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local law.
To Apply
Qualified candidates should submit the following application materials (in order) in one PDF document:
- Cover letter detailing:
-
- Your interest in this position
- Your alignment with Bill Daniels’ values, speaking specifically to his belief in the free enterprise system, his commitment to patriotism, and belief that America is the land of opportunity
- Your salary requirements
-
- Your resume
Applications should be submitted to Talent Market via this link:
talentmarket.org/apply-for-your-dream-job/.
Questions can be directed to Claire Kittle Dixon, Executive Director of Talent Market, who is managing the search process: [email protected].
There is no application deadline for this position. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. This job will remain posted on our site until it is filled. While we thank all applicants in advance for their interest in this position, we are only able to contact those to whom we can offer an interview. Only direct applications will be considered. No phone calls, please.
Talent Market is a nonprofit entity dedicated to promoting liberty by helping free-market nonprofits identify talent for critical roles. We provide consulting and recruiting services at no cost to 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations that clearly and directly focus on advancing the principles of economic freedom, free enterprise, free trade, free speech, property rights, rule of law, and limited regulation.