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Foundation director skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical foundation director skills. We ranked the top skills for foundation directors based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 11.9% of foundation director resumes contained foundation board as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a foundation director needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 foundation director skills for your resume and career

1. Foundation Board

Here's how foundation directors use foundation board:
  • Acted as the staff liaison to the Foundation Board of Directors, planned and organized Board meetings and agendas.
  • Support Foundation board members in their efforts to build relationships with potential donors.

2. Fund Development

Here's how foundation directors use fund development:
  • Supervised the planning and implementation of various fund development initiatives to strengthen the relationship with existing and potential donors.
  • Collaborated strategically with management team, Resource Development Committee, and Board of Directors on all fund development activities.

3. Donor Relations

Here's how foundation directors use donor relations:
  • Developed/maintained corporate/individual donor relations & planning/organizing multiple fund-raising campaigns for expanding activities.
  • Planned and implemented customer focused parent relations and donor relations programs that significantly enhanced Academy prestige throughout all stakeholder groups.

4. Alumni

Alumni is a term used for graduate students of a school, college, university, or any other educational institution. The term is also used for employees of a company or a previous member of a group or an organization that has been retired. Alumni represent the institutions or organizations that they were previously associated with.

Here's how foundation directors use alumni:
  • Developed the foundation and supervised Alumni Relations Coordinator.
  • Promoted in 2002 to Assistant Director of Alumni and Annual Giving.

5. Government Agencies

Here's how foundation directors use government agencies:
  • Prepare progress reports for local government agencies, and foundation and corporate donors.
  • Cultivated lasting partnerships with corporations, government agencies, foundations, and universities.

6. Strategic Plan

Here's how foundation directors use strategic plan:
  • Provided the direction and strategic planning of three-person development office for a military retirement community.
  • Worked with the President of the Foundation to create and implement a development strategic plan for the Foundation.

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7. Capital Campaign

Here's how foundation directors use capital campaign:
  • Closed out the $2.5 million dollar Emergency Department Capital Campaign with a $400,000 foundation estate gift.
  • Managed Capital Campaign for a community trails project successfully raising close to one million dollars.

8. Financial Support

Financial support is the financial resource or money provided to an organization to support its operations. Financial support is generally provided by the government, or private institutes such as non-profits, or aid institutes. Financial support usually does not have any interests or benefits to be returned.

Here's how foundation directors use financial support:
  • Managed, directed and completed the foundation's first profit year in coordinating financial support for schools and day care centers.
  • Serve to raise financial support for capital projects and much needed equipment for the hospital and clinic.

9. Community Relations

Community Relations refers to the relationship-building strategies companies use with surrounding communities. These relationships are often mutually-beneficial, where a company will support local organizations and communities and receive a stronger customer basis. This differs from public relations, as the focus of community relations is building relationships and goodwill within a community rather than presenting a company's work to the public.

Here's how foundation directors use community relations:
  • Directed all fundraising, marketing and community relations.
  • Worked closely with Community Relations/Physician Liaison

10. CRM

CRM stands for Customer relationship management and it is a complete process through which a business or organization monitors and administers its interactions with the customers. A process in which large amounts of data are collected through marketing via a company's website, polls, surveys, and other social media applications. The basic goal of CRM is to target the right audience for their product, and then fulfill their needs, to increase the sales and revenue of the company.

Here's how foundation directors use crm:
  • Developed customized Customer Relationship Management system on a Microsoft CRM platform.
  • Maintained CRM database and oversee additional support functions, including financial and performance reporting.

11. Appeals

Here's how foundation directors use appeals:
  • Develop lists and materials for three direct mail appeals in support of Educational Foundation fund raising goals.
  • Directed Annual Fund's mail appeals.

12. Financial Reports

Here's how foundation directors use financial reports:
  • Developed budgets for proposals, tracked expenditures, ensured project set-up, reviewed/validated financial reports.
  • Prepared monthly internal and external financial reports and analysis.

13. Private Foundations

Here's how foundation directors use private foundations:
  • Establish partnerships and strengthen existing relationships with private foundations and corporations.
  • Managed portfolio of approximately 100 private foundations with six or seven figure capacity.

14. Direct Reports

Here's how foundation directors use direct reports:
  • Led and motivated six direct reports to peak performance levels in guiding 50 volunteers.
  • Managed two direct reports and worked with a 15-member volunteer board of directors.

15. Event Planning

Here's how foundation directors use event planning:
  • Chaired, co-chaired and served on boards and event planning committees for more than 35 community programs.
  • Direct relationship-building efforts for the College of Business both internally and externally through communications, strategic partnerships and event planning.
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List of foundation director skills to add to your resume

Foundation director skills

The most important skills for a foundation director resume and required skills for a foundation director to have include:

  • Foundation Board
  • Fund Development
  • Donor Relations
  • Alumni
  • Government Agencies
  • Strategic Plan
  • Capital Campaign
  • Financial Support
  • Community Relations
  • CRM
  • Appeals
  • Financial Reports
  • Private Foundations
  • Direct Reports
  • Event Planning
  • Non-Profit Organization
  • Strategic Direction
  • Database Management
  • Donor Recognition
  • Press Releases
  • Financial Statements
  • Community Engagement
  • Educational Programs
  • Community Organizations
  • Budget Development
  • Community Events
  • Fundraising Campaigns
  • Community Awareness
  • Fundraising Strategy
  • Community Outreach
  • Corporate Foundations
  • Community Involvement
  • Community Programs
  • Board Development
  • RFP
  • Advisory Boards
  • Blues
  • Charitable Foundation
  • Facebook
  • NYC

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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