Emily Hoerner

About Emily Hoerner

The twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss are the defining challenges of our time, and I have dedicated my career to securing financial resources to combat them. For over a decade I have engaged institutional and individual donors alike to advance environmental priorities, with a particular focus on securing 6- and 7-figure foundation grants.As the Senior Director of Institutional Relations at the National Wildlife Federation I help lead a high-performing team of 11 working to grow and diversify institutional funding to support the Federation\'s conservation agenda. I directly supervise two staff, manage a robust portfolio of foundation, government, and corporate grant awards, and am responsible for cultivating and stewarding relationships with some of the Federation\'s most generous and sophisticated institutional partners.I\'m passionate about strengthening nonprofit operations to maximize revenue and organizational effectiveness; operational excellence has been a through-line throughout my career. I excel at designing, implementing, and enhancing donor-centric systems that advance and enhance fundraising efforts. I love bringing order to chaos and helping to break down organizational silos. I\'m an exceptionally organized and intellectually curious leader with a strong eye for detail. Above all I am a problem solver, action-oriented and committed to building and working across diverse, high-functioning teams.I hold MPA and MA degrees from the top-ranked Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and a BA from American University\'s School of International Service.Additional areas of expertise include working closely with executive staff to coordinate and manage principal-level fundraising efforts; coaching program colleagues to become more comfortable with fundraising; consulting on program development; extensive experience building and managing coalitions; reinvigorating prospect research efforts; stewarding membership, mid-level, and major donors, with a particular emphasis on written content; and organizing donor events.

Experience

1. Senior Director of Institutional Relations

   National Wildlife Federation

   Sep 2024 — Present

   The National Wildlife Federation is America\'s oldest and largest conservation organization. Our mission is uniting all Americans to ensure wildlife thrive in a rapidly changing world. The Federation\'s Institutional Relations team is charged with raising $30M+ annually, primarily in restricted funds. As the Senior Director of Institutional Relations, my responsibilities include-Helping to lead an accomplished, high-performing team of 11 working to grow and diversify institutional funding to support the Federation’s bold conservation agenda-Assist in managing all foundation, corporate, and government fundraising efforts-Managing all operational and administrative functions of the Institutional Relations team, including directly supervising two administrative staff responsible for gift processing, grant acknowledgements, revenue tracking, prospect research, and corporate vetting-Leading annual team budget-setting process and managing team’s overall budget; serving as a key liaison between Institutional Relations team, Finance, and Program Operations during the Federation’s organizational budget-setting process, guiding Institutional Relations team members to develop grant pipelines and revenue projections for the upcoming fiscal year-In close collaboration with AVP, helping to establish and execute team goals, and assist with establishing an appropriate team structure to maximize fundraising potential-Partnering with the Federation’s CEO and other Executive Leadership on all elements of institutional fundraising, in particular high-touch, ‘principal’-level fundraising efforts-Developing and managing institutional fundraising systems to significantly scale up philanthropic revenue and investments as the organization embarks on new strategic vision aimed at addressing America’s wildlife crisis

Education

• American University School of International Service

  BA, International Studies (University Honors; summa cum laude)

• Syracuse University - Maxwell School

  MPA & MA, International Relations

Skills

• Philanthropy
• Policy Analysis
• Fundraising
• Volunteer Management
• Community Outreach
• Research
• Program Development
• Prospect Research
• Grant Management
• Microsoft Office
• Capacity Building
• Proposal Writing
• Strategic Planning
• Writing
• Social Media
• Editing
• Nonprofits
• Copy Editing
• Public Speaking
• Event Planning
• Fundraisers
• Grant Writing
• Raiser's Edge