Senior Director, Philanthropy

About True Ground Housing Partners

True Ground Housing Partners (formerly APAH) was founded in 1989 by four families motivated to address affordable housing in Arlington, VA. Today, we have grown into one of the region’s leading nonprofit affordable housing developers. Our rental communities provide affordable housing to more than 5,000 people in the Washington DC Metro Region for neighbors earning between 30% and 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI). True Ground exists to provide quality affordable housing and resident-centered programming to help our residents make the most of their home.

Summary Description

True Ground’s Philanthropy and Communications team works to increase True Ground’s visibility and engagement with the community, raise funds to advance our mission and support programs, and advocate for policies and resources to support affordable housing and True Ground residents.

The Senior Director of Philanthropy directs True Ground’s philanthropy efforts, developing and executing comprehensive strategies to secure financial support from various donor segments, including major gifts, foundations, corporate sponsors and annual giving and capital campaigns. They will serve as a liaison with the External Relations staff in their shared goal of building awareness and support for True Ground, affordable housing and the interests of True Ground residents.

The Senior Director will provide leadership for the Philanthropy and Communications team, supervising team members and partnering with the Vice President to foster team cohesion, collaboration and systems in support of achieving ambitious philanthropy goals. We are looking for a strategic and results-driven professional with proven experience leading dynamic philanthropy teams, securing significant philanthropic gifts and growing overall philanthropic giving at organizations. True Ground’s goal is to grow our donor base from $2.1M annually in 2024 to $4.75M in 2027 or greater (not inclusive of capital campaigns) This role requires a leader who can lead by example, who manages well through change and who welcomes creativity and innovation.

True Ground is at the start of a four-year plan to grow philanthropic revenue to sustain the organization’s bold strategic plan and impactful growth, and this position will be key in supporting and facilitating the planning and implementation of True Ground’s trajectory.

Key Responsibilities

Philanthropy Strategy and Leadership (25%)

• Manage the development and execution of True Ground’s annual fundraising strategy aligned with our strategic plan and organizational goals, and incorporates foundation, corporate and individual support.
• In partnership with the Vice President of Philanthropy and Communications, assess existing growth strategy tools and documents in first 30 days, and work over the next 90-120 days to refine/develop and oversee a multi-year fundraising plan that ensures diverse and balanced revenue streams
• Review the growth plan, as needed and at least once a year, with members of the executive team and key Philanthropy and Communications team staff, and incorporate learnings from year one into recommended budgetary priorities, investments, consultants and resources to support the organizational growth in concurrent years.
• Establish metrics, processes and reports for monitoring, measuring and communicating results on an ongoing basis to internal and external stakeholders.
• With the Philanthropy and Communications team, promote an organization-wide culture of philanthropy.
• Identify opportunities to refine or replace existing development processes and systems, ensuring that infrastructure supports the effective functioning of the development team.
• Ensure that standard operating procedures and other documentation of processes and systems for internal reference are developed and maintained.
• Supervision, support and mentorship of Philanthropy staff team including regular check ins, professional development and career development planning and support.

Individual Giving Programs (25%)

• Support the development and execution of strategies to identify, cultivate, solicit and steward individual donors at all giving levels.
• Cultivate and steward True Ground’s major gifts program, including assigning portfolios and developing personalized cultivation and solicitation strategies that can be deployed across portfolio managers.
• Oversee the creative and execution of stewardship plans for donors to ensure impactful engagement and recognition.
• Oversee the administration of planned giving programs, ensuring compliance and effective management.
• Ensure effective and donor-friendly infrastructure for non-cash asset donations is available and communicated.
• Ensure collaboration and connection between True Ground’s Major Gifts program and other fundraising portfolios, including individual, institutional donors, Celebrate Home, etc. with effective systems to regularly identify priorities and coordinate communication and outreach.
• Oversee donor engagement events, ensuring meaningful interactions and opportunities for donor involvement in True Ground’s mission.

Capital Campaign: Strategy, Engagement, Execution and Reporting (20%)

• Design and lead capital campaigns as needed, developing an overall strategy, integrating program into overall fundraising plans and stewardship efforts, leveraging internal and external resources.
• Work closely with the Vice President of Philanthropy and Communications, President/CEO and key stakeholders to identify and engage major donors for the capital campaign.
• Develop necessary communications and materials for articulating the need and impact of a successful campaign.
• Monitor campaign progress, providing regular updates to team, organization leaders and donors.

Institutional Funders and Grants Management (25%)

• Manage relationships with institutional funders, including foundations, corporations and government agencies through attending workshops, conferences, seminars and others, to ensure True Ground is competitive for large-scale funding opportunities.
• Maintain and build relationships with foundations and grantors, using asset-framing and compelling storytelling to make the case for the need to support True Ground.
• Work with the Senior Manager of Philanthropy to strengthen the pipeline of prospects and regularly update leadership on new funding opportunities.
• Collaborate with the Resident Services department to identify funding needs, alignment with program needs, using insights to write compelling proposals in partnership with the Senior Manager of Philanthropy
• Support the Senior Manager of Philanthropy, to ensure the grant calendar, compliance, and contributions are recorded and acknowledged, reports are timely and complete, and funds are received as scheduled.

Other (5%)

• • Other duties and special projects as assigned.

Shared Responsibilities of Philanthropy and Communications Team

Every member of the team will play a role in the following priorities:

• Cross Departmental Collaboration, particularly with Resident Services
• Cultivating a Culture of Philanthropy
• Creating written Standard Operation Procedures as the department grows

Supervisory Responsibility

Supervision of Philanthropy Senior Manager/Manager and other team members as needed.

Philanthropy Team and Tools Supporting this role:

• Board and CEO Commitment to fundraising growth, and 100% board commitment financially
• Philanthropy and Communications team of 6, including 3 members spending 100% of their time on fundraising.
• Raisers Edge database and database consultant to provide enhanced reporting
• Completed Case for Support and 2024 True Ground Impact Report
• Wealth Screening conducted on majority of the database
• Newly formed Philanthropy Taskforce to activate major gifts
• Designated team Portfolios to grow over 300 donors
• Annual Celebrate Home event which uses peer to peer fundraising committee which reaches 350+ corporate donors
• Detailed team budget with designated funding for annual giving, stewardship, marketing, multimedia, video and consultant support
• Suite of tools provided by Aperio Philanthropy consultancy to enhance and articulate the growth path

Qualifications

• 10+ years of fundraising experience in demonstrated leadership, particularly experience leading multi-million dollar capital campaigns, relationship cultivation of new and existing donors, funders and foundations, and major donor engagement, programming and events. Successful track developing and executing an integrated philanthropy plan for growth.
• Experience with fundraising for social services or housing a plus.
• Experience with local DMV or national foundations a plus
• Demonstrated record of success engaging and stewarding donors, leading to an increase in amount of funds raised.
• Compelling written and oral communication skills, including grant writing experience, a plus
• Experience with Raiser’s Edge and/or other donor database(s) strongly preferred.
• Well-organized and creative self-starter who is conscientious and able to work independently in a fast-paced environment.
• Proven ability to manage competing priorities and meet deadlines.
• Commitment to True Ground’s mission, experience working in social service or housing organizations a plus, willingness to learn affordable housing issues required.
• Positive “can do” attitude, flexible, team-oriented with a high degree of initiative.
• Enthusiastic team leader with supervision and people management experience.
• Demonstrate thought leadership, listening, problem solving, collaboration, critical thinking and analytical skills, along with intellectual curiosity to drive continuous improvement and support a positive work environment.

Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time, exempt position. Typical workdays are Monday through Friday, with a total of 40 hours worked a week between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Occasional evening or weekend hours for community/board meetings related to projects and/or special events; additional work hours as required.

Working Conditions/Physical Requirements

This job operates in a professional office environment. On occasion this position may work off-site at events. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, and filing cabinets.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. 

The employee is frequently required to operate a computer and other office equipment, communicate information and ideas so others will understand, observe details at close range, and will occasionally move items weighing up to 30 pounds.

Reasonable Accommodations Statement

To accomplish this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation, each essential function satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodation may be made to help enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Disclaimer

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.

Salary and Benefits

Salary band for this position starts at $129,000. The salary for this position is commensurate with experience. True Ground has a competitive benefits package that includes medical, dental and vision insurance, long and short-term disability insurance, life insurance, commuter benefits, 401k and paid leave. Remote work up to 50% of the time is available. Our corporate office in Ballston features free parking.

Equal Opportunity Employment

True Ground offers equal employment opportunities (EEO) to employees and applicants for employment and prohibits unlawful discrimination and unlawful harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, gender identity or expression, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation or any other protected classes or categories as defined by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment including, but not limited to recruitment, selection, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leave of absence, training program participation, compensation and all other terms, conditions and privileges of employment.

True Ground is an E-Verify employer and will provide the federal government with Form I-9 information to confirm authorization to work in the US. True Ground will only use E-Verify once a job offer is accepted, following submission of the Form I-9.