Director of Development

About Us

For 32 years, Suited for Change (SFC) has equipped women in need in the Washington, D.C. community on their path to financial independence by providing them with professional attire, coaching, and skills training. While suiting has always been part of our mission, coaching and professional development workshops are more recent additions to the organization’s programming.

Women are referred to us by more than 120 partners in the D.C. region. Our network of referral partners includes job training and workforce development programs, transitional housing programs and halfway houses, shelters, and other programs serving domestic violence survivors, local and state government agencies, and faith-based organizations. All Suited for Change services are available at no cost.

For more information on Suited for Change, please visit www.SuitedforChange.org.

About the Role

Suited for Change is seeking a Director of Development (DOD). Reporting to our Executive Director (ED), the DOD will bring a passion for our work paired with a high-level of expertise and strategic thinking to generate revenue that will support the achievement of Suited for Change’s long-term goals. The DOD will be responsible for managing and implementing all fundraising activities.

This position is both strategic and tactical, as it is responsible for developing, managing, and executing Suited for Change’s annual development plan. The ideal candidate has a clear grasp of all core components of development, including: individual contributions and stewardship, annual and online giving campaigns, major gifts,corporate partnerships/funding, special events, and grant writing. This role requires experience managing development operations, ranging from oversight of CRM, to budget-building, to data tracking, to gift-processing.

The DOD can expect their work to include:

Leadership and Development Strategy:

• Develop, manage, and execute Suited for Change’s development and stewardship plans to achieve annual revenue goals
• Update existing development and stewardship plans annually with new ideas, industry best practices, and data-driven analysis
• Ensure Suited for Change’s development plan aligns with and is in service of the evolving organizational goals
• In partnership with the ED, set annual revenue goals
• Ensure a robust gift pipeline big enough to hit annual revenue goals by actively managing prospective and current individual donors, foundations, and corporations
• Project manage the ED’s fundraising work, directing her where and how best to spend her time and efforts on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis
• Cultivate relationships with all board of directors to support their strategic development efforts, provide training, and facilitate the process to develop potential funder parameters
• Monitor and report regularly on the progress of the development plan, providing actionable analysis for the ED and board of directors
• Identify suspected revenue gaps and develop tactics to generate new leads.
• Contribute positively to Suited for Change’s organizational culture and lead with our values

Fundraising and Donor Relations

• Partner with ED to identify, cultivate and solicit individual donors for major gifts
• Manage and develop existing initiatives, campaigns, and events focused on targeting new donors and stewarding existing donors
• Identify and pursue relationships with potential foundation funders and corporate partners
• Manage the grant portfolio by authoring compelling grant proposals and completing grant reporting processes in a timely and efficient manner
• Clearly and effectively draft dynamic, reader-friendly, and high-quality writing that is free of typos, jargon, and lackluster prose
• Lead all development and revenue components of future events including sponsorship, major donor solicitation, and connected cultivation opportunities
• Coordinate and oversee moves and task management for all open funding opportunities
• Execute the donor stewardship process in order to connect donors to Suited for Change’s mission and foster a sense of community
• Develop creative and mission-centric fundraising messaging that articulates the special role and impact of Suited for Change’s work

Development Operations and Revenue Tracking

• Establish and monitor annual and long-term revenue goals and budgets
• Design and update a regular progress-to-goal reports and development dashboard for the ED and the board
• Spearhead development-focused data input and ensure accuracy in all records and development reports in Suited for Change’s CRM (ELEO)
• Work closely with the finance team to support management of restricted funds and donor-required reporting

About You

To be maximally successful in this role, you need to be:

• A born project manager with a knack for working backwards from a deadline to create a plan
• Accustomed to working on multiple projects with different deadlines simultaneously
• A natural people person who appreciates that everyone has an important story to tell
• A dynamic, professional, and poised brand ambassador for Suited for Change
• A reliable and friendly communicator who reaches out and follows up
• A practiced public speaker who can think on your toes
• A stickler for details and quality
• A caretaker of sensitive information about donors and others in the organization’s community
• A strong self-motivator
• A creative thinker willing to test out new ideas
• An interest in and commitment to empowering women

You need to have:

• 6-8 years of nonprofit development experience
• Demonstrable experience as a fundraising generalist, with hands-on practice at major gifts, annual giving, institutional giving/grant writing, corporate partnership building, special events, and online giving campaigns
• Experience managing and improving development operations, ranging from CRM management to budget monitoring to gift processing
• The ability to communicate easily, respectfully, and sensitively with stakeholders of all ages, generations, ethnicities, and socio-economic backgrounds
• Experience working with volunteers of all levels
• Enthusiasm to propose fresh ideas without prompting by leadership, openness to feedback on those ideas, and a persistence to bring those ideas to life
• A “teamwork” mindset and the ability to work cooperatively and effectively with others to set goals, resolve problems, and make decisions that enhance organizational effectiveness
• An excellent working knowledge of CRM systems for donor and revenue management