Director of Development

POSITION OVERVIEW

This position is a member of the Reach leadership team. The DOD will be responsible for managing and implementing all fundraising activities.

The ideal candidate has a clear grasp of all core components of development with strong experience in writing, development operations, and donor relationship management. This individual is excited to deepen connections with current donors and to engage new ones. They communicate effectively across all platforms, understand and implement the detailed work of gift-tracking and processing, and they attend carefully to all that contributes to financial viability.

This role is strategic and tactical, as it is responsible for developing, managing, and executing Reach’s annual development plan. The ideal candidate is a development generalist with a clear grasp of all core components of development, including: individual contributions and stewardship, annual and online giving campaigns, corporate partnerships/funding, special events, and grant writing. This role requires experience managing development operations, ranging from data management in the CRM, to gift-processing, to budget reconciliation.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Leadership and Development Strategy (20%):

• Collaborate with and support Reach’s leadership as a member of the leadership team
• Manage and execute Reach’s development and stewardship plans to achieve annual revenue goals
• Update existing development and stewardship plans with new ideas, industry best practices, and data-driven analysis
• Work with Executive Director (and board of directors) to determine the best strategic mix of annual events to support program and organizational goals, including cultivation and stewardship events
• Ensure a robust gift pipeline that is substantial enough to achieve annual revenue goals by actively managing prospective and current donors, foundations and other funders solicited via proposals, grant applications, multiple appeals, and other fundraising activities
• Participate in strategic planning for Reach to ensure development plans align with and are in service of evolving organizational goals and programmatic outcomes
• Serve as the staff leader and liaison to the board of directors’ development committee

Individual Giving (20%)

• Partner with the Executive Director to identify, cultivate and solicit individual donors for major gifts
• Manage and develop existing individual giving appeals and campaigns focused on targeting new donors and stewarding existing donors
• Execute the donor stewardship process in order to connect donors to the mission of Reach and foster a sense of community

Institutional Funding (20%)

• Ensure Reach has a robust pipeline of grant opportunities to pursue
• Create and manage a grant calendar of approximately 30 grant applications annually to track all applications and reports
• Identify and pursue relationships with potential corporate partners
• Author compelling grant proposals and complete grant reporting processes in a timely and efficient manner

Event Fundraising (10%)

• Lead all development and revenue components of two annual events including sponsorship, major donor solicitation, and connected cultivation opportunities
• Create and execute pre- and post-event constituent plans

Development Communications (10%)

• Collaborate with the leadership team to create a communications plan/calendar to support development goals, and work together to ensure opportunities for both programs and development are elevated
• Help develop creative and mission-centric fundraising messaging that articulates the special role and impact of Reach’s work
• Partner with program staff to effectively share their expertise, vision, and impact with donors
• In collaboration with the Reach team, create and deploy the monthly Reach community newsletter

Fundraising Planning, Tracking and Operations (10%)

• 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
• Coordinate and oversee moves and task management for all open funding opportunities
• Establish and monitor annual and long-term revenue goals and budgets
• Maintain all donor and prospect information utilizing Bloomerang (Reach’s CRM)
• Design and update a regular progress-to-goal report and development dashboard for the Executive Director
• Execute high-quality gift processing and revenue tracking, to ensure accurate and thorough documentation of all development activities

Collaboration and Engagement (10%)

• Contribute positively to organizational culture and reflect Reach values
• Actively engage with Reach programs team to truly understand the work and build stories of youth leaders into development communications
• Attend and actively participate in team meetings and one-on-one meetings with the ED (and other members of the team) as needed to support organizational functions
• Attend (and where applicable, support planning and preparation for) team retreats and celebratory activities
• Actively participate in internal professional learning activities; pursue opportunities for external professional training; attend, participate in and report highlights to the team - as appropriate

QUALIFICATIONS:

• 6-8 years of nonprofit development experience
• Bachelor’s Degree preferred
• Demonstrable experience as a fundraising generalist, with hands-on practice at institutional giving/grant writing, major gifts, annual giving, 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
• Experience working with professionals at varying levels, and liaising with contractors and consultants
• Proactive in recognizing needs and opportunities and taking initiative to work toward solutions
• Excited to propose fresh ideas without prompting by leadership, open to feedback on those ideas, and persistent enough to bring them to life

ATTITUDES & BELIEFS:

• You are deeply committed to equity and Reach’s mission, vision, and core beliefs
• You regularly demonstrate strong self-motivation, strategic thinking, and the ability to work independently
• You have exceptional project management skills, with a knack for working backwards from deadlines and can deal with curve balls thrown at your work plan
• You have a keen attention to detail, a love of adhering to organizational systems, and aren’t satisfied until you have produced a high-quality work-product
• You are reliable and a friendly communicator who reaches out and follows-up with professional persistence
• You are a creative thinker and willing to test out new ideas