Advancement Director, St. Therese, Seattle

About the role

St. Therese Catholic Academy (STCA) seeks an Advancement Director for the 2026‑27 school year, with anticipation of renewal upon mutual agreement. This is a part‑time position, 20 hours per week, with the goal of moving to full time within a year or two. The Advancement Director will manage fundraising, admissions, communication, marketing, and database management for the school. STCA is a Preschool‑8th grade Catholic elementary school in the Madrona neighborhood of Seattle, just 2 miles east of downtown. It is a welcoming, diverse, and faith‑filled community serving 132 students ages 3‑14, 35% of whom receive free/reduced lunch; families come from over 32 zip codes and over 60% receive tuition assistance. The staff (the “Dream Team”) has about 25 members and is expanding with enrollment.

Responsibilities

• Collaborates with the principal and school leadership team in implementing the mission of the school
• Fundraising: lead, plan and execute, along with Administration, the school's major fundraising events: Annual Fund, Jog‑a‑Thon, and School Auction
• Manage marketing and communication of other fundraising events such as Giving Tuesday and Give Big
• Oversee all leadership groups for the three fundraising events – establish a development committee advisory group and an auction steering committee
• Manage scheduling of fundraising events in collaboration with other administrative staff, coordinate event meetings, and ordering of fundraising supplies
• Recruit, train and manage volunteers for fundraising events
• Work with community partners to garner sponsoring support for the school's fundraising events
• Manage the admission database (Little Green Light), ensuring it is accurate and kept up to date
• Admissions: communicate with families throughout the admissions process and for acceptance; keep an updated Admissions Calendar with the schedule for tours and interviews; train middle school student leaders to give tours to prospective families; create and maintain monthly admission reports for administrators and Student Support Team (SST); help plan and execute Open House events, Grandparents Day, New Family Welcome, and New Family Orientation
• Communications/Marketing: manage external communication to the school community, including the weekly school newsletter to families; maintain an active presence on all STCA social media platforms in partnership with Administration; partner with the Office Manager to keep the reader board updated with relevant announcements; liaison with the parish to include a school update in the parish bulletin; create needed flyers, mailings, or letters related to the three main fundraisers and admissions; work with community partners to enhance awareness in the area; maintain the school website; keep a calendar for thanking donors and sponsors; take and manage photos for marketing – special events, classroom activities, etc.
• Database Maintenance: maintain a master calendar for all advancement activities and events; responsible for management of the donor database, maintaining data accuracy; collaborate closely with the Business Manager to ensure accurate record‑keeping per IRS regulations, school policies and best practices; oversee the auction procurement data entry performed by parent volunteers; update family status in the donor database as information becomes available
• Document Production and Reporting: process all charitable gifts to the school, including receiving mail, entering gifts (individual gifts and large batches) in the donor database, generating letters, sharing weekly reports with Administration; create and maintain monthly campaign finance reports for the finance council, administrators, and school commission; generate and distribute pledge payment reminders; partner with the business manager to design and run regular and one‑time reports as requested; produce and