Director of Advancement
About the role
The Dallas Children's Advocacy Center is seeking an experienced Director of Advancement for the Advancement Department. This role leads the center's comprehensive fundraising strategy, focusing on converting engaged individuals and organizations into donors, deepening existing relationships, and driving sustained revenue growth.
Responsibilities
Fundraising strategy & revenue leadership: Develop and execute a comprehensive fundraising strategy aligned with revenue goals. Own performance across all revenue streams: individual giving, corporate partnerships, foundations, federal grants, and event funding.
Partner with the Director of Engagement to ensure a seamless transition from engagement to investment, while independently prospecting, cultivating, and securing new and expanded philanthropic support, including major gifts, annual foundations and grants, federal grants, corporate partnerships, planned giving, and signature fundraising events to increase revenue impact.
Lead strategy to convert engaged audiences into qualified donors in partnership with the engagement team. Define qualification criteria and ensure disciplined movement through the donor pipeline. Oversee moves management processes to ensure consistent donor progression. Ensure seamless handoff and follow-up from engagement-generated prospects.
Manage a personal portfolio of high-capacity donors and prospects ($25,000+). Conduct regular donor meetings, solicitations, and stewardship touchpoints. Secure multi-year and transformational gifts. Build and execute individualized cultivation and solicitation strategies.
Lead strategy for corporate partnerships and sponsorships (event-based and year-round). Secure high-value corporate investments aligned with set priorities. Oversee foundation and federal grant strategy to ensure consistent funding growth. Partner with board members and leadership to expand corporate and institutional relationships.
Own revenue strategy for all fundraising events in partnership with the engagement team. Set and achieve sponsorship, underwriting, and fundraising goals. Support recruitment and management of event chairs and fundraising committees. Ensure events drive both immediate revenue and long-term donor engagement.
Oversee annual giving strategy in coordination with engagement-led campaigns. Ensure conversion of campaign participants into retained donors. Develop strategies to increase donor retention, upgrade, and lifetime value.
Team leadership & performance management. Set clear revenue goals and performance expectations for all direct reports. Drive accountability through metrics, reporting, and regular performance reviews. Build a high-performing, donor-focused culture within the development team. Provide coaching, mentorship, and professional development.
Cross-functional collaboration. Partner closely with the Director of Engagement to align pipeline strategy and audience flow. Collaborate with program staff to strengthen donor messaging and case for support. Engage board members in cultivation, solicitation, and corporate introductions.
Qualifications
Education and experience: Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or equivalent experience required, with a minimum of six years related experience such as fundraising, sales, strategic development, and a minimum of two years of supervision/leadership experience. Experience, interest, and a proven track record with major gift fundraising.
Required Software: Advanced knowledge of MS Office Suite, including MS Windows, Word, Excel, and Outlook. Proficiency in Raiser’s Edge.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Extensive knowledge of fundraising strategies and principles. Excellent management and supervisory skills. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Excellent interpersonal skills. Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources. Skilled at being creative, resourceful, detail-oriented, flexible, possessing a positive attitude, tact, good judgment, cultural sensitivity, and working well as a team member with staff, community professionals, and volunteers. Ability to bring others together to try and reconcile differences and uses logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems. Ability to establish and maintain professionally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks and a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges. Demonstrated ability to work with all levels of employees, board members, partners, and community.