Director of Advancement

Essential Functions

• Manage a portfolio of individual, corporate, and foundation donors with clear revenue and activity metrics.
  • Lead cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship efforts across donor segments.
    • Initiate donor meetings, conduct site visits, and steward relationships to deepen engagement.
    • Develop compelling donor-facing materials: proposals, stewardship reports, sponsorship packets, and impact communications.
  • Identify institutional funding prospects and support strategy for grant seeking.
    • Lead or oversee LOI and proposal development in partnership with Programs, Finance, and MarCom.
    • Ensure complete, accurate post-award management, including reporting deadlines, grant documentation, and funder stewardship.
  • Maintain strong relationships with foundation program officers and corporate philanthropic contacts.
    • Stewardship & Donor Communications
      • Oversee stewardship systems to ensure timely and meaningful donor touchpoints.
      • Partner with MarCom to ensure impact stories, donor recognition, and reports are aligned and high-quality.
      • Strengthen donor retention through consistent, mission-focused communications.
    • Events Strategy
      • Lead Badge Bash strategy and execution in alignment with cultivation goals.
      • Develop mission-forward donor engagement opportunities beyond signature events.
      • Ensure ROI tracking, documentation, and post-event follow-up plans are completed.
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration
    • Work closely with Finance on budgets, reconciliations, and post-award grant management.
    • Partner with Programs to align donor messaging with impact.
    • Collaborate with MarCom on donor communications, stewardship materials, and event promotions.

  Required Education and Experience

  • 7–10 years of progressively responsible fundraising experience, including frontline donor engagement and portfolio management.
  • Demonstrated success in institutional giving, including: Grant seeking Grant proposal development Post-award management and reporting
  • Experience with major gifts, corporate partnerships, and donor-centered stewardship.
  • Strong writing, communication, and relationship-building skills.
  • Experience supervising or providing strategic guidance to staff preferred.
  • Familiarity with Raiser's Edge and/or Salesforce strongly preferred.
  • Bachelor's degree or equivalent related work/volunteer experience.

  Physical Demands

  • Must be able to sit at a computer terminal for up to 3 hours at a time; must be able to stand for 1 to 2½ hours per day.
  • Ability to lift a minimum of 25 pounds without difficulty.
  • Ability to climb stairs.