DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

Primary Responsibilities

• Donor Portfolio Management – 65%
  • Manage a portfolio of current and prospective donors and partners across funding streams—including individuals, companies, and foundations—cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding gifts of $5,000 or more to meet a portfolio revenue goal of approximately $1–$2M annually.
  • Create and drive the strategy for event sponsorship for the annual signature fundraising event and all other revenue-generating events to meet the sponsorship goal of approximately $250K.
  • Support the Executive Director and MDD in managing select top-tier donor relationships by coordinating strategy, preparing successful interactions, and supporting outreach and follow-up communications.
  • Proactively identify and qualify new prospects by leveraging Bottom Line’s database, conducting research, engaging with community networks, and attending events in Chicago’s philanthropic ecosystems.
  • Leverage the region’s connector strategy by engaging board members and other champions, in partnership with the MDD, to secure warm introductions and expand the donor pipeline.
  • Act as the region’s point of contact on all grants for Chicago; coordinates directly with the central grants function on the national DevOps team on grant deliverables for institutional funders in your portfolio, and, where designated, co-leads all tracking, writing, and submission.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration – 20%
  • Partner closely with the national DevOps team to align regional strategy & execution with organization-wide systems, tools, and strategies.
  • Offer regional insight and feedback to inform fundraising approaches and initiatives led at the national level.
  • Actively contribute to the Bottom Line development community across regions and nationally, sharing learnings, aligning practices, and supporting collective growth.
  • Support regional event execution as directed by the Manager of Donor Experience and Communications.
• Portfolio Planning & Execution Support – 15%
  • Develop, maintain, and execute a portfolio plan (including solicitation strategy and stewardship) to achieve annual revenue goals.
  • Regularly review donor data and fundraising performance using Salesforce dashboards and other reporting tools to inform decision-making, monitor progress to goal, and adjust tactics as needed.
  • Contribute to regional forecasting and regular progress reviews by proactively surfacing opportunities, risks, and support needs to the MDD.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and work authorization.
• Minimum 4 years of progressively responsible fundraising experience, with demonstrated ability to manage donor relationships and contribute to revenue strategy.
• Demonstrated success owning and meeting a revenue goal, including forecasting, pipeline management, and disciplined follow-up.
• Experience owning a portfolio of donor relationships and managing the full lifecycle—qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship—with a focus on securing and growing gifts of $5,000+ through individualized donor strategies.
• High comfort and credibility in an externally facing role, including leading donor meetings and representing an organization with professionalism, warmth, and strong and expeditious follow-through.
• Ability to use fundraising data and CRM systems (Salesforce highly preferred) to inform strategy and execution, prioritize actions, and monitor progress to goal.
• Strong collaboration skills, including the ability to manage up and support the MDD and ED, partner effectively with the Massachusetts development and regional program teams, and coordinate with national partners (e.g., DevOps) to advance shared goals.
• Strong communication and project management skills, including the ability to draft clear donor-facing communications, coordinate inputs, drive projects forward to completion, and manage up to MDD and Executive Director.
• Able to work effectively with ethnically, culturally, and socially diverse donors, board members, senior executives, staff, students, and other constituencies.
• Demonstrated commitment to Bottom Line’s Mission, Vision, and Core Values.

Preferred

• Experience fundraising across multiple funding streams (individual, corporate, and foundation), including balancing priorities across a diverse portfolio.
• Grant writing experience and/or experience supporting foundation and corporate proposal development and reporting.
• Experience working within a matrixed, multi-site, or large organization.