Director of Development - Meritus College

About the role

The primary responsibilities of the Director of Development will include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Build and Advance the Pipeline
• Manage Donor and Prospect Relationships
• Build the Function

What You'll Be Doing

The primary responsibilities of the Director of Development will include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Identify, research, and cultivate new funding relationships across foundations, corporate partners, and individual donors who care about higher-ed innovation and economic mobility.
• Lead proposal development with support from Merit America's Development team, adapting fundraising narratives as Meritus College's model, outcomes, and proof points evolve.
• Bring an entrepreneurial lens to prospecting: apply the kind of hustle, creativity, and resourcefulness common in early-stage startup fundraising to a philanthropic context.
• Track and analyze pipeline health, funder trends, and outcomes to continuously sharpen strategy.
• Manage a small portfolio of existing warm prospects and new 6- and 7-figure funding relationships, managing the full cycle from first outreach through solicitation, close, and stewardship – with a goal of advancing $10M in deals to proposal stage (or later) in your first year, with support from the broader Development Team.
• Write clear, engaging correspondence that connects Meritus College's data and mission to what funders care about.
• Represent Meritus College in funder meetings and presentations, including opportunities to bring in founders/academic leadership for key relationships.
• Ensure funders are stewarded and renewed thoughtfully to build long-term trust in a startup college reimagining higher education from the inside out.

What Makes a Successful Candidate

We recognize that people from underrepresented backgrounds are often less likely to apply unless they meet every qualification. Don't let that be the reason you miss out — we encourage you to apply if you demonstrate many, not all, of the following:

• Experience Building New Programs in Higher Education
• Experience as the fundraising lead, or the close partner to the fundraising lead, on something a college or university was building for the first time: a new degree program, school, campus, institute, accredited entity, or a nonprofit incubated inside an institution.
• Working knowledge of accreditation, credit portability and transfer, academic model design, and the diligence institutional funders run on a new or newly accredited program.
• Track record of raising money or building partnerships, or of supporting the person or team who did.
• Familiar with what it takes to build a case for support while the proof points are still accumulating.
• Bias for action: willing to prospect cold, draft the first version of a proposal template, and figure it out rather than wait for a fully formed process, while working quickly and collaboratively with the development team, college team, and executive leadership.
• Communication & Storytelling: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate data and mission into a persuasive case for support.
• Mission Alignment: Genuine belief in expanding access to higher education for working adults and non-traditional students, and enthusiasm for a model that looks different from a traditional four-year college.