Senior Development Officer

About the role

Vision To Learn (VTL) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) that provides vision screenings, eye exams, and glasses to children in low‑income communities at no cost, using mobile “vision clinics”—optometric exam rooms on wheels—that deliver services on‑site at schools and community organizations. Funded by private philanthropy (foundations, corporations, individuals) and public funding (Medicaid, CHIP, school districts, cities, counties, states), VTL is the largest school‑based vision care provider in the country. Since 2012, it has conducted more than 3.8 million vision screenings, provided eye exams to 750,000 children, and distributed over 630,000 pairs of glasses, operating in more than 850 cities across 14 states and Washington, DC.

Reporting to the Chief Growth Officer, the Senior Development Officer will strengthen VTL’s fundraising program by leading donor stewardship, donor communications, and moves management across a portfolio of individual and institutional supporters. The role will create a disciplined, donor‑centered experience—ensuring each relationship has a thoughtful strategy, timely next steps, compelling communications, and consistent follow‑through. The officer will manage an assigned portfolio while also supporting the Chief Growth Officer and organizational leaders in advancing priority donor relationships, translating program impact into tailored engagement, coordinating leadership touchpoints, maintaining reliable portfolio data, and using moves‑management practices to move donors from initial engagement through cultivation, solicitation, renewal, and deeper commitment. The officer will also cultivate and solicit donors directly and support selected grant and fundraising activities.

Responsibilities

• Donor Stewardship & Experience – Lead stewardship planning for an assigned portfolio of individual donors, foundations, and corporate partners, emphasizing retention, renewal, and increased engagement. Develop tailored stewardship plans reflecting each donor’s interests, giving history, relationship stage, and preferred channels. Ensure timely acknowledgments, impact updates, reports, recognition, and other meaningful touchpoints. Coordinate donor meetings, briefings, site visits, events, and other engagement opportunities (preparation, staffing, follow‑up). Partner with the Chief Growth Officer, President and CEO, board members, and other leaders to plan and execute high‑value donor engagement. Track stewardship commitments and donor preferences to deliver a thoughtful, accurate, and responsive donor experience.
• Moves Management & Portfolio Strategy – Manage donors and prospects through the full relationship cycle: identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, renewal, and upgrade. Create and maintain clear relationship strategies, next actions, target asks, timelines, and ownership for each donor or prospect. Facilitate regular portfolio and pipeline reviews with the Chief Growth Officer and colleagues, surfacing stalled relationships, emerging opportunities, risks, and decisions needed. Coordinate moves for priority relationships managed by senior leaders, preparing briefings and ensuring agreed‑upon follow‑up occurs promptly. Use portfolio data and donor behavior to segment outreach, prioritize effort, and recommend strategies for increasing retention, engagement, and giving. Maintain complete, current, and accurate donor, prospect, gift, contact, and activity records in Salesforce or the organization’s designated development CRM.
• Donor Communications & Content – Develop and manage a coordinated donor communications and stewardship calendar with the Chief Growth Officer and Communications colleagues. Draft and edit high‑quality donor‑facing materials, including personalized outreach, acknowledgments, thank‑you letters, impact updates, meeting briefings, proposals, reports, and renewal communications. Translate program activity, data, and stories into clear, compelling messages tailored to different donor audiences and relationship stages. Maintain consistency in voice, messaging, facts, and recognition while preserving appropriate personalization. Identify opportunities to improve donor communications, templates, workflows, and content based on portfolio insights and donor feedback.
• Fundraising & Relationship Management – Cultivate, solicit, and steward an assigned portfolio of individual and institutional donors and prospects toward agreed‑upon relationship and revenue goals. Build and deepen relationships with foundations, corporations, individuals, and other philanthropic partners connected to VTL’s national and regional work. Prepare tailored funding opportunities and asks aligning donor interests with VTL’s mission, programs, and organizational priorities. Support selected grant proposals, reports, renewals, and funder communications, coordinating inputs from program, Finance, Operations, and other colleagues. Represent VTL in donor and funder meetings, regional events, site visits, and other external engagements as appropriate.
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration & Performance – Work closely with Communications, Operations, Finance, Human Resources, and program teams to gather accurate information and deliver coordinated donor engagement. Help establish and monitor practical measures of portfolio health, including meaningful contacts, completed next steps, retention, renewals, upgrades, pipeline movement, and data quality. Provide the Chief Growth Officer with clear, timely updates on portfolio progress, opportunities, risks, and resource needs. Contribute to a collaborative, accountable development culture and undertake other fundraising and donor‑engagement priorities as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree or relevant professional credential in nonprofit management, fundraising, communications, business, or a related field preferred.
• Minimum of 5 years of fundraising and development experience, including direct responsibility for donor stewardship, portfolio management, and donor communications.
• Demonstrated ability to apply moves‑management practices and advance individual and institutional donor relationships through multiple stages of engagement.
• Excellent writing and editing skills, with the ability to translate complex program information into clear, compelling, and donor‑centered communications.
• Experience cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding donors and funders; experience with major gifts, foundations, or corporate philanthropy strongly preferred.
• Strong relationship‑management skills and sound judgment when working with donors, executives, board members, and colleagues across functions.
• Exceptional organization, project management, attention to detail, and follow‑through across multiple relationships and deadlines.
• Ability to use data and portfolio insights to prioritize activity, evaluate progress, and improve donor engagement.
• Proficiency with development CRM systems; Salesforce experience preferred.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a geographically distributed organization.
• Passion for Vision To Learn’s mission.

Pay

Salary Range: $110,000 - $130,000

Requirements

Location: Remote. Ability to travel regularly for donor engagement, site visits, regional events, and organizational meetings.