Senior Director of Development

Position Summary

The Senior Director of Development is a senior fundraising leader responsible for building, strengthening, and expanding philanthropic support for the organization. This role leads a donor-centered development strategy focused on deepening relationships with existing donors, reengaging lapsed donors, identifying and cultivating new donors, and increasing overall contributed revenue. The Senior Director will serve as a visible ambassador for the organization, partnering closely with executive leadership, the Ambassador group, board members, program leaders, and community partners to advance the mission and ensure long-term financial sustainability.

About the Role

Reports To: Chief Executive Officer

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a comprehensive development strategy that supports annual fundraising goals, long-term revenue growth, donor retention, and donor acquisition.

• Manage and grow a personal portfolio of major donors, prospective donors, corporate partners, foundations, and other philanthropic stakeholders.

• Build trusted, long-term relationships with existing donors through consistent engagement, thoughtful stewardship, personalized communication, and meaningful opportunities for involvement.

• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward new donors by using prospect research, community engagement, board referrals, events, campaigns, and strategic partnerships.

• Segment donors by giving history, engagement level, interests, capacity, communication preferences, and connection to the mission to create targeted cultivation and stewardship plans.

• Reengage lapsed donors through intentional outreach, updated impact messaging, and individualized relationship-building strategies.

• Partner with Marketing to develop donor focused campaigns throughout the year.

• Lead all fundraising events in partnership with Marketing including two established events and adding to the event/fundraising portfolio.

• Lead annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, sponsorships, donor campaigns, and special fundraising initiatives designed to increase philanthropic revenue.

• Partner with executive leadership and program teams to identify funding priorities and translate organizational needs into compelling donor opportunities.

• Prepare customized proposals, donor presentations, impact reports, appeals, and stewardship materials in collaboration with marketing and communications staff.

• Support campaign planning, including capital campaigns or special project campaigns, as assigned.

• Develop strategies to grow corporate, foundation, family, and individual giving while maintaining a balanced pipeline of current and prospective donors.

• Use data, donor analytics, and fundraising trends to evaluate performance, forecast revenue, and adjust strategies as needed.

• Serve as a senior representative of the organization with donors, volunteers, civic leaders, corporate partners, foundations, and community stakeholders.

• Partner with the CEO, executive leadership, and board members to support donor cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and ambassador activities.

• Supervise, mentor, and develop development team members or related support staff, as applicable.

• Collaborate with marketing and communications to create integrated donor communication plans, campaign messaging, event materials, and impact storytelling.

• Work closely with finance and operations teams to ensure gift processing, restricted gift tracking, reporting, and donor acknowledgments are accurate and timely.

• Represent the organization at donor meetings, community events, fundraising events, tours, presentations, and networking opportunities.

• Maintain high standards for donor records, contact reports, pipeline tracking, gift documentation, and fundraising activity in the donor database or CRM.

• Establish and monitor key performance indicators related to donor retention, new donor acquisition, major gift pipeline growth, donor engagement, campaign performance, and revenue targets.

• Prepare regular development reports for executive leadership, board committees, and other stakeholders.

• Ensure fundraising practices are ethical, donor-centered, compliant with applicable laws and standards, and aligned with organizational policies.

• Protect donor confidentiality and handle sensitive information with professionalism and discretion.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 5 years of non-profit experience.
• Experience in the Intellectual and Developmental arena is ideal.
• Experience developing strategic partnerships, communication plans, fundraising/sales campaigns, sponsorship strategies, and stewardship programs.
• Strong relationship-building, presentation, written communication, and public speaking skills.
• Ability to work effectively with executive leaders, board members, volunteers, donors, staff, and community partners.
• Experience using donor databases, CRM systems, fundraising analytics, Microsoft Office, and campaign reporting tools.
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and follow through on commitments.
• High level of professionalism, confidentiality, ethical judgment, and mission alignment.

Preferred Competencies

• Mission-centered mindset with a strong commitment to relationship-based fundraising.
• Strategic thinker who can translate mission, program outcomes, and organizational priorities into compelling philanthropic opportunities.
• Comfortable making direct asks and coaching others to participate in donor cultivation and solicitation.
• Data-informed leader who uses metrics and donor insights to improve fundraising performance.
• Collaborative partner who works across departments to align fundraising, communications, finance, and program priorities.
• Entrepreneurial approach to identifying new donors, partnerships, campaigns, and revenue opportunities.
• Strong emotional intelligence, sound judgment, resilience, and professionalism in donor and stakeholder relationships.

Success Measures

• Increased donor retention and improved engagement among current donors.
• Growth in new donor acquisition and conversion of prospects into active donors.
• Expansion of major gift, corporate, foundation, and planned giving pipelines.
• Achievement of annual fundraising goals and campaign revenue targets.
• Timely, personalized, and accurate donor acknowledgments, stewardship, and impact reporting.
• Stronger board, executive, and volunteer participation in donor cultivation and fundraising activities.
• Improved use of donor data, segmentation, and reporting to guide fundraising decisions.
• Innovate approach to development for the organization including new events, the Ambassador program, new programs and new marketing focused on existing and new donors.