Director, Development - Achieving the Dream
- Employer
- Achieving the Dream, Inc.
- Location
- Maryland, United States
- Salary
- $95,000.00 - $104,000.00
- Closing date
- Jul 20, 2022
View more
- Position Type
- Fundraising, Corporate and Foundation Relations, Fundraising Administration, Grant Seeking, Major Gifts, Planned Giving, Other Fundraising, Special Events
- Fields
- Advocacy, Community Development, Community Foundations, Education, Other Fields, Youth
- Employment Type
- Full Time
Achieving the Dream — Conceived as an initiative in 2004 by Lumina Foundation and seven founding partner organizations, Achieving the Dream now leads the most comprehensive non-governmental reform movement for student success in higher education history. Together with our Network of over 300 institutions of higher education, 75 coaches and advisors, and numerous investors and partners working throughout 45 states and the District of Columbia we are helping more than 4 million community college students have a better chance of realizing greater economic opportunity and achieving their dreams.
Achieving the Dream (ATD) stands in solidarity with marginalized students and is committed to making equity a reality. We believe that for colleges to advance student success, ensuring equity is paramount. Since our founding in 2004, we have taken seriously our responsibility to support ATD Network colleges in their work to dismantle the structural barriers that students face in our institutions.
Through our Equity Statement, we are setting the direction we expect our colleges to navigate: a direction that reinforces an institution-wide commitment to transformational change that eliminates systemic barriers, addresses student needs, and increases social justice and equity.
To learn more about ATD’s commitment to equity, review our Equity Statement: ATD’s Equity Statement
To learn more about our organization and mission, visit our homepage: www.achievingthedream.org
About This Role:
Job Overview
Under the general direction of the Chief of Staff, the Director of Development develops and executes strategies to secure philanthropic support for ATD’s fundraising priorities identified by ATD’s leadership team. Responsibilities include but are not limited to identifying, qualifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding corporate and private foundations, applying for federal grants, and executing a growing individual donor campaign for network college students. In support of these efforts, the Director of Development initiates, maintains, and strengthens close working relationships with key philanthropic leaders and stakeholders in the community college space.
Duties and Responsibilities
Prospect and Donor Engagement (65%)
- Responsible for developing a prospect and donor cultivation strategy that aligns with ATD’s strategic goals and priorities.
- Build and sustain relationships with private foundations and explores the diversification of other funding opportunities including donor advised funds.
- Work collaboratively with the Associate Director, Development to expand the corporate sponsorship program.
- Regularly review and present top prospects to executive team members and staff as appropriate.
- Monitor fundraising results and consistently report progress to the Chief of Staff, Board of Directors; participates in Board Meetings and Committees, as requested.
Development Administration (35%)
- Effectively utilize Salesforce and organizational software to enter and maintain prospect/donor contact reports and relevant data in a timely fashion.
- Collaborate internally with program staff to develop grant budgets and proposal submissions.
- Work closely with program leads and grants accounting to monitor grant deliverables and submission of timely grant reports.
- Lead quantitative and qualitative evaluation of fundraising outcomes, resulting in informed, data-driven insights.
- Participate in staff meetings including prospect review and strategy sessions, and attend conferences, seminars, and other development training as feasible and appropriate.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
- Works with the Marketing & Communications team on development-focused communication strategies that integrate greater awareness of ATD’s impact and high-level strategic fundraising opportunities.
Skills/Qualifications/Experience
- Bachelor’s degree and minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in fundraising. Specific experience with foundations, federal and higher education grants. CFRE certification a plus.
- Proven record cultivating and sustaining relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders including current and potential donors, foundations and government sources, businesses, and community partners.
- Knowledge of development best practices, trends in media and development, fundraising tools, and technology (including donor databases, e-mail, and online campaigns), and donor research.
- Solid, proven grant management skills including grant/proposal submission and reporting.
- Strong organizational abilities including collaborating, planning, delegating, program development and task facilitation.
- Strong written and oral communication skills and appropriate self-confidence to effectively communicate ATD’s vision at all levels and across organizational lines in a manner inspiring to donor and foundation prospects.
- Ability to navigate the ATD and make the appropriate match for donor interests.
- Ability to engage and support leadership with their fundraising and advocacy.
- Skillful in networking and opening doors as well as developing donor-centric cultivation and solicitation strategies.
- Ability to responsibly manage sensitive and confidential information with discretion.
- Skillful in successfully managing multiple projects on tight deadlines and under pressure in a dynamic and open environment.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and ability to utilize fundraising database programs and learn new tech platforms for project management.
Core Competencies
Collaboration: Demonstrates respect, humility, and willingness to collaborate when seeking to understand others and making decisions.
Disciplined Execution: Has the ability to break down big picture work goals into management tasks; has the foresight to anticipate potential roadblocks to ensure timely completion of tasks and projects.
Effective Communication: Ability to actively listen and thoughtfully question to create greater understanding and to offer insights that advance problem-solving.
Learning Orientation: Embraces challenges, new ideas and different perspectives as an opportunity to learn; continually seeks out and applies new learning to activate change or improvements.
Systems Thinking: Defines the system and one’s role in the system. Sees relationships and the dynamic elements of the holistic system and executes work accordingly. Influences the system and maps connections to ATD’s external landscape.
Change Agent: Serves as an agent of change at a personal, team, and organizational level to pursue outcomes for students. Adapts as the environment changes, while managing associated risks. Motivates staff, team, organization, and partners to activate the change needed to advance defined priorities.
Culturally Competent: Models appreciate inquiry to gain understanding and awareness of others’ cultural identity and practices. Creates safe and constructive forums for sharing diverse perspectives and opinions.
Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates self-awareness and self-regulation and recognizes impact of personal behavior on others.
Position Details
Position Type: Full Time, Exempt
Grade Level: 7
Target Range: $95,000 – $104,000
Reports To: Chief of Staff
Work Location: Remote
Travel Required: Minimal
What We Offer:
We continually strive to be a committed, diverse, values-based organization. We also offer a robust portfolio of benefits, including:
- Health, dental and vision insurance coverage
- 401K Retirement plan
- Optional pre-tax spending account for qualified medical FSA, dependent care FSA and commuter expenses
- Premiums paid by ATD for short-term disability insurance, long-term disability insurance, life and AD&D insurance with options to elect and pay for additional coverage for spouse and children.
- Paid sick leave, vacation time, and personal days (Additionally, ATD observes all 10 federal holidays and is closed the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and for Winter Break between December 25 and January 1.
- Employee Assistance Program
- Professional Development allowance (for full-time employees on successful completion of 90-day intro period)
- Mobile First Work Policy: Remote work allows employees to work at home for all or part of their workweek as a viable, flexible work option to support the changing needs of employees. Upon hire, employees are notified of their work location (Silver Spring, Portland, or Remote). Remote may not be appropriate for all positions at ATD. ATD wants to ensure that both employees and ATD will benefit from these arrangements.
ATD strongly encourages applicants from diverse and historically underrepresented backgrounds to apply. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the role.
Please include a cover letter along with your resume. In the cover letter please discuss the following:
- Why are you passionate about ATD’s mission?
- What qualities, experiences, or other considerations do you believe make you an ideal candidate for this position?
Physical Demands:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, and ability to adjust focus.
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Achieving the Dream believes that diversity, equity and inclusion is critical to its work and its mission. ATD takes meaningful steps to promote inclusion in its hiring, retention, promotion, and board recruitment, and supports equity work at the community colleges it serves.
Equal Opportunity Employer
Achieving the Dream is committed to creating and maintaining a diverse work environment. Employment policies and decisions are based upon merit, qualifications, performance, and business needs. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth), gender identity or expression, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, legally- protected genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.
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