Development Director (New York City, Washington, D.C., or Philadelphia)

About African Communities Together (ACT)

African Communities Together is an organization of African immigrants fighting for civil rights, opportunity, and a better life for our families here in the U.S. and worldwide. ACT empowers African immigrants to integrate socially, get ahead economically, and engage civically. We develop our members as grassroots leaders who take action to make social change. Since its founding, ACT has supported thousands of African immigrants with direct services, trained hundreds of new leaders, and led successful policy campaigns at the federal, state, and local levels that have impacted hundreds of thousands of immigrants. ACT’s African immigrant membership comes from a diverse range of nationalities, cultures, and languages, is religiously diverse, and is predominantly working-class and low-income.

ACT has offices in New York City, Philadelphia, and the Washington, D.C. metro area. The position can be based in any of these offices, depending on the candidate. This position is hybrid: while much of the work can be completed from home, the position is not fully remote, and will require regular travel to an office and may require occasional travel to other ACT locations.

Position Description

African Communities Together seeks to hire a Development Director to provide effective, dynamic leadership in our fundraising efforts. The Development Director will assume the following responsibilities, coordinating with and reporting directly to ACT’s Executive Director:

• Strategy: Develop, manage, and assess fundraising strategy, workplan, and timeline.
• Grants Management: Refine and maintain ACT’s grants management system in order to meet fundraising deadlines
• Funder cultivation: Develop list of prospective funders; help cultivate individual donor base; and develop and maintain relationships with funding partners
• Grant writing: Draft close-to-final grant proposals and reports and prepare application and reporting packets
• Promotional materials: Work closely with ED and Communications staff to develop appropriate promotional materials and fundraising appeals
• Grant budget development: Collaborate with ED and finance manager to ensure consistency between grant budgets, program requirements, and resource allocation
• Public leadership: Support the ED in representing ACT  in meetings and other convenings with funders, as appropriate

Qualifications

• Minimum five years of full-time, professional experience working in non-profit organizations or foundations; at least three in a fundraising or grantmaking capacity.
• Strong English language communications skills, both written and oral.
• Cultural competence and significant experience with African immigrant communities.
• Ability to work under time pressure and meet deadlines or communicate in advance when they need to be reconsidered.
• Alignment with ACT’s mission and values. 
• High attention to detail.
• Excellent follow through.
• Skilled at building and maintaining systems.
• Ability to succeed in a collaborative community organization environment, including accountability to goals, ability to work independently, manage across teams and prioritize. 
• Ability to effectively and respectfully communicate, collaborate and connect with people from various backgrounds, identities, experiences and positions.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent preferred. Relevant professional degree, such as an MPA, is desirable and will be counted towards minimum professional experience requirement.

Salary and Benefits
ACT offers competitive salary, benefits, and leave policies. Baseline salary is $95,000; additional compensation negotiable based on experience. Additional benefits include employer-paid health insurance; employer-paid pension contribution (SEP); professional development; vacation and personal leave; and a sabbatical/longevity bonus.

 How to Apply     

To apply, please submit your resume along with a cover letter describing your interest in the position, via this link. Please combine the resume, cover letter into one attachment.

Applicants are encouraged to submit applications by August 1, 2022; however, applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

ACT is an affirmative action employer, and strongly supports the social goals of affirmative action. We therefore make special efforts to recruit individuals from groups that are historically under-represented in professional environments, or that suffer from broader societal discrimination.