Skip to main content

This job has expired

Director of Development, ACLU of Maine

Employer
ACLU of Maine
Location
Maine, United States
Salary
$110,000.00 - $120,000.00
Closing date
Mar 29, 2023

About the ACLU of Maine

The ACLU of Maine is an affiliate of the nationwide American Civil Liberties Union. We fight for equality, justice, and freedom for all people in Maine in the statehouse, the courthouse, and through public education and engagement. Serving as the state’s guardian of liberty, we are a passionate and highly motivated team active in the areas of criminal legal reform, racial justice, immigrants' rights, reproductive rights, women's rights, Indigenous rights, LGBTQ+ rights, voting rights, privacy, and freedom of speech and religion.

 

Position Summary

The ACLU of Maine seeks a strategic Director of Development who grounds their work in the principles of Community-Centric Fundraising and has a lived passion for working in one of the most dynamic environments in the country. The ACLU of Maine is at the forefront of confronting some of the most challenging social, political, and cultural issues of our time. As a member of the Leadership Team, the Director of Development has a unique opportunity, with significant creative latitude, to build the organization’s development strategy, an execution plan, and the ongoing support of an organization embracing resource development.

Some of the greatest assets of the ACLU of Maine are the experiences, wisdom, education, research, and actions of the team members that have led us to become a national leader in creating equitable change. We are searching for someone who can encapsulate the work of the ACLU of Maine while engaging the community to actively participate in protecting their civil liberties. The ideal candidate must be creative, collaborative, and a true servant leader who can stand in the wings beaming with pride or take the stage to model excellence.

The Director of Development will work closely with the Executive Director and Board of Directors to foster dynamic relationships and partners in their powerful work. The Board is poised and excited to partner with the ACLU of Maine team to face a challenging future in our national struggle to save democracy. The ACLU of Maine wants to lead the charge, and this role, along with the entire Leadership Team, is key to our success. Our team embodies dedication, hard work, and commitment. This work requires resilience, humor, emotional awareness, and a true commitment to deconstructing and confronting systemic oppression and racism.

 

Essential Job Functions

Program Development, Oversight, Evaluation, and Management

  • Build, maintain, and assess programs that secure sustainable resources and strengthen the relationship between the ACLU of Maine and its donors, resulting in increased funding.
  • Sustain and grow a program that integrates an understanding of the intersections of race, class, power, and privilege in our development work, particularly through our engagement with donors.
  • Build long-lasting transformational (not transactional) relationships with ACLU of Maine donors by treating them as partners, engaging them in the manner they wish, and asking them to meaningfully extend their financial support to the organization.
  • Develop strategies and programs that recruit, cultivate, solicit, and steward donors giving or capable of giving $10,000+ annually and significant planned gifts.
  • Develop and manage special campaigns and planned giving.
  • Implement strategies to increase the number of donors giving at all levels and grow donor giving year-over-year through engagement and cultivation.
  • Develop and lead the strategy for a donor engagement program.
  • Identify and lead opportunities for growth in grant funding.
  • Prepare and write personalized proposals, reports, letters, emails, notes, and other documents, as needed.
  • Provide industry knowledge, monitor industry trends, and implement best practices.

Staff and Team Management

  • Ability to lead, supervise, train, motivate, coach, support, and partner with development staff to ensure that each employee meets their job goals and professional development objectives.
  • Capacity to build a development team in which all members take responsibility for team success and understand their roles in achieving team goals.
  • Contribute to a trusting team culture that supports giving and receiving honest feedback, regularly assesses performance, questions if we can do better, destigmatizes mistakes, and is open to new ideas and approaches.
  • Lead the team in continuously striving to make the development efforts increasingly anti-racist. Consistently address structural implications and racially disproportionate impacts of policies, activities, and decisions by identifying and implementing changes that can produce more equitable outcomes.
  • Collaborate with key program staff, locally and nationally, to inform development programming and donor relations.

Leadership

  • Serve as a member of the Senior Leadership Team; model and promote the Senior Leadership Team's management and organizational culture goals.
  • Promote a culture of philanthropy amongst staff, board, and donors.
  • Play an integral role in organizational budget development and projections, strategic planning, and internal structures and processes.
  • Develop annual department expense budget and forecast contributed income sources for the organizational budget.
  • Ensure confidentiality and work quality requirements are met by staff and volunteers.
  • Report development goals and progress to the Board of Directors; engage and support the Board of Directors in its fundraising responsibilities.

Donor Engagement

  • Manage an executive portfolio of approximately 75 donors with the capacity to give $10,000 and above.
  • Develop, identify, implement, and track a high-level, customized cultivation and solicitation strategy for each individual in the executive portfolio.
  • Implement strategies to increase the number of donors giving $15,000 and above.
  • Manage and support the development responsibilities of the Executive Director, which include focusing and prioritizing the Executive Director’s development-related time and duties, scheduling, preparing for, and staffing donor meetings, etc.

 

Qualifications

With the understanding that no one person will offer every desired skill and characteristic outlined below, compelling candidates will offer much of the following:

Education + Experience

The following are among the strengths and experiences ACLU of Maine is seeking in this position:

  • Five or more (5+) years of combined formal and informal experience, education, and training in fundraising in the nonprofit sector.
  • Confidence in leading and managing a development program and team.
  • Five or more (5+) years of demonstrable experience— professional and/or personal— in political action, advocacy, legislation, or education related to social justice issues most relevant to the ACLU of Maine is preferred.
  • Three to four (3-4) years of direct experience soliciting, closing, and stewarding gifts; experience with a diverse donor pool is ideal.
  • Experience, training, and education from inside and outside the United States are considered equally.
  • Equivalent education and/or experience, transferable skills, and lived experience will be considered.

Examples of experience, education, and training that fulfill these requirements include relevant lived experience and non-traditional education, volunteer or paid work, internships, community-based and other types of training and workshops, community college, trade school, and university courses and degrees.  

Skills + Competencies

  • High emotional intelligence; able to understand the needs and concerns of partners, colleagues, and donors.
  • Strong attention to detail with an analytical mind and clear and focused approach.
  • Strong interpersonal skills, including exceptional active listening, communication, and presentation skills (both written and spoken, with an ability to inform, influence, convince, and persuade).
  • Ability to exercise flexibility and discretion.
  • Ability to function autonomously yet work collaboratively with the team.
  • Understanding of the ACLU of Maine’s mission and the ability and desire to be an effective spokesperson and representative.
  • Highly organized with excellent time and project management skills.
  • Resourceful, proactive, and self-motivated with a strong sense of ownership and accountability.
  • Possess the following personal attributes: trustworthy, strategic, organized, results-driven, self-starter, creative, inclusive, transparent, and collaborative.
  • Ability to navigate a wide variety of stakeholders and juggle competing priorities and interests to move the work forward.

 

Reporting Relationships

The Director of Development reports to the Executive Director and has the following supervisory responsibilities:

  • Development Communication Strategist

 

Compensation + Benefits

The salary range for this position is $110,000-$120,000.

A competitive benefits package is provided, including:

  • Medical*, Dental*, Life insurance/AD+D*, Short- and long-term disability insurance*
  • 401(K) retirement account, automatic 2% employer contribution, and employer match up to 5.5%
  • Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account
  • Fifteen (15) vacation days accrued in year one
  • Three personal days
  • Sick leave accrues two days per month, maximum of 24 days
  • Nine paid holidays per year
  • Paid personal leave
  • Paid family and medical leave
  • Unpaid medical leave and leaves of absence
  • Commuter transit account + transportation stipend

* Life insurance, short- and long-term disability, and basic medical and dental are provided at no cost to the employee. If an employee opts into family coverage, 65% of the family health and dental coverage premiums are paid by the ACLU of Maine.

As a reflection of our firm’s commitment to equity and equal pay for all, it is Cooper Coleman’s requirement that salary ranges or salary starting points be published for every search we conduct. The practice of not posting salaries perpetuates the gender and racial wage gap and discriminates against women, people of color, and other historically excluded populations by causing individuals to negotiate from a disadvantaged starting point. 

 

Location

The ACLU of Maine’s office is based in Portland, ME. Currently, staff are working in a hybrid remote and in-person environment and are discussing long-term plans.

As an organization, we value working together and look forward to when we can safely return to our office. Candidates outside of Portland and/or Maine will be considered for this position with the understanding that relocation to the Portland region will ultimately be required.

 

Travel Statement

Estimated travel out of the office is ~33% for meetings across the state (mostly in the Greater Portland and mid-coast areas) with the ACLU of Maine's donors, supporters, and other communities.

 

EEO + Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The ACLU of Maine is an equal opportunity employer. We value a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. The ACLU of Maine encourages applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, previous criminal conviction, and veteran status.

 

Background Checks

Before sending your resume for this position, please read it over for accuracy. Cooper Coleman verifies its candidates' employment and academic credentials at the time of offer, and our clients frequently conduct background checks before finalizing an offer. 

 

Submission Instructions (read carefully)

Cooper Coleman is leading this search on behalf of the ACLU of Maine. To apply, please visit this link (www.coopercoleman.com/current-searches). Inquiries and nominations of qualified candidates can be sent to:

Kathy Kraushar
kathy@coopercoleman.com

Kindly use the position title as the subject line of your email. All inquiries will be held in confidence.

A cover letter is not required with your initial application but is welcomed to help us understand your fitness for this role during our initial evaluation. Candidates invited for interviews will be asked to provide a thoughtful letter of interest indicating their specific qualifications for the opportunity, desire to join the ACLU of Maine, and connection to its mission.

Cooper Coleman LLC is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified candidates and will refer candidates without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation or identity, age, ability, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis.

Get job alerts

Create a job alert and receive personalized job recommendations straight to your inbox.

Create alert