Senior Director of Development

Position Summary

The Senior Director of Development has principal responsibility for donor engagement and development, including major gifts, cultivating/soliciting a portfolio of individual and corporate donors, and event sponsors. The Senior Director creates and utilizes donor relationships to maximize revenue for the organization, ensure sustainable donor relationships and increase the organization’s donor base. The Senior Director cultivates and navigates the management process for the department.

Major Areas of Responsibility/Essential Function

• Responsible for the operations, schedule and productivity of the development team
• Initiate the implementation of a CRM solution, integrating all existing data into a new system and helping train the broader Auditorium team on the platform
• Establish system and cadence of donor level interface and engagement to graduate donors to higher levels
• Prepare weekly updates and targets for fundraising progress towards goal to energize the team to meet/exceed goal
• Seek opportunities for expanded donor engagement, leading team towards the goal of a healthy and positive culture

Strategic Leadership

• In coordination with the CEAO, creates annual budget for annual fund and events, and creates periodic reports on progress toward goal and key development metrics.
• Assists the CEAO and leads development team in the implementation of key departmental activities, including all fundraising and outreach activities and major communications efforts.
• Defines, executes and manages the department’s management strategy, including partnering with the CEAO on portfolio assignment, leading regular management update meetings and ensuring team members’ accountability to process.
• Partners with the Development Operations & Events Manager to track fundraising income via database; provide the Development Operations & Events Manager guidance on monthly data and finance reconciliation.
• Coordinates with department members to ensure all activities align with the implementation and day-to-day activities of the marketing and communications strategy.
• Successfully provides ongoing supervision and development to direct reports by meeting regularly, setting goals and expectations, and mentoring/teaching relevant skills.
• Serves as the staff point of contact for the Board, creating opportunities for engagement and galvanizing their support.

Major Gifts

• Manages a portfolio of mid-major and major donors, corporations, event sponsors and prospects, identifying, cultivating and deepening/sustaining relationships, furthering engagement and increasing overall giving.
• Oversees annual fund activities (including donor appeals, acquisition activities and monthly giving), and identifying new donors and major donor prospects.
• Ensures timely recognition of contributions with acknowledgment letters and special recognition events.

Fundraising Events

• Oversees the fundraising event planning process, in partnership with the Development Operations & Events Manager.
• Drives the growth in event giving while identifying new sponsors.
• Researches and identifies prospective new sponsors and proactively initiates sponsorship and funding.
• Defines and spearheads strategies to convert event attendees into sustainable donor relationships.
• In collaboration with the CEO and CEAO, communicates with Board members in fundraising efforts.

Budget Management

• Partner with CEAO to development financial goals and manage budget.

Discretion

• The Senior Director of Development has a high-level range of discretion and independent decision-making.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• The Senior Director of Development has the following (3) direct reports.