Associate Director of Development

Planting Fields Foundation; Town of Oyster Bay (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous benefits program

Job summary

Planting Fields Foundation, based in Oyster Bay, New York, seeks an Associate Director of Development to lead fundraising initiatives and develop a robust donor pipeline. The roleReports to the President and CEO and oversees a small development team, collaborating across departments to advance strategic campaigns and events.

The ideal candidate has extensive nonprofit fundraising experience, strong systems thinking for prospect management, and a track record in grant writing.

Qualifications

• Five+ years in nonprofit development
• Prospect management with systems
• Grant writing and fundraising
• Comfort working with elected officials
• Budget management
• Strategic and clear communication
• Staff management and collaboration
• Discretion and confidentiality
• Creative problem-solving and multitasking
• Event support for fundraising activities
• Experience with Blackbaud Altru
• Excel proficiency

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain a robust prospect management system and donor pipeline.
• Oversee data-mining tools and department planning.
• Cultivate relationships with key donors and prospects.
• Develop and manage the foundation’s funding calendar (foundation, corporate, government).
• Identify grant opportunities and prepare proposals and reports.
• Oversee Blackbaud database maintenance and donations processing.
• Prepare donor profiles, solicitation briefings, and event briefs for CEO/Board.
• Manage the development department budget with Finance and CEO.
• Lead strategy for cultivation events and board liaison.

Skills

Nonprofit development

Prospect management

Grant writing

Fundraising

Working with officials

Budget management

Strategic thinking

Communication skills

Staff management

Discretion

Problem solving

Multi-tasking

Event support

Blackbaud Altru

Excel

Tools

Blackbaud Altru

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Job PostingAssociate Director of Development, reports to the President and CEOThe Associate Director of Development provides leadership, strategy and oversight for all aspects of Planting Fields Foundation’s development initiatives. These include designing and maintaining a prospect management system to support the ambitious fundraising goals and activities of the department, developing and maintaining a robust pipeline of individual, institutional, and corporate prospects, tracking progress and strategy for all of the Foundation’s fundraising activities, and developing and maintaining annual and multi-year development plans for the Foundation. This position supervises the Special Events Manager and the Development Manager who, together with the Associate Director, form the three-person Development team. The Associate Director of Development plays a key role across the Foundation in cross-departmental projects, special initiatives and institution-wide efforts. This position is a central member of a 28-person team supporting a $3.3M operating budget.The ideal candidate will bring a deep sense of excitement for working at a 409-acre park and will quickly gain understanding of all the historic, cultural, and natural assets of Planting Fields.

Essential Functions and Primary Responsibilities

• Prospect Management and Individual Giving - Ensure robust prospect pools by working with the CEO and Board Development Committee to design and deliver a prospect management system and strategies for individual giving. The Associate Director oversees projects, data-mining tools and all development department planning. The Associate Director proactively identifies new prospects and ensures they are moving through the stages of engagement. With the Development Manager, the Associate Director will optimize the Oak Circle donor society, to create sustained engagement opportunities with prospects and develop creative fundraising campaigns to reach new donors. The Associate Director will cultivate and maintain relationships with key donors and donor prospects.
• Institutional Giving - Develop and manage the organization’s foundation, corporate, and government funding calendar. Identify grant opportunities, develop proposals and reports, and coordinate input from program and administrative staff and partners. Serve as an ambassador of the Foundation in the regional business community. Develop and manage sponsorship opportunities for exhibitions, programs, events, education initiatives, and special projects. Ensure that institutional funders receive meaningful recognition and clear, timely, and compelling communications about the impact of their support.
• Database and Record Keeping - The Associate Director will oversee strategies and provide guidance for keeping the Blackbaud database current, accurate, and used to its fullest capabilities for research and reporting; ensure the integrity of the donation processing system and oversee the department’s electronic and hard files.
• Research and Analysis - Working with the Development Manager, the Associate Director will help design and provide analytical reports to ensure the timely tracking and oversight of departmental goals and objectives, as well as reconcile records with the Foundation’s finance department. They will manage pledge tracking and payment reminders in connection with campaigns, annual gifts, and fundraising event pledges. Oversee all development research functions to support individual and institutional fundraising including preparing donor profiles, solicitation briefings, talking points and event briefings for the CEO and Board.
• Staff Management and Collaboration - Actively enable the achievement of the Foundation’s goals by working with staff and Board to identify high-potential prospects as well as organizational funding needs. Demonstrated supervisory and management skills, along with the ability to work effectively and professionally with people at all levels, including external stakeholders. Experience building or scaling a development department's infrastructure, systems, and team.
• Additional Duties - Manage the departmental budget in close consultation with the Director of Finance and CEO. Support all major fundraising events as well as leading strategy for cultivation gatherings. Manage frequent interaction with Board of Trustees and serve as liaison for Development Committee. Serve as a representative of the Foundation at professional events, advocacy efforts, and social gatherings as needed.

Requirements

• At least five years of progressive experience working in nonprofit development
• Experience with prospect management and a deep affinity for systems is a must
• Proven track record in securing funds through grant writing and individual fundraising
• High comfort level working with elected officials
• Proficiency managing a budget
• Logical and strategic thinking and excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Experience managing staff; an open and collaborative management style, conducive to effective team building, fostering team spirit, and motivating staff
• Good judgment and ability to be discreet and handle confidential information
• Creative, quick, problem-solver, with the ability to adapt quickly to, prioritize, plan for, and manage multiple projects in a fast-paced, high-expectation environment.
• Must be available to work events as necessary on nights and occasionally on weekends
• Ability to multi-task is a must
• At least three years of experience in Blackbaud Altru software/systems
• Intermediate experience with Microsoft Excel

Additional Information

This is a full-time exempt position based in Oyster Bay, New York. The position is to be fully performed onsite at Planting Fields. Employees are eligible to participate in a generous benefits program. Starting salary is $100,000.Planting Fields Foundation is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship. Planting Fields Foundation makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.

DISCLAIMER

The preceding job description has been designed to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of the employee(s) assigned to this job. Other duties may be added, or this job description amended at any time.To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the principal duties satisfactorily.Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the principal duties of the job, except where to do so would cause undue hardship on the mission and operations of Planting Fields.Employment at Planting Fields is at-will, which means that either the employee or Planting Fields can terminate the employment relationship at any time, for any reason, with or without cause or notice.Nothing in this Job Description should be construed to diminish the at-will employment relationship in any manner.