Director of Development

Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte; Charlotte (NC); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte is seeking a Director of Development to provide strategic leadership for our comprehensive fundraising and donor engagement program. You will develop multiyear plans, integrate annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, external engagement, events, and communications with diocesan leadership, volunteers, and partners.

You will coordinate with regional directors and a development team to set priorities, train staff, and ensure accountability for donor

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and at least five years in fundraising or development leadership.
• Strong ability to develop and manage multi-year fundraising plans and donor programs.
• Experience coordinating with leadership, staff, volunteers, and external partners.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a strategic fundraising plan across annual giving, major gifts, and events.
• Lead donor acquisition, retention, upgrade, and stewardship with measurable goals.
• Prepare reports and dashboards on donor trends and campaign performance.
• Collaborate with leadership to align fundraising with program priorities and budgets.
• Oversee donor communications, newsletters, and multichannel stewardship.

Skills

Fundraising strategy

Donor relations

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Raiser's Edge NXT

Microsoft 365

Job description

Position Summary

The Director of Development provides strategic leadership for Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte's comprehensive fundraising and donor engagement program. The Director develops and implements a multiyear plan integrating annual giving, major and planned gifts, external engagement, events, donor communications, and multichannel stewardship. Working with Catholic Charities and diocesan leadership, staff, board members, parishes, volunteers, donors, and community partners, the Director builds relationships and advances the agency's mission across its service area. The Director coordinates development efforts with the Diocese of Charlotte Director of Leadership Gifts, External Engagement Digital Coordinator, Business Operations Administrator, Statistical Analyst, Development Office Database Manager, and four Regional Directors of External Engagement. The Director establishes shared priorities, processes, training, and accountability for donor and partner relationship management.

Key Responsibilities

Fundraising Strategy and Performance

• Develop, implement, and maintain a strategic fundraising plan with goals, audiences, strategies, timelines, responsibilities, and measures of success for annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, external engagement, events, and donor stewardship.
• Establish and monitor revenue, donor acquisition, retention, upgrade, engagement, and stewardship goals; adjust strategies based on results.
• Work with the Statistical Analyst to prepare fundraising reports, forecasts, dashboards, and analysis of donor trends and campaign performance for agency and diocesan leadership.
• Partner with agency leadership and program staff to identify funding priorities, translate needs and outcomes into compelling donor opportunities, and align unrestricted and designated fundraising efforts with strategic and budget priorities.

Annual Giving, Communications, and Stewardship

• Plan and execute integrated annual giving campaigns across direct mail, email, digital and social media, parish communications, events, and other appropriate channels.
• Write and oversee donor-centered appeals, acknowledgments, impact stories, campaign materials, reports, and faith-forward fundraising content.
• Plan, write, and manage the agency-wide donor newsletter, currently published every four months with each edition highlighting the work and impact of a Catholic Charities office or region.
• Partner with the Director of External Engagement to maintain an integrated calendar coordinating Catholic Charities and diocesan communications, campaigns, appeals, newsletters, parish outreach, events, stories, and stewardship.
• Maintain a multichannel stewardship program and timely acknowledgment workflows that recognize donors, demonstrate impact, preserve donor intent, and encourage continued engagement.
• Coordinate stories, photography, design, production, segmentation, and distribution of fundraising and stewardship materials with communications, program, and regional staff.

Major Gifts, Planned Giving, and Portfolio Management

• Coordinate the agency's major and leadership gifts work, including prospect identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, moves management, and reporting.
• Collaborate with the Diocese of Charlotte Office of Development to promote planned gifts, endowments, bequests, beneficiary designations, qualified charitable distributions, donor-advised funds, gifts of securities, and other appropriate giving vehicles.
• Build, assign, and maintain actionable donor and relationship portfolios for the Catholic Charities Director of Development, CEO, Deputy Director, Diocese Director of Development, Director of Leadership Gifts, and Regional Directors of External Engagement.
• Establish portfolio expectations, prospect stages, contact strategies, next actions, and regular review practices; conduct and coordinate ethical prospect research to advance relationships.

Team Coordination and External Engagement

• Coordinate fundraising and relationship-management activities with the Director of Leadership Gifts, External Engagement Digital Coordinator, Business Operations Administrator, and four Regional Directors of External Engagement.
• Clarify roles, priorities, workflows, communication expectations, and measures of success; provide onboarding, training, tools, coaching, and ongoing support.
• Partner with Regional Directors to strengthen relationships with parishes, Catholic schools, ministries, community organizations, local leaders, volunteers, sponsors, donors, and prospective donors.
• Support fundraising strategy for regional events and other engagement opportunities, including sponsorships, committee and host development, donor follow‑up, and post‑event stewardship.

Raiser's Edge NXT and Development Operations

• Provide strategic oversight for the accurate, consistent, and effective use of Raiser's Edge NXT as the agency's donor and relationship‑management system.
• Work with the Development Office Database Manager to strengthen data standards, dashboards, portfolios, reporting, automation, and processes for recording constituent information, relationships, notes, proposals, preferences, and next steps.
• Train and support staff in using Raiser's Edge NXT tools to manage portfolios, document activity, monitor progress, and maintain accountability.
• Partner with gift‑processing and diocesan development staff to improve gift entry, acknowledgments, recurring giving, reconciliation, reporting, data security, donor service, and related workflows.
• Maintain Catholic Charities' Candid and Charity Navigator profiles, coordinating with leadership, finance, programs, and communications to keep program, impact, governance, financial, and organizational information accurate, current, and supportive of donor trust and visibility.

Other Responsibilities

Participate in staff meetings and development activities

Participate in Level 10 meetings as part of the company's EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) management process.

Perform other duties as assigned in support of the mission and priorities of Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte

Requirements

Education

Bachelor's degree and at least five years of progressively responsible fundraising or development experience; significant relevant experience may substitute for a completed degree. Experience should include fundraising strategy and several areas such as annual giving, stewardship, major gifts, planned giving collaboration, events, or external engagement.

Experience/Skills

Experience coordinating staff and cross‑functional teams, establishing clear expectations, and supporting accountability.

Exceptional written, verbal, interpersonal, project‑management, and organizational skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with diverse internal and external audiences.

Strong knowledge of Raiser's Edge NXT or a comparable constituent relationship management system, including portfolios, moves management, reporting, dashboards, and data standards.

Ability to manage multiple priorities, protect confidential information, exercise sound judgment, and collaborate across offices and departments.

Commitment to the mission, values, Catholic identity, and Catholic social teaching of Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte.

Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and familiarity with digital fundraising, email marketing, online giving, design, project‑management, and communications platforms.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT:

Onsite, professional office setting

Regular travel and occasional work beyond the scheduled workweek.