Director of Development

Stem-to-the-Futur; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Inner Spark Learning Lab, a Los Angeles education nonprofit, is seeking a Director of Development to lead fundraising across individual giving, institutional funding, and corporate sponsorships. You will build and implement major gifts programs, manage funder relationships, and scale a growing development function with a distributed team.

Reporting to the Executive Director, you will shape donor narratives, oversee strategy, and collaborate with the finance and program teams to maximize impact

Qualifications

• 7+ years nonprofit fundraising experience with growth in responsibility.
• Experience mentoring development staff and executives.
• Familiarity with LA and national education funder landscape.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficiency in Notion or similar project management tools.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of individual donors with capacity between $1,000 and $10,000.
• Design and support major gifts strategy with cultivation events and moves management.
• Supervise fractional marketing team and Annual Fund campaigns.
• Manage institutional portfolio; set funder relationships and grant targets.
• Coordinate grant writing with ED and Senior Development Manager.
• Determine funder opportunities based on alignment and capacity.
• Build development function that is repeatable and documented.
• Own Notion-based development operating system and pipeline tracking.
• Coordinate grant reporting with Chief Program and Learning Officer.
• Staff board development committee and deploy board members for introductions.
• Represent Inner Spark in funder spaces and national convenings.

Skills

Nonprofit fundraising

Donor relations

Written communication

Verbal communication

Project management

Notion

Team mentoring

Tools

Notion

Funraise

HubSpot

Job description

Inner Spark Learning Lab is an education nonprofit based in South Central Los Angeles. We partner with public schools and organizations to help schools be a place kids actually want to be.

Our work is built on a simple idea: that Black and Brown students thrive when they are seen, trusted, and given real agency over their learning. Our Listen, Learn, Adapt, and Share framework is the basis of our work.

We Listen to what students and educators need. We Learn from what was shared, and in some cases, what was not shared. We Adapt the classroom conditions to make school a place the kids want to be. And all along the way, we Share what we listened to, learned, and adapted.

We offer both student-facing and educator-facing programs:

Our student-facing programs are embedded into every student’s school day at ICEF Inglewood Elementary, our inaugural Learning Lab school partner. Students in grades TK-2 participate in Igniting the Spark (project-based learning program).

Students in Grades 3 to 5 participate in TheoryxPractice (youth participatory research program). We also have a Learning Specialist on our team, called a Dreamweaver, whose job is to listen and learn from kids and families about what they’re learning and experiencing to deepen our understanding of how

we can continue to make school a place where kids want to be.

Our educator-facing programs include a teacher professional development program (SparkAI) developed in partnership with Loyola Marymount University's iDEAL Institute.

We are nine years into this work, and we are in a period of intentional growth, building the infrastructure and team that will let us go deeper in Los Angeles and share our Listen, Learn, Adapt, and Share framework nationally. The Director of Development is a pivotal role in achieving this next chapter of impact.

Our Team

ISLL is founded and led by educators and creatives from diverse backgrounds who share a deep passion for youth and their capacity to do amazing things. Our team values discovery, open communication, empathy and creativity in everything we do. We’re united by our shared values, a deep commitment to our community, and to our mission of motivating and inspiring Black and brown youth to create the world they want and deserve. Our employees include athletes, parents, artists, writers, activists, and more.

Role Overview

• The role will focus on philanthropy (including institutional and individual fundraising) and corporate sponsorships. Inner Spark has a track record of securing institutional funding from local foundations in the Los Angeles area to support its school-based programming. The organization also has a growing number of individual donors, including gifts above $10,000. After an organizational rebrand and a programmatic shift in strategy, between 2025 and 2026, Inner Spark is now poised to secure funding from new partners—both place-based and national—as well as individual donors. This is particularly critical as Inner Spark builds a growing body of evidence that supports its Listen, Learn, Adapt, and Share framework for school transformation.
• The Director of Development will join an organization growing its revenue across three channels: individual giving, institutional giving, and corporate sponsorships. The organization is not starting from scratch, and there is existing momentum. The fundamentals are in place, but it requires the right design, coordination, and processes to make it a disciplined fundraising operation. The right person for this role is not someone who wants to execute a known playbook, but rather someone who is energized by building one.

What you'll do

• Individual Giving 30% OF SCOPE

Manage a portfolio of individual donors who have demonstrated capacity between $1,000 and $10,000, while the Executive Director focuses on major gifts above $10,000

Design and support the implementation of a major gifts strategy, including cultivation events, one-to-one relationship management, and a disciplined moves management process, alongside the Executive Director, ensuring their time is deployed effectively to meet organizational goals

Supervise the fractional marketing team that will communicate with individual donors under $1,000, and lead the strategy and execution of all Annual Fund campaigns

• Institutional Giving 35% OF SCOPE

Manage the institutional portfolio at a strategic level, including key funder relationships, portfolio prioritization, and FY grant targets

Partner with the Executive Director and Senior Development Manager (to be hired in Fiscal Year 2028), who will own day-to-day grant writing, reporting, and deadline management

Make decisions about which funders and opportunities are worth Inner Spark's time, based on alignment, capacity, and strategic fit

Write and edit grant applications and proposals that are developed in partnership with the Executive Director. Coordinate and manage grant budgets with the bookkeeper and finance support team

• Corporate Partnerships 10% OF SCOPE

We have a nascent corporate partnership program. Ideally, the director would come on board and determine if this is an area for growth for us.

• Team and Operations 15% OF SCOPE

Build a development function that is repeatable, documented, and does not depend on any one person to run

Own the development operating system in Notion, including pipeline tracking, workflow documentation, and team accountability structures

Establish and maintain a recurring coordination routine with the Chief Program and Learning Officer to ensure grant reporting and storytelling are never a scramble

• Board and External Relations 10% OF SCOPE

Staff the board development committee and actively deploy board members in donor introductions and cultivation events

Represent Inner Spark in funder spaces, at national convenings, and in the Los Angeles education ecosystem

Our ideal candidate will have

• 7 or more years of nonprofit fundraising experience with demonstrated growth in responsibility A track record of identifying new donors, cultivating relationships, and making the ask solo and in partnership with other team members (both individuals and institutional funders)
• Experience managing or mentoring development staff and executive leaders Familiarity with the Los Angeles and national education funder landscape
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to translate complex program work into compelling funder narratives
• Proficiency in Notion or comparable project management tools

It's a bonus if you have

• Familiarity with Funraise and HubSpot is a plus but not required