Join our team and shape the future of philanthropy! The Foundation is seeking a strategic, relationship-driven Director of Development to lead our fundraising efforts, cultivate lasting donor relationships, and build a sustainable philanthropic base to support our mission and future growth.
This is a fundraising generalist and relationship-development position focused on strategic growth, donor stewardship, major gifts, planned giving, and development infrastructure, rather than grant-writing.
Position Overview
- Employment Type: Part-Time, Ongoing Contract
- Location: Remote
- Hours: 15–20 hours per week
- Salary Range: $40,000–$55,000 annually, depending on experience, scope, and hours.
Position Purpose
The Director of Development will design and execute the Foundation’s resource-development activities. The ideal candidate has a proven track record in nonprofit fundraising, donor stewardship, major gifts, and planned giving, with the ability to turn strategies into measurable revenue growth.
Because the Foundation is a small organization, the successful candidate must be both strategic and hands-on, capable of building development systems and processes while personally managing donor relationships, solicitations, stewardship, and fundraising activities.
Key Responsibilities
Development Strategy
- Annual Planning: Design and implement a comprehensive annual fundraising plan.
- Goal Setting: Establish clear, measurable fundraising goals and benchmarks.
- Revenue Diversification: Build and execute diversified unrestricted and restricted giving strategies.
- Systems Building: Establish donor cultivation, stewardship, and tracking systems.
- Pipeline Development: Develop a sustainable pipeline of annual, major, corporate, foundation, and planned-giving prospects.
- Performance Analysis: Regularly evaluate fundraising results, trends, donor retention, acquisition, and return on development investment and recommend adjustments as needed.
Donor Development & Stewardship
- Cultivation: Develop cultivation materials to create a donor base.
- Segmentation: Evaluate, segment, and analyze the donor base once established.
- Pipeline Management: Build and manage a healthy donor cultivation and acquisition pipeline.
- Major Gifts: Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major-gift prospects.
- Annual Giving: Develop strategies to increase annual giving and recurring donor support.
- Recognition: Create meaningful donor recognition and retention strategies.
- Stewardship: Ensure timely, appropriate, and personalized acknowledgment and stewardship of donors and gifts.
- Relationship Management: Develop and maintain strong relationships with individual donors, corporate partners, professional advisors, and other philanthropic stakeholders.
Planned Giving
- Program Launch: Establish a comprehensive planned-giving and legacy program.
- Campaigning: Develop targeted communications regarding wills, bequests, beneficiary designations, and other legacy gifts.
- Prospect Development: Identify and cultivate prospective planned-giving donors.
- Collaboration: Partner with the CEO, Board leadership, and professional financial and legal advisors to secure legacy gifts.
- Documentation: Establish appropriate procedures for documenting and tracking planned-giving intentions and commitments.
Board Engagement & Communications
- Board Support: Help Board members understand and execute their fundraising, donor cultivation, stewardship, and ambassador roles.
- Prospect Tools: Provide Board members with appropriate donor prospect information, talking points, outreach tools, and ambassador activities.
- Board Training: Provide practical training and coaching to Board members who participate in donor cultivation and solicitation.
- Leadership Engagement: Work closely with the CEO and Board President to identify and pursue high-priority fundraising opportunities.
- Brand Alignment: Partner with internal Branding, Interface, and PR consultants to ensure all fundraising materials reflect the approved Foundation brand and messaging.
Qualifications & Experience
- Experience: Demonstrated experience in nonprofit fundraising, donor development, major gifts, planned giving, and donor stewardship.
- Bloomerang Experience – Required: Demonstrated hands-on professional experience using Bloomerang, with the ability to manage the database and use its functionality independently and proficiently.
- Fundraising Strategy: Proven ability to develop and implement fundraising strategies that produce measurable revenue growth.
- Planned Giving: Experience with wills, bequests, beneficiary designations, or other planned-giving vehicles strongly preferred.
- Compliance Knowledge: Demonstrated knowledge of nonprofit fundraising regulations and requirements, with current knowledge of New York State charitable solicitation and fundraising requirements.
- Technology: Strong proficiency with donor-management systems, online fundraising tools, email communications, spreadsheets, Microsoft 365 and/or Google Workspace, and other development technology.
- Data Skills: Ability to analyze donor and fundraising data and translate information into actionable strategies.
- Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with donors, Board members, volunteers, professional advisors, and organizational leadership.
- Attributes: Self-motivated, highly organized, relationship-oriented, entrepreneurial, and comfortable working autonomously in a remote environment.
- Small-Organization Mindset: Comfortable working in a lean nonprofit environment where the ability to build systems, take initiative, solve problems, and personally execute is essential.
- Mission Orientation: Demonstrated interest in working with a mission-driven organization and an appreciation for the nursing profession and the Foundation's role in supporting nursing and healthcare in New York.