Director of Development

Open Doors; Norwalk (CT); On-site; USD 95,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Open Doors in Norwalk, CT is hiring a Director of Development to lead a focused, sustainable fundraising program. You will strengthen major-donor and institutional-funder pipelines, establish strategies and measures, build systems, and develop a team, while engaging the CEO and Board in high-value relationships.

The role reports to Executive Leadership and collaborates across programs, Finance, communications, and the Board to expand impact and ensure ethical, data-driven fundraising practices.

Qualifications

• Five+ years in nonprofit development, including leadership of staff or consultants.
• Data-informed fundraising across multiple revenue streams.
• Partnering with executives, Board, program teams, and Finance.
• Experience with major government, foundation, or multi-program proposals.
• Experience using a donor CRM (DonorPerfect or similar).
• Strong written, verbal, presentation, and relationship skills.
• Knowledge of Fairfield County philanthropy and communities.
• Experience in housing or mission-driven organizations.

Responsibilities

• Develop annual fundraising strategy, revenue plan, calendar, and goals with CEO/Board.
• Set workflows, accountability, and forecasts across development functions.
• Lead major donors, foundations, and corporate partnerships initiatives.
• Oversee grants strategy, tracking, reporting, and grant writer oversight.
• Manage events, sponsorships, and donor communications aligned to priorities.
• Supervise the Donor Relations Manager, Development Specialist, and others.

Skills

Fundraising leadership

Donor relations

Strategic planning

Stakeholder management

Communication

Team supervision

Grant writing oversight

Tools

DonorPerfect

Job description

PAY RANGE: $95,000 - $100,000 per year

At Open Doors, development work directly fuels housing stability, dignity, and opportunity for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in the Greater Norwalk community. Every donor relationship, grant, partnership, and fundraising decision helps sustain the meals, shelter, outreach, case management, and supportive services our neighbors rely on.

We are seeking a Director of Development who can turn that mission into a focused, sustainable fundraising program. This leader will strengthen major-donor and institutional-funder pipelines, establish clear strategies and measures of success, build reliable systems, develop a talented team, and create meaningful ways for the CEO and Board to support fundraising. The Director will set the direction while remaining personally involved in the relationships and opportunities that matter most.

Open Doors is a place where the mission is visible, the work is meaningful, and strong ideas can become real improvements. Our values of Safety, Dignity, and Accountability shape how we serve our community and work with one another. The new Director will collaborate across programs, Finance, communications, executive leadership, and the Board, with the opportunity to build something lasting and help Open Doors expand its impact.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Fundraising Strategy and Department Leadership

• Develop the annual fundraising strategy, revenue plan, activity calendar, departmental priorities, and measurable goals in partnership with the CEO and Board; monitor performance and adjust strategy, assignments, or resources as needed.
• Establish clear decision rights, service standards, workflows, and accountability across all development functions, and provide leadership with accurate forecasts, pipeline information, risks, and recommendations.
• Serve as the primary contact for organizational funding needs, partnering with department and finance leaders to identify, evaluate, prioritize, assign, and develop fundable opportunities supported by accurate program information, outcomes, budgets, and organizational capacity.
• Prepare the CEO and Board to support fundraising priorities and donor outreach, focusing their involvement on the highest-value relationships, opportunities, and decisions.

Major Donors, Foundations, and Corporate Partnerships

• Build and manage a portfolio of donors and prospects generally giving or capable of giving more than $50,000, with assignments adjusted based on relationship, potential, and strategic value.
• Identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major donors and strategic partners, developing engagement and ask strategies that appropriately involve the CEO, Board members, program leaders, and volunteers.
• Lead corporate and foundation fundraising strategy, including new relationships, significant sponsorships, renewals, and collaborative opportunities, while maintaining accurate relationship histories, gift intent, and stewardship plans in the donor database.

Grants and Institutional Funding

• Establish the grant strategy and protocols for reviewing, assigning, submitting, tracking, managing, and reporting on funding opportunities.
• Track significant government, foundation, capital, and multi-program opportunities; match them to documented organizational needs; and lead high-value, complex, new, or strategically important applications.
• Direct the contracted Grant Writer’s work and review grant narratives, budgets, commitments, and reporting requirements for accuracy, capacity, consistency, and organizational risk.

Events, Sponsorships, Communications, and Engagement

• Establish the fundraising purpose, financial targets, relationship objectives, and follow-up expectations for special events, and evaluate results based on revenue, donor engagement, mission impact, and staff capacity.
• Partner with the Manager of Donor Relations on sponsorship strategy and lead high-value or strategically sensitive sponsor relationships.
• Oversee the Communications Manager’s work and align donor-facing communications, campaigns, and materials with fundraising priorities, audience needs, brand standards, and organizational voice.

People, Operations, Data, and Compliance

• Supervise, coach, and evaluate the Manager of Donor Relations, Development Specialist, Communications Manager, and contracted Grant Writer, establishing clear deliverables and addressing performance or capacity concerns.
• Ensure the donor database serves as the department’s reliable source of truth, with gifts, pledges, restrictions, contacts, portfolio assignments, and next steps recorded accurately.
• Establish standards for acknowledgements, donor inquiries, tax receipts, stewardship, reporting, record retention, and Finance coordination while protecting donor information, honoring gift intent, and maintaining ethical, accurate, and privacy-conscious fundraising practices.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Five or more years of progressive nonprofit development experience, including at least three years leading employees, consultants, or a development function.
• Demonstrated success developing and executing data-informed fundraising strategies across multiple revenue streams, including cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding significant individual or institutional gifts.
• Experience partnering with executive leadership, Board members, program teams, and Finance to translate organizational priorities into fundable opportunities.
• Experience leading significant government, foundation, capital, or multi-program proposals and managing related reporting and compliance requirements.
• Experience using DonorPerfect or a comparable donor relationship management system
• Strong written, verbal, presentation, project-management, and relationship-management skills.
• Working knowledge of donor databases, moves management, pipeline reporting, gift acknowledgement, and the responsible handling of confidential information
• Experience in housing, homelessness, human services, or another mission-driven organization serving people experiencing vulnerability.
• Knowledge of Fairfield County’s philanthropic, corporate, civic, and foundation communities.

This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. The person responsible for performing this role will be responsible for performing other business-related duties as assigned by management. Open Doors is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions will be made without regard to an applicant’s or employee’s race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, age, mental or physical disability, genetic predisposition, citizenship, marital status or status as victim of domestic violence, military status, or any other characteristic protected by law.