Director of Development

Fostering Promise; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Fostering Promise is seeking a Director of Development, the organization’s first dedicated fundraising leader, reporting to the President & CEO. This role will launch and sustain the Promise Campaign, targeting a multi-year fundraising effort to support a July 2027 pilot launch.

The director will manage a donor portfolio, write proposals, secure meetings, and drive an annual contributed revenue goal around $2 million, while building systems and a pipeline to enable scalable growth.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressively responsible fundraising experience including direct solicitation and closing five- and six-figure gifts.
• Proven success in campaign fundraising and institutional giving.
• Demonstrated grant writing and editing skills with funded proposals.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of major donors and institutional funders; identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward gifts.
• Lead and implement a multi-year fundraising plan spanning major gifts, institutional giving, and annual appeals.
• Coordinate donor communications, proposals, budgets, and reports; staff the CEO's donor portfolio.

Skills

Fundraising leadership

Major gifts

Grant writing

CRM management

Campaign planning

Donor stewardship

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Monday.com

Job description

The Director of Development is Fostering Promise's first dedicated fundraising leader and a key partner to the President & CEO in launching and sustaining the Promise Campaign, a multi-year campaign supporting a pilot launch in July 2027. The Director will carry a portfolio of major donors and institutional funders, make direct asks, write and edit the proposals that fund our work, and own an annual contributed revenue goal of approximately $2 million. This is a builder's role at a fast-moving organization: the right candidate will be as comfortable sitting across the table from a philanthropist as designing the pipeline and systems that make the next ask easier. Reports to the President & CEO.

Responsibilities:

• Carry and grow a portfolio of approximately 100 donors and prospects through identification, cultivation, direct solicitation, and stewardship
• Make face-to-face and virtual asks, secure meetings, and move donors through the pipeline with clear next steps
• Staff and support the President & CEO's donor portfolio with briefings, proposals, and disciplined follow-up
• Write, edit, and submit letters of inquiry, proposals, budgets, and reports across foundation, corporate, and government funders
• Manage the full grants calendar, including deadlines, renewals, and reporting requirements
• Research and qualify new institutional prospects, and cultivate technology, venture capital, and family office prospects alongside traditional philanthropic funders

Development Strategy and Operations

• Develop and implement a comprehensive, multi-year fundraising plan spanning major gifts, institutional giving, corporate partnerships, and annual appeals
• Serve as day-to-day lead for the Promise Campaign, including the gift chart, weighted pipeline, solicitation timeline, and campaign work plan
• Set annual and campaign-year revenue goals in partnership with the President & CEO and fractional CFO, and report progress against them
• Own Monday.com as the organization's CRM, including data integrity, moves management, pipeline reporting, and automation
• Partner with the CFO on the development budget, revenue forecasting, gift reconciliation, and campaign financial modeling

Event Planning

• Plan and execute donor cultivation and stewardship events, from intimate donor lunches to larger convenings hosted with corporate and philanthropic co-sponsors
• Own event fundraising strategy: invitation lists, co-sponsor recruitment, speaker cultivation, run-of-show, and post-event follow-up and solicitation
• Manage event vendors, venues, budgets, and timelines
• Lead the recurring donor engagement Zoom series, including format, guest speakers, and the ask

Board, Cabinet, and Team Leadership

• Serve as a member of the senior leadership team and participate in Board meetings
• Serve as primary staff to the Promise Campaign Advisory Cabinet, supporting recruitment, onboarding, meeting content, and member follow-through
• Partner with the President & CEO and Board to build Board capacity in donor identification, solicitation, and stewardship, and prepare Board members for donor conversations and solicitation meetings
• Supervise contractors, event partners, and volunteers; recruit and manage development staff as the team grows

The role requires regular travel throughout the Bay Area for donor meetings, site visits, and events, and availability on occasional evenings and weekends.

Ideal Candidate

• 7+ years of progressively responsible fundraising experience, including direct solicitation and closing of five- and six-figure gifts
• Demonstrated success in campaign fundraising, major gifts, and institutional giving, ideally in a growth-stage or startup nonprofit environment
• Proven grant writing and editing skills, with a portfolio of funded proposals
• Experience building fundraising infrastructure rather than inheriting it: CRM setup, pipeline design, reporting, and process documentation
• Demonstrated event fundraising experience, including cultivation events and co-sponsored convenings
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to translate complex program work into a compelling case for support
• Initiative-taker who can operate independently on a small team and partner closely with an entrepreneurial CEO
• Commitment to youth-driven, strengths-based approaches and to centering the leadership of young people with lived experience in foster care
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience