Director of Development

Horizons Greater Washington; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

401k

PTO

Job summary

Horizons Greater Washington seeks a dynamic Director of Development to lead all fundraising strategy and execution, ensuring annual revenue goals are met and donor relationships are strengthened. This full-time role reports to the Executive Director and oversees staff, systems, and partners in a hybrid work setting.

The position emphasizes a hands-on approach to fundraising, portfolio management, and strategic donor cultivation, including major gifts, mid-level giving, and grant proposals, with

Qualifications

• Strong leadership and senior fundraising experience.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to build and manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.
• Experience with major gifts and donor engagement.
• Comfortable in a hybrid, fast-moving nonprofit environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute an annual fundraising plan of $2–3 million.
• Oversee major gifts and donor engagement programs and reporting.
• Lead gala and events fundraising strategy and execution.
• Supervise Development staff and foster cross‑functional collaboration.
• Collaborate with finance, programs, and executive leadership on strategy.

Skills

Leadership

Project management

Communication

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree or relevant/equivalent experience

Tools

Salesforce/CRM

Job description

Job Type: Full-time

Position Overview

Horizons Greater Washington (HGW) seeks a dynamic and experienced Director of Development to lead all fundraising strategy and execution, ensuring Horizons Greater Washington achieves its revenue goals and builds strong, lasting donor relationships. This role ensures HGW has an annual plan, revenue targets, a portfolio of donors, and cultivation and stewardship strategies to sustain and scale its impact. This is a hands-on strategic role that oversees employees, systems, and partners. The Director of Development is a full time position and reports to the Executive Director.

Organizational Background

Horizons Greater Washington (HGW), an affiliate of Horizons National, advances educational equity by building long-term partnerships with students, families, communities, and schools to create experiences outside of school that inspire the joy of learning. HGW supports over 420 students in grades K-9 with year-round programming, developing the whole child through experiences that build problem-solving skills, foster awareness of community responsibility, and instill respect for self and others. By spanning from Kindergarten to ninth grade, the program nurtures long-term connections between diverse learners and dedicated staff who support them throughout the year. HGW program design and staff practices follow a Positive Youth Development approach, emphasizing engagement, interaction, support, and a safe environment as key components that meet the needs of youth. The five-week Summer Academy is HGW's core program, blending high-quality academics with an emphasis on literacy and STEAM with arts, fitness, cultural enrichment, field trips, and confidence-building challenges, including learning to swim.

Key Responsibilities

Fundraising Strategy & Leadership

• Develop, articulate, and execute annual fundraising plan of $2-3 million
• Set revenue targets and track progress
• Utilize a metrics driven approach to evaluate outcomes
• Identify opportunities for growth across revenue streams
• Oversee the development and execution of all fundraising and grant proposals

Major Gifts & Donor Engagement

• Manage and grow a portfolio of 50+ major donors ($5K+)
• Manage and expand a mid-level donor program ($1K-$5K) to steward portfolio toward major gift opportunities
• Lead cultivation and stewardship strategies year round
• Identify, cultivate, and develop new funding and revenue opportunities
• Serve as a Salesforce/CRM power user for portfolio management and reporting; Ensure tracking and monitoring of all donor information, leveraging data to improve performance and efficiency; provide/present statistical analysis to board
• Support Executive Director and Board in fundraising efforts
• Own strategic relationships with host school leadership (heads of school, school development directors) and Horizons parent councils

Event & Gala Strategy

• Own gala fundraising strategy, revenue goals, and sponsor/top-table donor cultivation
• Own gala program narrative and storytelling, ensuring the ask and impact story align with broader donor strategy
• Partner with the Events Manager, who owns event logistics, vendor management, and day-of execution
• Chair or co-chair the gala committee's fundraising strategy and goals

Team Leadership

• Represent HGW in business meetings, tours, speaking engagements and other public activities.
• Supervise roles such as Development Manager, Events Manager, and Development Associate.
• Effective leadership skills including organization, prioritizing goals and actions, allocating resources and building systems for accountability that ensure performance and results.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Director of Finance & Operations on budget development
• Collaborate with Chief Program Officer (CPO) on program storytelling
• As a member of the organization’s leadership team, engage in broader organizational strategies and initiatives and work collaboratively
• Establish strong long lasting relationships with the Executive Director, leadership team, staff, board, volunteers, donors and the general community while adhering to the highest ethical standards and to demonstrate commitment to continued professional growth and development.

Requirements

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree or relevant/equivalent experience
• 8+ years of progressive experience in nonprofit fundraising and development leadership, including demonstrated experience serving as the senior-most fundraising leader of an organization, accountable directly to an Executive Director and board
• Proven success with major gifts, major donors, Corporate donors, government funders, grant strategy and leadership
• Strong leadership skills
• Strong project management skills
• Strong systems thinker, comfortable with building and maintaining processes and project timelines
• Excellent communication (written and oral), organization, and collaboration skills.
• Enthusiasm for Horizons Greater Washington's mission and commitment to educational equity.
• The ability to work independently and collaborate, to take initiative, and to manage multiple tasks and projects at a time.
• Comfortable in a small, fast-moving, hybrid organization

Preferred

• Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) certification
• Experience in growing or evolving nonprofit organizations strongly preferred
• Bilingual in English and Spanish

Compensation & Benefits

• The starting salary range for this position is $130,000 to $150,000, based on the experience of the candidate.
• Benefits include medical, dental, vision, short and long term disability, group life insurance, accidental death & dismemberment insurance, 401k, Employee Assistance Plan, 10 paid holidays, in addition to the week off between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, and Paid Time Off (PTO).

Background Check Requirements

Background checks will be conducted on final candidate immediately after acceptance of employment offer.

Location

This position will be a hybrid (remote and in-person) role with weekly in-person staff meetings and time onsite as required. Generally this means 1 day in the office at 3000 Cathedral Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008. This position is required to meet in person with donors as scheduled at our school sites, donor offices, or agreed upon locations in the DC, MD, VA region. Candidates must be able to meet these travel requirements. HGW reserves the right to move the position to fully in office at any time as well as require additional in office time during certain business related activities (i.e. donor visits, tours, programming events). Candidates must be located in the MD, DC, VA region as this position does NOT offer relocation.

Environmental and Physical Conditions

The environmental factors and/or physical requirements of this position include the following: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to have ordinary ambulatory skills sufficient to visit other locations; and the ability to stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch, and manipulate (lift, carry, move) light to medium weights of 10-20 pounds. Requires good hand-eye coordination, arm, hand and finger dexterity, including ability to grasp, and visual acuity to use a keyboard. The employee frequently is required to be in one position for long periods of screen use, reach with hands and arms, and talk and hear both in person and over devices. The employee interacts frequently with other staff. The position works in an office environment with artificial light and air.

Horizons Greater Washington is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, political affiliation, disability, genetic information, matriculation, source of income, place of business or residence, pregnancy, homeless status, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.