Director of Parent Engagement and Giving (opens in new window/tab)

Viewpoint; Calabasas (CA); On-site; USD 115,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Viewpoint School seeks a Director of Parent Engagement and Giving to advance a growing advancement program across two campuses. You will lead frontline fundraising, grow parent participation, and coordinate volunteer leadership in collaboration with a unified Board and President.

The role emphasizes relationship-building with parents, donors, and volunteers, and requires strategic planning, data-driven decisions, and effective stewardship to expand annual giving and major gifts.

Qualifications

• Five plus years of progressive experience in advancement or fundraising in a non-profit setting that involves volunteers, preferably in an independent school, higher education, or related non-profit setting.
• Proven success qualifying, acquiring, and retaining annual fund donors.
• Experience with CRM platforms and data-driven fundraising metrics to guide decision-making.

Responsibilities

• Carry a promising portfolio of current parents and focus on acquisition, retention, and upgrades to ensure pipeline growth in annual giving.

Skills

Fundraising

Donor relations

Volunteer management

Moves management

Communication

Data-driven decision making

Public speaking

Tools

Raiser's Edge NXT

CRM software

Job description

If you are unable to complete this application due to a disability, contact this employer to ask for an accommodation or an alternative application process.

Director of Parent Engagement and Giving

Viewpoint School is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory day school serving 1,200 students in grades TK-12. Viewpoint is located in the Santa Monica Mountains of Los Angeles County on a 40-acre campus in Calabasas, close to the countless urban and recreational destinations Los Angeles has to offer.

Viewpoint School prioritizes the quality of the student experience within a context of achievement, and encourages broad student participation in academic and co-curricular opportunities. The school community is unified by a shared set of values and seeks always to strengthen its culture of learning, purpose, caring, and challenge. Viewpoint asks teachers to create relational classroom climates conducive to collaboration, creativity, and application. Employees are part of a dynamic community of bright, engaged students and colleagues. Balancing academic achievement with student wellness is also a priority for the School.

We are honored to have been named 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 Best Place to Work in SoCal by Best Companies Group. Our talented staff are the ones that made this happen and make this a great place to work every day. What makes this news even better? We're hiring!

Viewpoint School offers an exciting opportunity for a relational, strategic, and community-minded gift officer to join a high-functioning team of Advancement professionals from diverse backgrounds committed to Viewpoint’s distinctive mission, our “World Ready promise.” With the full support of a strong and united Board of Trustees and a President who champions Advancement work, this role will elevate a maturing fundraising program, strengthen parent engagement and volunteerism, and grow participation in philanthropy at Viewpoint School. The Director of Parent Engagement and Giving will enter at a dynamic moment in the School’s history, as Viewpoint merges with Berkeley Hall to become a two-campus School and embarks on our next Strategic Vision , offering distinctive and transformational opportunities for innovation and professional development.

The ideal candidate understands that a rewarding and memorable parent experience creates connection with the School, builds affinity, and inspires giving; and that the synergy of these stages cultivates a strong and united community and a sustainable culture of giving. This individual will be confident and capable in frontline fundraising and moves management, and appreciate that authentic giving takes many forms—from financial support and volunteer leadership to advocacy, mentorship, and everyday presence—and views parent engagement holistically as a means to foster genuine attachment to the School.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Advancement, this role will assist in developing a plan for optimizing the volunteer experience at Viewpoint, building on past successes and looking to our shared future with Berkeley Hall as a two-campus School. Recognizing that volunteer service and philanthropic investment are intertwined, the Director will at the same time proactively identify, engage, and solicit prospective donors from the broader parent body through a promising portfolio.

Responsibilities

Understanding that building a culture of philanthropy starts with meaningful involvement, the Director will:

• Support the strategy, execution, and continuous evaluation of the parent volunteer organization at Viewpoint, ensuring a positive experience and meaningful alignment with institutional priorities
• Look holistically at the parent experience and establish a clear continuum of engagement that connects volunteer service, event participation, and parent giving—positioning annual parent support as a natural expression of involvement and connectedness to the School’s mission, vision, and values
• Serve as the primary staff liaison to volunteer leadership, co-creating meeting agendas, annual work plans, and performance metrics as well as attending meetings and events to ensure work is efficient and experiences are positive
• Partner with volunteer leaders to recruit, train, and manage volunteer committees. Foster retention and growth in volunteerism, identifying future leaders in the parent community
• Work with the Director of Donor Experience to ensure that parent volunteerism is acknowledged and celebrated through meaningful stewardship to underscore the importance of their efforts and encourage volunteer growth and retention
• Ensure parent volunteer activities complement rather than compete with Advancement initiatives, including annual giving, major gifts, events, stewardship, and community engagement
• Treat volunteer service as both a vital contribution in its own right and a natural pathway to philanthropic investment—building a strong engagement platform while steadily advancing long-term fundraising goals
• Collaborate with key internal partners to ensure new parents are onboarded smoothly and clearly to the myriad engagement opportunities at Viewpoint
• Proactively identify parents with emerging philanthropic potential through volunteer involvement, events, school participation, personal connections, and other discovery opportunities
• Explore and pilot innovative ways to align volunteer experiences across two campuses

Positioned at the intersection of volunteer leadership and frontline fundraising, the Director will:

• Carry a promising portfolio of current parents and focus on acquisition, retention, and upgrades to ensure pipeline growth in annual giving. Success will be measured with dollar and donor metrics that relate to the portfolio’s potential and the importance of increasing Viewpoint’s participation rate
• Work with the Senior Director of Campaign Research and Analytics to leverage all tools available for successful frontline fundraising work
• Learn all aspects of Advancement work at Viewpoint so you can act as a trusted and knowledgeable source of information on the School’s fundraising needs and priorities, including the case for annual support, benefit purpose and structure, endowment growth, and special projects
• Build and maintain fluency in school curriculum and signature programs
• Communicate with the Director of Annual Giving and Gift Administration as well as other team members as necessary to ensure the gift is properly recorded and corporate matches, stock transfers, or pending gifts are realized
• Input timely (i.e., weekly) and detailed records of donor communications and interactions in Raiser’s Edge NXT with contact reports, proposals/opportunities, research notes, and moves management information on all prospects in the portfolio
• Actively participate in weekly team meetings led by the Sr. Director of Advancement to collaborate with colleagues and assess progress
• Follow all procedures outlined in Viewpoint’s Guidelines for Major Gift Officers
• Perform other related tasks and special projects as required

Skills and Qualifications

This role requires a sophisticated relationship builder who can earn trust quickly, read people and situations thoughtfully, navigate situations with a soft but firm hand, and balance responsiveness to parents with sound institutional judgment and appropriate boundaries. The ideal candidate understands that today's volunteer is tomorrow's benefactor, and excels at simultaneously cultivating both community spirit and leadership giving with grace and tact.

Exceptional communications in verbal, written, and presentation formats are incredibly important for this job, as well as high emotional intelligence, discretion, and interpersonal skills. An appreciation for data driven work, and a keen ability to work collaboratively with a variety of partners and stakeholders in a large TK-12 independent school are also highly advantageous.

• Strong understanding of frontline fundraising with a proven track record in annual and/or major giving and experience with discovery work, pipeline building, and moves management techniques
• Understanding of the mission and purpose of independent schools is highly desirable
• Team player with a can-do attitude and willingness to help others but also able to work independently
• Track record of working with parent/volunteer groups with diplomacy, organization, and enthusiasm
• Demonstrated commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Belonging
• Highly organized and detail oriented with a demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and projects, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Strategic thinker, diplomatic and discerning with sound judgment and a collaborative style that fosters cooperation with staff and volunteers at all organizational levels
• Ability to be creative, enterprising, persuasive, and tactful with exceptional customer service via all channels (phone, email, in-person, etc.)
• Ability to use current desktop office technologies proficiently and ability to adapt to and use future technologies
• Data-driven and digital first mentality, with the ability to work collaboratively in a Google cloud-based environment
• Ability to work evenings and travel locally in the greater Los Angeles area for prospect dinners and events as needed

Education and Work Experience

• Five plus years of progressive experience in advancement or fundraising in a non-profit setting that involves volunteers, preferably in an independent school, higher education, or related non-profit setting
• Proven success qualifying, acquiring, and retaining annual fund donors. A track record of cultivating, soliciting, and closing larger, specialized gifts is desirable, but not required
• Experience with CRM platforms and data-driven fundraising metrics to guide decision-making

Compensation

Anticipated compensation is $115,000 - $130,000 depending on experience