Senior Director, Development

MENTOR; Boston (MA); Remoto; USD 130.000 - 140.000; Tempo pieno

Vantaggi offerti da questo lavoro

Health insurance

Dental insurance

403B

Professional development fund

Student loan repayment

Vacation time

Life insurance

Short- and long-term disability

Descrizione del lavoro

MENTOR is seeking a Senior Director of Development to lead a high-impact fundraising program with annual revenue of about $6–8 million. The role reports to the Chief Impact Officer and works closely with the CEO to expand institutional and individual giving, build a strong donor network, and strengthen fundraising capacity across the affiliate network.

The Senior Director will manage the development team, partner with leadership, and drive multi-year commitments, ensuring disciplined execution

Competenze

• 8+ years of experience leading development functions in a nonprofit environment.
• Proven ability to lead a multi-million-dollar fundraising program and manage forecasts.
• Strong relationship-building with foundations, corporations, and major donors.
• Experience cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major gifts ($25,000+).
• Collaborative, results-driven leader with excellent communication skills.
• Ability to align marketing and development strategies to raise visibility.
• Experience partnering with board members and senior leadership to grow revenue.

Mansioni

• Develop and lead a comprehensive fundraising strategy with annual revenue goals.
• Grow institutional and individual giving programs and donor engagement.
• Manage a development team and drive performance against targets.
• Cultivate and steward relationships with funders and prospects.
• Collaborate across the organization to align fundraising with priorities.

Conoscenze

Fundraising strategy

Major gifts

Donor relations

Team leadership

Board engagement

Communications

Nonprofit fundraising

Strategic planning

Descrizione del lavoro

MENTOR was created 35+ years ago to expand opportunity for young people by building a youth

mentoring field and movement, serving as the expert and go-to resource on quality mentoring. The

result — a more than 10x increase in young people in structured mentoring relationships, from

hundreds of thousands to millions.

Today, we activate a movement across diverse and broad sectors that seeps into every aspect of daily

life. We are connecting and fueling opportunity for young people everywhere they are, from schools

to workplaces and beyond.

About the position

The Senior Director, Development (SDD) is a senior organizational leader responsible for setting and

executing MENTOR’s comprehensive fundraising strategy and leading a development program that

generates approximately $6–8 million annually. Reporting to the Chief Impact Officer and working

closely with the CEO and executive leadership team, the SDD leads MENTOR’s institutional and

individual giving strategies, oversees the development team, and builds enduring relationships with

foundations, corporations, individual donors, and other funding partners.

The SDD will set clear revenue goals and priorities, strengthen and diversify MENTOR’s funding

portfolio, and ensure disciplined execution across institutional giving, individual giving, donor

engagement, grants management, and development operations. They will directly manage and

develop the leaders responsible for institutional and individual giving, fostering a high-performing,

collaborative team with clear accountability for results.

As a senior external representative of MENTOR, the SDD will personally cultivate and steward key

funders and prospects, partner with the CEO and Board to expand MENTOR’s philanthropic

relationships. The SDD will also collaborate across MENTOR to connect fundraising strategy with the

organization’s broader priorities and strengthen fundraising capacity across the MENTOR Affiliate

network.

Key responsibilities:

• Develop and lead MENTOR’s comprehensive fundraising strategy, establishing annual revenue goals and priorities to generate approximately $6–8 million annually and build a diverse,


• Partner with the Executive Leadership Team to align fundraising strategy with organizational priorities and identify opportunities to grow and diversify revenue, including multi-year commitments and fee-for-service revenue.


• Set the strategic direction for the individual giving and major gifts program, managing the Manager, Individual Giving to strengthen the donor pipeline, deepen relationships, and grow individual giving.


• Set the strategic direction for institutional giving, managing the Manager, Institutional Giving to grow and diversify foundation and corporate portfolio, increase multi-year commitments, and expand sponsorship revenue, including for the National Mentoring Summit.


• Partner with MENTOR Affiliate leadership to deepen collaboration, align strategies, and strengthen Affiliate fundraising capacity through coaching, peer learning, professional development, and other resources.

Donor & Funder Relationships

• Lead the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of key institutional and individual donors and prospects, while ensuring thoughtful and differentiated stewardship strategies across giving levels.


• Build and maintain a strong prospect pipeline that expands philanthropic relationships and creates opportunities for long-term revenue growth.


• Partner with the CEO, Executive Leadership Team, and other organizational leaders to develop and advance relationships with priority donors, funders, and prospects.


• Engage MENTOR’s Board of Directors in fundraising strategy and support board members in opening doors, cultivating relationships, and leveraging their networks on behalf of MENTOR.


• Partner with External Affairs to ensure donor-facing communications, proposals, reports, and other materials clearly and compellingly communicate MENTOR’s work, priorities, and role in advancing the mentoring field.

Team & Organizational Leadership

• Lead, manage, and develop a high-performing development team spanning individual and institutional giving, donor engagement, grants management, partnerships, and development operations, establishing clear goals and accountability for results.


• Build development operations, systems, and processes to support effective pipeline management, revenue forecasting, data-informed decision-making, and team performance.


• Build a strong culture of philanthropy across MENTOR, equipping colleagues to participate meaningfully in cultivating and strengthening external relationships.


• Represent MENTOR with funders, philanthropic leaders, and other external stakeholders at strategic meetings, conferences, and events.


• Identify and advance opportunities to deepen the philanthropic sector’s engagement in mentoring and MENTOR’s broader field-building work.

There are innumerable ways to learn, grow, and excel professionally. We respect this when we review

applications and want to get to know you and the unique strengths and experiences you will bring. This

said, we are most likely to be interested in your candidacy if you can demonstrate the majority of the

qualifications and experiences listed below:

• 8+ years of experience with demonstrated success leading and growing the development function in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial nonprofit organization and increasing the use of technology


• Demonstrated experience leading a multi-million-dollar fundraising program, setting ambitious but achievable revenue goals, managing forecasts and pipelines, and holding teams accountable for results.


• Exceptional relationship-building skills. Success creating, stewarding, and expanding relationships with individual donors, corporations, and foundations


• Demonstrated success cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major individual, foundation, and corporate donors, including experience engaging senior executives, philanthropic leaders, and other high-level external stakeholders.


• Extremely collaborative and flexible approach, with an ability to both lead and support stakeholders’ efforts within a cohesive development plan


• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to target a message to a variety of diverse stakeholders. Strong customer service orientation.


• Strong understanding of how marketing and development strategies work hand in hand to increase visibility and opportunity for organizations


• Demonstrated success building or significantly expanding a major gifts program, including personally cultivating, soliciting, and securing individual gifts of $25,000 or more.


• Proven track record of growing unrestricted and general operating revenue, alongside restricted and program-specific funding.


• Experience partnering with board members and senior leadership to cultivate and solicit major donors, leverage networks, and advance strategic fundraising relationships.

MENTOR is a remote-first organization, prioritizing work-life harmony and flexible scheduling. Staff

work virtually from any dedicated workspace with reliable internet, including our co-working space in

Boston, Massachusetts. Occasional travel may be required for team meetings or company events, such

as MENTOR’s annual National Mentoring Summit hosted in Washington, D.C. each January.

Compensation and benefits

The base salary for this Senior Director-level role ranges from $130,000 – $140,000, based on

MENTOR’s salary bands established as a result of our latest compensation analysis. This salary range

reflects our commitment to competitive compensation within the nonprofit sector, allowing

opportunities for growth and advancement based on performance and experience. In addition to the

base salary, MENTOR offers competitive benefits including health, dental, 403B, professional

development fund, student loan repayment, vacation time, life and short- and long-term disability

insurance, and more. The summary of the benefits can be found here.

Applying for this position

We look forward to reviewing and responding to all applications received.

We hope to have phone interviews in November 2026 with select candidates, followed by virtual interviews with the Chief Impact Officer. Select finalists will have interviews with other staff and leadership at MENTOR National, followed by a thorough reference check process and background check. This position is expected to start in January 2027.