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Director, Donor Relations and Events

This job is no longer available

Houston, TX, USA
Full-time

The Director, Donor Relations and Events is a critical member of the development team, whose primary focus is ensuring Teach For America has the strong and broad base of support we need to pursue educational excellence and equity in Houston.  To accomplish this objective, you will create, identify, and coordinate opportunities for community members to learn about Teach For America, find inspiration in our mission, and be activated to contribute their time, treasure, and talents in service of our vision.

In this role you will work closely with the other members of the Development, Teacher Leadership Development, and Alumni Teams to plan and execute major events, identify opportunities in our corps member and alumni programming for community members to engage/volunteer, coordinate classroom/school visits, and develop new strategic experiences all aimed at educating, inspiring, and activating community members.

You will report to the Vice President, Development.

Areas of Responsibility: 

In this role you will work closely with the other members of the Development, Teacher Leadership Development, and Alumni Teams to educate, inspire, and activate community members. Your role will be to support our fundraising portfolio managers to design meaningful stewardship and engagement opportunities for TFA donors to see the impact of their contributions and the importance of the work we do. More specifically, you will be responsible for the following:
 
Plan and Execute Major Fundraising and Cultivation Events (50%)

  • Annual Benefit Dinner
  • Annual Alumni and Friends Event
  • Run for a Reason

 Identify, Develop, and Coordinate Opportunities to Engage Community Members (20%)

  • School and/or classroom visits
  • Intimate dinners featuring corps members and alumni as guests
  • Programming experiences (e.g. p member and alumni learning experiences, presentations given by corps members and alumni, etc.)
  • Volunteer opportunities (e.g. supporting CMs with classroom set-up, volunteering in CM classrooms, volunteering at induction/institute, volunteering at all corps events, etc.)

 Other Regional Event/Operations Support (15%)

  • Corps member induction planning and execution
  • Office operations

 Fulfill Critical Regional Team Responsibilities (15%)

  • Carry out foundational activities:
    • Engaging in functional team and regional team retreats and meetings;
    • Preparing and leading check-ins with your manager around progress toward goals;
    • Leveraging national resources (e.g. weekly newsletters, daily gift reports, etc.);
    • Preparing for and engaging in our performance development program; and
    • Upholding our data management, office operations, and fiscal responsibilities.
  • Make a direct impact on the organizational mission of enlisting, developing and mobilizing leaders to strengthen the movement for educational equity by interviewing applicants to Teach For America; communicating regularly with incoming corps members; and assisting with member facing events, our alumni giving campaign, alumni survey, and other initiatives that impact our members and partners.
Educational Background: 
Bachelor’s degree required
Skills/Experience: 

To be the most successful candidate, you must be obsessed with the potential of our corps members and alumni to transform our current education system such that every child has the opportunity to realize their fullest potential. Furthermore, you must be compelled to share this story of our impact broadly and garner support for our efforts.  More specifically, you will be:

  • Passionate about Houston and educational equity. You are passionate about issues related to educational equity in Houston. You are incredibly optimistic about what we can achieve when we embrace the strengths that are omnipresent in Houston and partner with our communities to solve our most pressing challenges, namely in education.
  • A conscious leader.  You have a strong understanding of the dynamics of race and class in America and a history of operating in the spirit of our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusiveness. You have a pattern of modeling self-reflection, curiosity and exploration, and an ability to connect and empathize with people. You lead, and believe others must lead, through a culturally competent lens and in a way that empowers supporters, staff, corps members, alumni, students and communities. 
  • Innovative and strategic. You seek to chart a new course and create something where something does not yet exist. When you face a large problem, your first instinct is to break it down into smaller, manageable pieces and ruthlessly prioritize what is most important.
  • A compelling and strategic communicator. You work across multiple stakeholders to ensure consistency and quality of internal and external communications. You craft compelling, inspiring stories about our mission and can tailor them to different audiences across a wide variety of communication channels. You keep your manager and teammates regularly updated as critical partners in your work. When communicating decisions you are able to assess the impact these decisions can have on others and are able to effectively plan accordingly.
  • Motivated by relationships. Whether working with your teammates, external stakeholders, or our corps members and alumni, you cultivate and manage strong and lasting relationships with ease.  Additionally, you have strong gravitas, presence, and maturity that engender respect and facilitate strong partnerships.
  • Obsessive about outcomes. You have an incredibly strong record of achieving ambitious goals despite obstacles and have experience doing so in complex situations when the stakes are high and with diverse teams. Your decisions are data-driven, and you stay laser-focused on your goals regardless of any day-to-day chaos or distractions. You are motivated to achieve extraordinary performance and cultural outcomes in the midst of change, knowing what that will require of you emotionally, mentally, and physically, etc.
  • A team player. You strive towards outcomes by working collaboratively with others on the team, knowing your outcomes are interdependent. You bring a clear opinion to all meetings, especially when we make decisions, and when a decision is made, you are a champion of the team’s decision.
  • Self-driven. You have superior organizational skills, attention to detail, integrity, and great follow-through on all facets of your work. You demonstrate an uncommon level of personal responsibility for achieving results, define broadly what is within your control, persevere in the face of challenges and you’re exceptionally optimistic about what is possible.  You take initiative to do what it takes to achieve success. You are obsessed with learning and growing and consistently act on feedback to improve your performance, outcomes and impact on others.

Work Demands

  • Three to five years of professional experience
  • Experience planning and executing events of various sizes and with varied audiences
  • Proficient in MS Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint (advanced proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint ideal)
  • Be able to work weekends and evenings, as necessary
  • Be able to travel 2 to 4 times per year for conferences and professional development

Organization Info

Teach For America

Overview
Headquarters: 
New York, NY, United States
Annual Budget : 
$100-500M
Founded: 
1993
About Us
Areas of Focus: 
Mission: 

Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates, professionals, or graduate students who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. Teach For America's mission is to enlist, develop, and mobilize as many as possible of our nation's most promising future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational equity and excellence. In the 2016-2017 school year, 6,900 first- and second-year Teach For America corps members are teaching in 53 regions across the United States. Since 1990, Teach For America corps members have reached more than 10 million students. Teach For America's more than 40,000 alumni are providing critical leadership -- as teachers, school and district leaders; elected officials and policy advisers; and founders and leaders of education and social reform initiatives -- to ensure all children have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.

Listing Stats

Post Date: 
May 20 2019
Active Until: 
Jun 20 2019
Hiring Organization: 
Teach For America
industry: 
Nonprofit