The Managing Director of Development will successfully raise between $1.5-$3M over the next three years from a base of committed individuals, foundations, and corporations. Working in close partnership with the Executive Director, you will create and execute an operational plan to meet fundraising goals, develop strategies and cultivation plans for a portfolio of donors and prospects, and directly cultivate, solicit, and steward donors. You are a long-term strategic thinker who develops a strong charge for the role of Development and specifically our donor network in achieving the regional vision and designs a set of strategies and priorities to achieve it.
You are equally skilled in crafting both long-and short-term development strategy, as well as in managing others toward ambitious results. You have a deep understanding of the local philanthropic landscape and how Teach For America Jacksonville’s work contributes to systems-level change in the community. You are completely comfortable and confident engaging directly with donors, as this role will be both internally and externally facing. You must be able to continue the practices that have thus far garnered consistent support from our current base of supporters, but also creatively diversify our donor base through entrepreneurial, game-changing strategies to activate new donors who will contribute to our region’s long-term sustainability. You will thoughtfully engage our board in supporting our regional development strategy, and work collaboratively with the Heads of Development in the other Florida regions to secure state funding.
The Managing Director of Development reports directly to the Executive Director.
Portfolio Management, Strategy, and Team Management (40%)
- Create the long–term regional development vision and annual strategic and operating plans for all donor streams
- Set ambitious yet feasible revenue, donor retention, and acquisition benchmarks to achieve both immediate (current fiscal year) and long-term (next 3-5 years) development goals
- Strategically broaden and diversify our fundraising base
- Make direct asks up to $100,000 for support from high net-worth individuals
- Lead our development efforts with Corporations and Foundations
- Directly manage one full-time staff member (Manager, Development) and support their professional development and growth through providing regular feedback, meeting weekly to track progress-to-goal, and serving as a thought partner and coach
- Work with team to develop a process/system for intra-team as well as inter-team communication and tracking donor/prospect engagements via Salesforce
- Cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of donors through meetings, events, and correspondence
- Design a stewardship strategy to maintain our strong connections and ongoing communication with existing donors and consistently engage new prospects
- Work alongside the Heads of Development in Miami-Dade and Orlando and the MD, State Affairs to secure state funding through grants and the appropriations process
External Communications & Relations (20%)
- Lead Jacksonville’s communication and marketing strategy to persuasively communicate TFA’s positive value and transformational impact to Jacksonville’s social service, education, business, and philanthropic communities
- Connect and engage local Teach For America alumni with donors and external partners to expand systemic impact in education in Jacksonville and increase brand awareness
- Interact with the media to positively impact Teach For America’s brand in Jacksonville and elevate the profile of our work
Strategic Collaboration with Executive Director (20%)
- Prioritize the right actions for the Executive Director to take in order to cultivate, solicit, and steward major donors and prospects and prepare/support ED to execute
- Suggest and agree upon the strategic ways that best leverage the ED’s time and talent with regards to fundraising
- Oversee Regional Advisory Board involvement in development focused initiatives:
- Work closely with the Executive Director to manage and maximize the many assets and talents of the regional advisory board
- Partner with the Executive Director to prepare for and participate in board meetings, manage board members on Development specific projects or activities, and communicate with board members as needed
Lead across the region as a member of the Jacksonville Leadership Team (10%)
- Steward a culture of cross-functional support and collaboration by modeling this as a member of the regional leadership team
- Serve as a cultural leader on the team; operate with integrity and be a daily model of TFA’s core values
- Operate as an unwavering team player, willing to jump in and help for the benefit of the collective team, even if not technically included in the job description
- Partner with other regional leadership team members to set the tone and direction for the region and to reach shared regional goals
Regional Team Responsibilities (10%)
- Support, attend, and/or participate in regional team activities, including corps member selection and matriculation, corps member professional development (4-5 per year), staff meetings, functional team meetings and retreats, conferences and regional pre-service for corps members (one week in June)
- Minimal out-of-state travel required (1-2 times per year)
- 3 to 5 years of development work experience strongly preferred
- Knowledge of the education and philanthropic landscapes in Jacksonville highly preferred
- Proven experience of achieving a substantial fundraising goal (at least $250,000/year)
- Experience with budgeting and budget analysis, revenue and financial forecasting, and building a revenue pipeline
- Creating, sustaining, and managing relationships with major gift donors or high-net worth individuals
- Prior management experience of a team of 1-3 development professionals
- You must be proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
- Prior experience and/or proficiency with SalesForce preferred
To excel in this role, you are….
- A visionary. You’ve never met a challenge you weren’t excited to tackle with bold, new ideas, and you inspire others to live into your vision for the future. You derive great energy from devising innovative solutions to vexing obstacles.
- A strategic thinker. When you face a large problem, your first instinct is to break it down into smaller, manageable pieces. Your decisions are data-driven, and you stay laser-focused on your goals even in the face of unanticipated challenges. You are able to prioritize what is most important and avoid distractions, which will be critical as you develop a corporate giving strategy and manage a high-value portfolio of relationships.
- An outstanding communicator. Whatever the medium, when people receive a message from you they are crystal clear on the purpose of your communication and any requested action. They feel respected, deeply connected to our mission, and that their time was well-spent. You keep all stakeholders abreast of your work and communicate key information succinctly by operating with openness and transparency.
- Obsessive about donor relationships. You are a people person and seek to deeply understand the motivations and experiences of our corporate donors in order to strengthen their connection to TFA and education reform. You can effortlessly interact with people from a wide range of backgrounds and love cultivating and managing long-term, sustained affiliations. You have a natural customer service orientation, which enables you to respond to urgent needs/requests from our funders with grace, flexibility, and a commitment to quality.
- Self-driven and dedicated to continuous improvement.You don't get overwhelmed easily and take personal responsibility for the quality of your work whether it requires managing back-end processes, engaging with donors, creating strategy, or setting up others to execute effectively. You consistently seek out feedback from diverse sources to learn and improve and you drive your professional development with purpose and focus on outcomes in your role.
- A skilled project and people manager. You have superior organizational skills, integrity, and great follow through on tasks. You are obsessive about the details, yet you can see the big picture of your projects at all times and can lead any person or group to clearly see the role they play and invest them in helping you achieve your goals. You can effectively manage many moving pieces because of the effective and efficient systems and structures you put in place, and you have a knack for devising, implementing, and investing others in systems that improve individual and team performance. You empower the leadership of staff members and are adept at managing up to the Executive Director, board members and other champions.