Director of Partnerships + Development

Charlotte Lab School is a diverse-by-design, progressive K – 12 charter school in Center City Charlotte. We are reimagining school for the 21st century and are looking for a Director of Partnerships + Development to help us continue to make our vision a reality. At Lab, we empower our students with the skills and mindsets they need to grow into the thinkers, creators, and innovators of tomorrow.

Charlotte Lab School is hiring a Director of Partnerships + Development (DOPD) to grow and lead fundraising during an exciting new phase in Lab’s history. The DOPD will play a critical role in telling Lab’s story and designing a fundraising strategy to help the organization reach new heights and increase its impact in the Charlotte community. The DOPD will also play a leadership role to ensure that Lab is leveraging the City of Charlotte as its expanded, most diverse classroom.

The DOPD will manage the development and maintenance of Lab’s community partnerships in service of its curricular and advancement goals. The DOPD - under the guidance of the Executive Director - will develop, refine, and implement a robust internship program for students while leveraging those relationships to develop and cultivate key donor prospects and relationships.

• The DOD will report directly to the ED and will serve as a key liaison with the Charlotte Lab School Board of Directors.
• This role requires an excellent relationship builder who can develop dynamic funder relationships with Major Gift prospects of various donor types. The DOPD will be skilled in “managing up” and understanding when and how to leverage leadership (i.e., the ED and Board members) to advance a donor relationship. The DOPD will share responsibility for providing strategic direction to ensure the organization’s fiscal health through resource development.
• Develop a comprehensive operating plan for fundraising and communications, which includes a formalized approach to individual and major gifts activity for the organization. Create and systemize a calendar of activities that emphasizes cultivation and stewardship.
• Maintain and improve development systems that include tracking for individual, foundation and corporate giving and expanded use of a donor management system.
• Establish measurable goals and metrics for fundraising activities and results in order to gauge effectiveness.
• Assess the organization’s capacity to conduct future Capital Campaigns and advise the Leadership Team as they set long-term facilities strategy.
• Refine the existing case statement, funder pitch, and collateral materials to support all development activities.
• Serve as lead fundraiser, leading a team to secure gifts from individual donors, corporate partners, and foundations.
• Build personal, philanthropic relationships with individual donors and organizations and prospects that inspire greater giving and engage new supporters, while using strategic relationship management practices to track activity. Personally identify, cultivate, and solicit a portfolio of individual and major gifts for Charlotte Lab School.
• Develop and manage the board fundraising strategy, educating board members about the role they play and supporting them with engaging their own portfolios. Serve as the fundraising liaison to the Board.
• Represent Charlotte Lab School to the philanthropic and civic community and serve as a knowledgeable ambassador in various public and private settings.

• Act as the primary advisor to Charlotte Lab School’s leadership in managing their respective fundraising portfolios, and lead the multi-faceted preparation needs of other solicitors.
• Create and assign donor portfolios for front-line fundraising staff, including the ED, and lead meetings to evaluate and refine cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies.

• Develop, refine, implement, and evaluate student internship program and independent project opportunities as part of the K-12 Quest model;
• Work with school leadership team members to operationalize the internship program and oversee all aspects of student placement, training, logistics, evaluation, and assessment;
• R…