Director of Development

POSITON SUMMARY

The Director of Development and Communications serves as a strategic leader responsible for designing, executing, and modernizing SAVE’s fundraising and marketing strategy to support our $4M annual operating budget. This role builds philanthropic partnerships, elevates organizational visibility, and leads a dedicated team. A primary mandate for this position is to assess and optimize existing internal workflows, establishing clear operational boundaries and transitioning the department toward high-performance, data-driven operations.

Development Associate, Grants Manager, and occasional external contractors

• Strategic Planning:
  In partnership with the Executive Director, defines SAVE’s overarching fundraising strategies, policies, and implementation; develops a robust, multi-year development plan encompassing major gifts, annual campaigns, and corporate/foundation partnerships.
• Revenue Generation:
  Owns accountability for meeting the organization’s annual contributed revenue goals through events, direct major donor cultivation and oversight of department initiatives.
• Board Engagement:
  Partners with and equips the Board of Directors in fundraising activities; serves as the primary staff liaison for relevant Board committees and provides timely, data-driven progress reports.
• Campaign & Relationship Management:
  Oversees and advances membership campaigns, individual donor pipelines, and personalized cultivation and solicitation strategies.
• Grants & Institutional Giving:
  Directs the strategy, tracking, and reporting for all corporate, foundation, and government grant proposals, ensuring compliance and alignment with organizational goals.
• Systems & Data Management:
  Ensures donor tracking systems (CRM) and data workflows support the business needs of the organization; assesses and implements new technology as appropriate to drive data-informed decisions.
• Events:
  Oversees strategic donor recognition and fundraising events to maximize engagement and return on investment.

• Brand & Messaging Strategy:
  Develops and executes an annual marketing and communications plan to elevate SAVE's profile across digital, print, social media, and traditional press platforms.
• Hands-on Execution:
  Oversees and directly contributes to the creation of digital and print content, including newsletters, social media, and website updates, ensuring quality control and brand alignment.
• Cross-Department
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Educates internal teams on fundraising goals and serves as the brand steward to ensure consistent messaging across all organizational programs.

• Workflows:
  Establishes clear operational lanes, guardrails, and internal workflows to define where development activities interface with communications initiatives; optimizes the collective capacity of the team to ensure revenue-generating activities are prioritized.
• Operations Optimization:
  Directly guides and mentors the Development Associate in elevating fundraising operations, ensuring best-in-class donor data hygiene, gift acknowledgment workflows, and stewardship touchpoints.
• Team Development:
  Recruits, supervises, and evaluates development and communications staff and independent contractors, fostering a collaborative and high-performing culture.
• Fiscal Responsibility:
  Collaborates with the CFO and Executive Director to construct, monitor, and manage the annual departmental budget.

• Minimum of 8 years of progressive development and fundraising experience in the nonprofit sector, with a proven track record of securing major gifts and corporate/foundation funding.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience in a related field. CFRE certification desired.
• Change Management:
  Demonstrated experience in process optimization, workflow design, or scaling/rebuilding development and communications operations.
• Relationship Management:
  Exceptional interpersonal skills with a demonstrated ability to build authentic relationships with diverse stakeholders, funders, and community partners.
• Communicat…