Senior Director of Development

Description

Under the direction of the Vice President of Advancement, the Senior Director of Development serves as the strategic and operational leader responsible for translating the organization's fundraising vision into execution. This role provides leadership for development operations, team performance, portfolio strategy, and organizational fundraising effectiveness while building the systems, accountability, and cross-functional partnerships necessary to achieve ambitious revenue goals.

The Senior Director leads development planning, forecasting, team operations, and performance management while supervising frontline fundraising leaders and maintaining a select portfolio of major donors and organizational partners. As the operational backbone of the development team, this role ensures fundraising efforts are coordinated, data-informed, scalable, and aligned with organizational priorities.

The ideal candidate is a highly accountable fundraising leader with exceptional relationship-building skills who combines strategic thinking with operational excellence, and a passion for developing people and systems that maximize philanthropic impact.

Location:

Minneapolis, MN - Hybrid in-office requirement on Tuesdays and Thursdays minimum

Hiring Salary Range: $80,000 - $95,000

Hours/Day:
Monday-Friday, 40 hours a week – with hours that will include flex time in the evening and weekend hours on a regular basis

Job Type: Full-time, Exempt

Supervisor:
Vice President of Advancement

• Partner with the Vice President of Advancement to develop and implement the organization's annual development strategy, revenue goals, and fundraising priorities.
• Lead annual development planning, budgeting, forecasting, and goal-setting processes across the fundraising team.
• Supervise the Director of Individual Giving and the Corporate Partnerships Senior Coordinator, providing ongoing coaching, performance management, hiring, and onboarding, fostering accountability, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Establish clear team expectations and goals; monitor progress using fundraising metrics, pipeline reporting, and performance data to identify opportunities, remove barriers, and support successful outcomes.
• Lead Development team operations, including team meetings, retreats, communication rhythms, and department-wide planning, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Partner with gift officers to develop fundraising strategies, strengthen portfolio performance, and build fundraising capacity across the team.
• Remain informed on organizational priorities, emerging initiatives, and funding opportunities to identify and cultivate new philanthropic investment strategies.
• Oversee the Individual Giving team's leadership of annual giving campaigns, appeals, giving days, gala fundraising, and Board stewardship efforts by ensuring alignment, accountability, and successful outcomes while empowering team members to lead day-to-day execution.

• Manage and grow a portfolio of approximately 40 high-value individual and organizational donors through strategic cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and relationship management.
• Develop individualized engagement strategies that strengthen long‑term donor investment and organizational partnerships.
• Partner with the Vice President, CEO, Board members, and gift officers to maximize major gift opportunities and donor engagement.
• Lead the Development team's prospect management strategy by establishing consistent portfolio management practices, facilitating regular prospect strategy meetings, and ensuring accountability for donor movement, pipeline health, renewals, and revenue growth.
• Support donor strategy development for key organizational initiatives and campaigns.
• Support the development of compelling donor proposals, presentations, impact reports, and fundraising materials that strengthen donor engagement and investment.

• Strengthen fundraising operations through effective use of CRM systems, data governance, reporting tools, and performance dashboards.
• Identify and lead initiatives that improve fundraising systems, workflows, reporting, and operational efficiency, supporting innovation and continuous improvement across the department.
• Champion the exploration and implementation of emerging technologies, including AI and automation, to enhance…