Director, Development Strategy and Communications

Director, Development Strategy and Communications Grace Place for Children and Families | Naples, FL

Reports to:

Chief Development Officer

Status:
Full-Time, Exempt

Grace Place puts faith into action, providing pathways out of poverty by educating children and families.

Grace Place for Children and Families is seeking a strategic, organized, and mission-driven Director, Development Strategy and Communications to help strengthen the philanthropic foundation of the organization through the Annual Fund and Sustainability Campaign.

This position is responsible for developing and executing fundraising operations, donor communications, campaign coordination, stewardship systems, prospect development, and advancement strategies that support both immediate revenue growth and long-term funding sustainability.

Working closely with the Chief Development Officer, CEO, and leadership team, the Director will help translate strategy into execution by coordinating campaign activity, donor communications, prospect research, stewardship processes, advancement operations, and fundraising systems. This role serves as an internal point of alignment across annual giving, major gifts, campaign planning, donor pipeline development, and related expansion priorities.

The Director will partner with the Chief Development Officer, CEO, and leadership team to implement a multi-year fundraising strategy that integrates the Annual Fund and Sustainability Campaign. This includes translating strategic priorities into action plans, timelines, meeting agendas, next steps, and deliverables that keep leadership and staff aligned.

This position will monitor progress toward measurable goals for revenue, donor acquisition, donor retention, and donor upgrades. The Director will also maintain a master development and campaign calendar that coordinates major gift cultivation, annual fundraising activity, direct mail, digital fundraising, peer-to-peer appeals, donor communications, and targeted initiatives related to sustainability and community impact.

The Director will partner with the Chief Development Officer to ensure annual and campaign giving efforts strengthen the pipeline for major and planned gifts. This includes using data analytics, wealth screening, prospect research, and donor behavior to identify, qualify, and prioritize major donor and campaign prospects.

The Director will support donor segmentation strategies that align communications, cultivation, solicitations, and stewardship with donor interests, giving history, and readiness. This role will also coordinate systems that connect Annual Fund supporters with higher-level giving information and opportunities within the Sustainability Campaign.

The Director will design and manage the implementation of a comprehensive moves management system that guides donors from first gift through major gift cultivation. This position will oversee the accuracy and organization of development data, including donor records, segmentation, research, outreach history, and campaign details.

The Director will ensure donor touchpoints are intentional, personalized, and tracked within the CRM. This role will also serve as an internal coordinator for development activity, including donor meetings, briefing materials, follow-up actions, stewardship touchpoints, and next steps.

The Director will develop segmented donor communication strategies that reflect donor interests, giving history, engagement level, and campaign readiness. This includes developing and managing the communication cadence for the Annual Fund and Sustainability Campaign, with compelling messaging that clearly communicates community impact and outcomes.

The Director will help oversee donor societies and recognition programs tied to both annual and campaign contributions. This position will prepare proposals, reports, presentations, and materials to support leadership, campaign committees, board members, and external partners. The…