Director of Development

Job Description

Job Description

Job Title: Director of Development

Reports to : Executive Director 

FSLA Status: Exempt, Full-time

Location : Georgetown

Compensation : $125k to 135k/Annual

 

Position Summary

The Director of Development provides strategic leadership for St. Vincent de Paul’s fundraising, donor engagement, volunteer engagement, and external communications efforts. This position is responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive fundraising strategy that grows contributed revenue, strengthens donor relationships, expands the organization’s community of supporters, and builds the long-term sustainability of the organization.

The Director of Development will oversee a diversified fundraising program that includes individual giving, major gifts, annual giving, monthly giving, corporate and foundation partnerships, grants, donor stewardship, special campaigns, events, planned giving, and donor acquisition and retention.

The Director will also play a leadership role in an upcoming capital campaign, partnering closely with the CEO/Executive Director, Board of Directors, campaign leadership, staff, donors, and community partners to successfully prepare for, launch, and execute the campaign.

This position supervises the Volunteer Coordinator, Development Coordinator, and Marketing & Communications Manager and is responsible for ensuring strong coordination across fundraising, communications, and volunteer engagement.

Key Responsibilities

Fundraising Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and implement a comprehensive annual development plan with clear revenue goals, strategies, timelines, responsibilities, and performance measures.
• Establish annual and multi-year fundraising goals in partnership with organizational leadership.
• Further build a diversified fundraising program that reduces reliance on any single donor, funding source, campaign, or event.
• Develop strategies to grow individual giving at all levels, including donor acquisition, annual giving, monthly giving, mid-level giving, major gifts, planned giving, and donor reactivation.
• Identify opportunities to increase donor retention, average gift size, donor upgrades, and lifetime donor value.
• Develop compelling fundraising opportunities that connect donors with specific organizational priorities and community impact.
• Monitor fundraising performance against goals and adjust strategies throughout the year as needed.
• Develop and manage the annual development budget, including revenue projections and fundraising expenses.
• Provide regular fundraising reports, forecasts, dashboards, and analysis to the CEO/Executive Director and Board.

Major Gifts & Donor Relations

• Develop and manage a robust major gifts program, including identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Maintain a portfolio of major donors and prospective major donors.
• Create individualized cultivation and solicitation strategies for priority prospects.
• Conduct donor meetings, site visits, solicitations, stewardship conversations, and other meaningful donor engagement.
• Partner with the CEO/Executive Director, board members, and other organizational leaders on major donor cultivation and solicitation.
• Create meaningful opportunities for donors to experience and better understand St. Vincent de Paul’s work.
• Develop a systematic moves-management process and ensure donor activity is appropriately documented in the CRM.
• Strengthen donor stewardship so supporters understand the impact of their giving and have meaningful opportunities to deepen their relationship with the organization.

Annual Giving & Donor Acquisition

• Develop and oversee a year-round annual giving program incorporating direct mail, email, digital fundraising, Giving Tuesday, year-end giving, special appeals, and other campaigns.
• Develop strategies to acquire new donors and convert first-time donors into ongoing supporters.
• Build donor journeys designed to move supporters from initial engagement toward increased giving and deeper involvement.
• Develop strategies for retaining and reactivating donors.
• Grow recurring and monthly giving programs.
• Use donor segmentation and giving behavior to create increasingly personalized fundraising communications.
• Work closely with the Marketing & Communications Manager to integrate fundraising priorities into the organization's communications calendar.

Corporate, Foundation & Institutional Giving

• Develop and strengthen relationships with corporate, foundation, faith-based, and community partners.
• Identify opportunities for corporate sponsorships, employee giving, matching gifts, workplace campaigns, volunteer engagement, and year-round partnerships.
• Oversee grant prospecting, proposal development, reporting, and stewardship of institutional funders.
• Maintain a grants calendar and ensure proposals and reports are completed accurately and on time.
• Develop partnership opportunities that engage organizations beyond transactional event sponsorships.

Capital Campaign Leadership

The Director of Development will play a central role in preparing for and executing St. Vincent de Paul’s upcoming capital campaign.

Responsibilities will include:

• Partner with the CEO/Executive Director, Board, consultants, and campaign leadership to develop and execute the overall capital campaign strategy.
• Support campaign feasibility and readiness activities, including donor discovery and confidential conversations with key stakeholders.
• Identify, qualify, cultivate, and solicit prospective campaign donors.
• Develop individualized strategies for campaign prospects, including gift amounts, engagement opportunities, relationship managers, and solicitation timing.
• Prepare the CEO/Executive Director, board members, campaign volunteers, and other organizational leaders for donor meetings and solicitations.
• Develop briefing materials, talking points, proposals, presentations, and other campaign materials.
• Help recruit, train, and support campaign volunteers and leadership.
• Coordinate campaign cultivation events, site visits, donor briefings, and other engagement opportunities.
• Track campaign commitments, pledges, payments, and progress toward goals.
• Develop campaign stewardship and recognition strategies.
• Ensure campaign fundraising is thoughtfully integrated with annual giving so the organization continues to maintain and grow unrestricted annual support throughout the campaign.
• Develop strategies for transitioning capital campaign donors into long-term organizational supporters following the campaign.

Team Leadership & Management

The Director of Development supervises the Volunteer Coordinator, Development Coordinator, and Marketing & Communications Manager.

Responsibilities include:

• Provide clear goals, expectations, coaching, and professional development for each team member.
• Conduct regular individual and team meetings.
• Establish annual goals and work plans aligned with organizational priorities.
• Foster collaboration among development, communications, volunteer engagement, programs, and organizational leadership.
• Create efficient systems and workflows that reduce duplication and ensure consistent donor and constituent experiences.
• Conduct performance evaluations and support staff development.
• Identify future staffing, technology, and resource needs as the fundraising program grows.

Development Coordinator Oversight

Provide leadership and oversight for functions including:

• Gift processing and data entry.
• Donor acknowledgments and tax receipts.
• CRM/database administration and data integrity.
• Donor records and constituent information.
• Fundraising campaign support.
• Donor lists, segmentation, and reporting.
• Event and development administration.
• Prospect research and portfolio support.

Volunteer Coordinator Oversight

Ensure the volunteer program supports both organizational needs and long-term constituent engagement by overseeing:

• Volunteer recruitment and retention strategies.
• Volunteer orientation and stewardship.