DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

Job Description

Job Description

DIRECTOR of DEVELOPMENT

Chicago

Who We Are and What We Believe:

Founded in 1997, Bottom Line is a nationally recognized nonprofit organization with a mission to partner with degree-aspiring students of color from under-resourced communities as they get into college, graduate, and go far in life. We achieve this mission by providing one-on-one guidance during the college application process through college graduation and the successful launch of their careers.

Our vision is to dramatically transform urban communities by producing thousands of new career-ready college graduates.

When you join Bottom Line, you will find a rewarding, fast-paced, results-oriented environment. We build strong relationships with our students and with each other. We take our work seriously, and we know that a focus on data and metrics is integral to our continued success. Experts in our fields, we are driven by our mission and extremely proud of the work we do.

What You Will Do:

The Development Director is a strategic and proactive frontline fundraiser who thrives on building relationships and driving growth in a mission-driven environment. Reporting to the Managing Director of Development (MDD), this role is responsible for a portfolio of donor and prospect relationships in Chicago and is accountable for a revenue goal of approximately $1–$1.5M annually. The Development Director manages relationships across all funding streams—including individuals, companies, and foundations—and spends significant time externally to cultivate, solicit, and steward donors, with a focus on securing and growing gifts of $5,000 or more.

In addition to managing their own portfolio, the Development Director supports the Executive Director (ED) and MDD in stewarding top donors and prospects and advancing key relationship strategies as needed. They will be responsible for identifying and qualifying new donors by leveraging Bottom Line’s database, conducting research, professional networking, external events, and identifying and leveraging connectors to advance donor relationships where possible.

This role is highly external-facing as their primary responsibility is to engage donors, support, and cultivate new donor relationships for the organization. Therefore, collaboration and coordination internally with the development team is very important to this role. The Development Director will work closely with the Chicago development team, including the Manager of Donor Experience and Communication and the MDD, to coordinate outreach, stewardship, and donor cultivation and engagement experiences. The Development Director will partner with the regional program team to identify opportunities to engage donors in local work and connect supporters to Bottom Line’s student impact and outcomes. In addition, the Development Director will work with Bottom Line’s National Development Operations (DevOps) team to ensure strong pipeline management and relationship strategies, data integrity, and effective use of Salesforce and other tools.

This is an individual contributor role with no direct reports.

Primary Responsibilities:

Donor Portfolio Management – 65%

• Manage a portfolio of current and prospective donors and partners across funding streams—including individuals, companies, and foundations—cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding gifts of $5,000 or more to meet a portfolio revenue goal of approximately $1–$2M annually.
• Conduct regular in-person and virtual donor meetings, visits, and outreach using a variety of communication methods to build strong, trust-based relationships and advance donor strategies.
• Create and drive the strategy for event sponsorship for the annual signature fundraising event and all other revenue-generating events to meet the sponsorship goal of approximately $250K.
• Support the Executive Director and MDD in managing select top-tier donor relationships by coordinating strategy, preparing successful interactions, and supporting outreach and follow-up communications.
• Proactively identify and qualify new prospects by leveraging Bottom Line’s database, conducting research, engaging with community networks, and attending events in Chicago’s philanthropic ecosystems.
• Leverage the region’s connector strategy by engaging board members and other champions, in partnership with the MDD, to secure warm introductions and expand the donor pipeline.

• Act as the region’s point of contact on all grants for Chicago; coordinates directly with the central grants function on the national DevOps team on grant deliverables for institutional funders in your portfolio, and, where designated, co-leads all tracking, writing, and submission.
• Maintain accurate, timely, and complete donor information and activity tracking in Salesforce, in alignment with organizational guidance and expectations.

Cross-Functional Collaboration – 20%

• Partner closely with the national DevOps team to align regional strategy & execution with organization-wide systems, tools, and strategies. Also offer regional insight and feedback to inform fundraising approaches and initiatives led at the national level.
• Actively contribute to the Bottom Line development community across regions and nationally, sharing learnings, aligning practices, and supporting collective growth. 
• Support regional event execution as directed by the Manager of Donor Experience and Communications
• Engage with the regional program team to engage donors in local program work and to gather compelling stories of impact to share.

Portfolio Planning & Execution Support – 15%

• Develop, maintain, and execute a portfolio plan (including solicitation strategy and stewardship) to achieve annual revenue goals.
• Regularly review donor data and fundraising performance using Salesforce dashboards and other reporting tools to inform decision-making, monitor progress to goal, and adjust tactics as needed.
• Contribute to regional forecasting and regular progress reviews by proactively surfacing opportunities, risks, and support needs to the MDD.

Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with advanced notice.

Work Schedule:

Monday - Friday 9a – 5p or 10a – 6p (local time), flexibility may be requested; additional hours as needed. Hybrid schedule with a minimum of 3 days in the Chicago office/in the field.

Direct Reports:

None.

Expected Travel:

Frequent travel across the region, limited travel outside of the region (may include 1-2 trips to other regions throughout the year)

Who Should Apply:

If you meet the qualifications below, you should apply.

• Bachelor’s degree and work authorization. 

• Minimum 4 years of progressively responsible fundraising experience, with demonstrated ability to manage donor relationships and contribute to revenue strategy.

• Demonstrated success owning and meeting a revenue goal, including forecasting, pipeline management, and disciplined follow-up.

• Experience owning a portfolio of donor relationships and managing the full lifecycle—qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship—with a focus on securing and growing gifts of $5,000+ through individualized donor strategies.

• High comfort and credibility in an externally facing role, including leading donor meetings and representing an organization with professionalism, warmth, and strong and expeditious follow-through.

• Ability to use fundraising data and CRM systems (Salesforce highly preferred) to inform strategy and execution, prioritize actions, and monitor progress to goal.

• Strong collaboration skills, including the ability to manage up and support the MDD and ED, partner effectively with the Massachusetts development and regional program teams, and coordinate with national partners (e.g., DevOps) to advance shared goals.

• Strong communication and project management skills, including the ability to draft clear donor-facing communications, coordinate inputs, drive projects forward to completion, and manage up to MDD and Executive Director.

• Able to work effectively with ethnically, culturally, and socially diverse donors, board members, senior executives, staff, students, and other constituencies

• Ability to thrive in a dynamic, evolving environment and adapt to shifting priorities. 

• Demonstrated commitment to Bottom Line’s Mission, Vision, and Core Values 

Preferred:

• Experience fundraising across multiple funding streams (individual, corporate, and foundation), including balancing priorities across a diverse portfolio.

• Grant writing experience and/or experience supporting foundation and corporate proposal development and reporting.

• Experience working within a matrixed, multi-site, or large organization.

How To Apply/Application Deadline:

All applications must be submitted via Bottom Line’s Career Page.

Please share your resume and cover letter.

Start Date:

August 2026

Compensation:

$109,000 - 111,000

Benefits:

Learn about our benefits here.