Director of Development

EASEL ANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE Position Description Director of Inspiration (Development) Title Director of Inspiration (Development) Reports to Executive Director Board relationship Dotted-line partnership with the Fundraising Committee, Capital Campaign Committee; regular reporting to the full Board Status Full-time, exempt Location Ewing, NJ (Mercer County) with regional travel Scope Owns the organization's Development function and the development portions of its Media / Marketing / Brand function About the Title EASEL uses the title “Director of Inspiration” deliberately. Great fundraising is not transactional; it is the work of inspiring people (donors, corporate partners, volunteers, staff, and the wider community) to see themselves in EASEL’s mission and to act on it generously and repeatedly. The title signals that this leader is responsible not only for revenue, but for the story, the relationships, and the culture of belief that make sustained revenue possible. The parenthetical “(Development)” keeps the role legible to funders, peers, and search committees who expect conventional nomenclature. About EASEL EASEL Animal Rescue League operates a no-kill, best-practices animal shelter in Ewing, New Jersey, serving Mercer County and the surrounding region. Our mission is to reduce the number of unwanted animals euthanized in our community through collaborative coalitions and community alliances. EASEL is entering a period of ambitious growth. Today an approximately $3 million organization, EASEL is building toward a larger mission and a permanent home. The next chapter includes securing a new campus and expanding the animals we serve to include horses alongside dogs and cats, broadening EASEL’s reach and impact across the county and region. Realizing that vision requires a development and communications engine built for scale. This role is designed to build it, and to partner broadly (and specifically with the Executive Director) to execute it. Position Summary The Director of Inspiration (Development) owns EASEL’s development function and the media, marketing, and the portion of the brand function that fuels it. Reporting to and partnering closely with the Executive Director (ED), this leader works with the ED to design and drive two intertwined strategies: (1) an ongoing development strategy that grows EASEL’s annual resource base, and (2) a capital campaign strategy that funds a transformational new home and expanded mission. This is a true partnership role, modeled on the most effective executive-plus-development pairings in the sector. The Executive Director will remain deeply engaged in major gifts, marquee relationships, and campaign leadership; the Director of Inspiration builds and runs the strategy, infrastructure, pipeline, team, and brand that make those efforts productive, and carries primary ownership of the function day to day. The two operate as a coordinated front, with clear division of labor and shared accountability for results. Strategic Mandate 1. Development: grow the annual resource base Lead EASEL’s growth from an approximately $3 million organization to a $5 million organization within two years , and to a $15 million organization within five to six years , through a diversified, sustainable, and repeatable development program. 2. Capital campaign: secure and fund a new home Design and drive the strategy for a capital campaign to secure a new 5–45 acre location that allows EASEL to fulfill its mission across Mercer County and the six surrounding counties, and to expand its rescue work to dogs, cats, and horses . The campaign encompasses land acquisition, facility development, and the programmatic and endowment capacity a larger mission requires. These mandates reinforce one another: a maturing annual development program builds the donor relationships, brand, and community trust on which a successful capital campaign depends, while the campaign accelerates the organization’s long-term giving capacity. Key Responsibilities Development strategy & fundraising (owns the function) • Own the development function. Design, lead, and be accountable for EASEL’s complete development strategy and annual fundraising plan, aligned to the growth targets above. • Diversify revenue. Build and balance individual giving, major and principal gifts, corporate and small-business sponsorship, foundation and government grants, planned giving, events, and recurring / membership giving. • Build the major-gifts pipeline. Identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward individual, corporate, and institutional prospects whose charitable objectives align with EASEL’s mission, partnering with the Executive Director and Board on the highest-capacity relationships. • Grow corporate & community partnerships. Deepen EASEL’s standing with regional employers, small businesses, and civic networks (including chambers of commerce and service organizations) as engines of sponsorship, awareness, and volunteer support. • Build the infrastructure. Establish the systems, data, moves-management discipline, gift processing, and donor-experience standards of a modern development shop, including CRM and analytics that make growth measurable and repeatable. • Steward relentlessly. Ensure every donor is thanked, informed, and shown impact, turning first gifts into lifelong relationships and building the retention that compounds into sustained growth. Capital campaign leadership • Author the campaign strategy. In partnership with the Executive Director and Board, develop the case for support, feasibility approach, phasing, gift-range chart, and timeline for the new-campus capital campaign. • Drive campaign execution. Manage prospect research, lead-gift cultivation, volunteer campaign leadership, and the public phase, coordinating counsel, committees, and communications. • Connect vision to funders. Translate the expanded mission (a permanent home on 5–45 acres serving dogs, cats, and horses across the region) into a compelling, fundable ongoing narrative for major donors, foundations, and public sources. • Integrate with operations. Align campaign milestones with land acquisition, facility planning, and program expansion so fundraising and build-out move in step. Media, marketing & brand (owns the portion of the function tied to development) • Own EASEL’s brand and voice. Lead marketing, communications, digital presence, storytelling, PR, and content so that EASEL’s identity is consistent, distinctive, and mission-forward across every channel. • Make marketing serve development. Build an integrated content and campaign engine - web, email, social, video, earned media, and events - explicitly designed to grow awareness, audience, and giving. • Elevate visibility. Raise EASEL’s regional profile and share of voice, positioning the organization as the trusted animal-welfare leader for Mercer County and its neighbors, and as a credible steward of a major expansion. • Measure and iterate. Track brand, audience, and campaign performance and use the data to sharpen messaging, targeting, and return on effort. Team, board & partnership • Partner with the Executive Director. Operate as a coordinated leadership pair on strategy, major relationships, thought and campaign leadership, with a clear, agreed division of labor and shared accountability for outcomes. • Engage the Board. Work closely with the Board Chair and the Board Development / Capital Campaign Committee; equip and support trustees as ambassadors, connectors, and solicitors; and report regularly to the full Board on progress against goals. • Build and lead a team. Recruit, structure, and build the development and marketing staff and vendors needed to reach $5M and, ultimately, $15M, building capacity alongside growth. • Model the culture. Bring an inspiring, collaborative, mission-first presence to staff, volunteers, donors, and the community. The Ideal Candidate While no one is likely to meet every and all candidate measures, EASEL nonetheless seeks a strategic, entrepreneurial development leader who is equal parts fundraiser, brand builder, and relationship builder: someone who can stand up a modern development function and inspire a community to invest in a bold vision. • Proven fundraising results. A track record of significant, diversified revenue growth and of closing major gifts; comfort setting and hitting ambitious multi-year targets. • Campaign experience. Direct experience with, or clear readiness to lead, a capital campaign: case development, lead gifts, volunteer leadership, and public phase. • Marketing & brand fluency. Demonstrated ability to own marketing/communications and align it to revenue, not treat it as separate. • Partnership orientation. A collaborator who thrives in an executive-plus-development pairing and shares credit and accountability. • Systems builder. Ability to build pipeline, data, and process - not just to network - so growth is repeatable. • Mission fit. Genuine commitment to animal welfare and to EASEL’s no-kill, community-alliance approach. First-Year Priorities • Deliver the development plan and infrastructure that put EASEL on a credible path from $3M toward $5M. • Work with the ED to produce the capital-campaign strategy and case for support for the new 5–45 acre campus and expanded (dog, cat, and horse) mission and begin lead-gift cultivation. • Refresh and unify EASEL’s brand and build the integrated marketing engine that feeds development. • Establish and develop the CRM, reporting, and stewardship systems that make results measurable. Compensation & Benefits Salary range: $90,000 – $100,000, commensurate with experience, education and skills. Benefits: Health; paid time off; retirement; and other benefits per EASEL policy. Structure: EASEL is willing to consider a base plus performance-linked component tied to growth and campaign milestones. Send resumes/CVs, cover letters and references to: