Development Director

Development Director

Destiny Arts Center inspires and ignites social change through the arts. For more than 38 years, Destiny has empowered young people to become peaceful, powerful, and creative through movement arts, performance, and leadership development. With a total annual budget of approximately $4 million, Destiny serves more than 6,000 young people each year. Through programs at our North Oakland center and across 55 school and community sites throughout the East Bay, Destiny creates safe, inclusive spaces where young people develop confidence, artistic excellence, resilience, and a deep sense of belonging.

At Destiny, we believe the arts are a powerful force for individual transformation and collective liberation. Rooted in violence prevention and conflict resolution, our work nurtures young people's creativity while cultivating leadership, healing, and connection across communities. No child is ever turned away for lack of funds.

The Development Director is a strategic fundraising leader responsible for growing Destiny's philanthropic revenue, with a primary focus on contributed income, major gifts, individual giving, donor stewardship, and fundraising strategy. Reporting to the Executive Director and serving on the Leadership Team, the Development Director partners with staff, board members, donors, and community stakeholders to build relationships that inspire investment in Destiny's mission.

The Development Director provides overall direction and day-to-day management of all fundraising activity while personally carrying a portfolio of major-donor prospects. An overarching objective of the first few years is to aggressively grow Destiny's donor base and contributed revenue through major gifts, the annual fund, foundation grants, corporate philanthropy, legacy giving and the annual Gala.

This role provides strategic leadership for Destiny's overall development strategy, which also includes government and earned income, builds a sustainable pipeline of supporters, increases unrestricted revenue, and advances a culture of philanthropy across the organization. The successful candidate will be a relationship-centered fundraiser with a demonstrated record of securing major gifts, developing donor communities, and building fundraising systems that support long-term sustainability.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Five to eight years of progressively responsible fundraising experience.
• Demonstrated success securing and stewarding major gifts.
• Experience managing a donor portfolio using moves-management best practices.
• Experience partnering with executive leadership and nonprofit boards.
• Experience supervising fundraising staff.
• Proficiency with Salesforce (or comparable CRM) and fundraising analytics.
• Strong project-management and organizational skills.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Demonstrated commitment to equity, inclusion, youth development, and community-centered leadership.

Preferred

• Experience in arts education, youth development, or community-based nonprofits.
• Knowledge of the Bay Area philanthropic landscape.
• Experience with planned giving and donor-advised funds.
• Experience leading galas, fundraising campaigns or capital initiatives.

Core Competencies

Relationship Building - Major-Gift Fundraising

Strategic Thinking - Donor Stewardship

Leadership & Team Development - Board Engagement

Communication & Storytelling - Financial & Data Analysis

Project Management - Equity-Centered Leadership

Primary Responsibilities

Major Gifts & Individual Giving Leadership

• Develop and implement a comprehensive major-gifts and individual-giving strategy aligned with Destiny's strategic plan.
• Personally grow and manage a portfolio of approximately 100-150 major donors and prospects.
• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward individual donors capable of leadership and major gifts.
• Develop individualized cultivation and solicitation strategies for high-capacity donors.
• Conduct regular donor meetings, site visits, stewardship activities, and solicitations.
• Partner closely with the Executive Director to cultivate, solicit, and steward major donors.
• Equip and support board members in donor cultivation and solicitation.
• Build a strong pipeline of new donors through prospect identification, referrals, networking, and community engagement.
• Grow donor retention, recurring giving, gift upgrades, and multi-year commitments; expand legacy and planned giving over time.

Annual Giving & Donor Engagement

• Lead multi-channel annual campaigns: direct mail, email, digital appeals, giving days, and year-end.
• Develop donor segmentation to improve retention and increase average gift size.
• Oversee donor stewardship, recognition, and timely, meaningful acknowledgments and impact reporting.
• Collaborate with communications staff on donor-centered stories and fundraising materials.
• Design donor journeys that deepen engagement throughout the year.

Fundraising Strategy & Organizational Leadership

• Participate as a member of Destiny's Leadership Team.
• Develop annual and multi-year fundraising plans with goals, benchmarks, and performance metrics.
• Monitor fundraising trends; diversify philanthropic revenue and reduce reliance on any single source.
• Build and champion a culture of philanthropy across staff, teaching artists, volunteers, and board.

Board Partnership & Engagement

• Staff the Marketing & Development Committee and partner with the ED on board fundraising.
• Attend the five annual board meetings (Sept, Nov, Jan, Mar, May) and the fall board retreat.
• Coach board members in donor identification, cultivation, stewardship, and solicitation.
• Prepare fundraising dashboards and reports for the Board of Directors.
• Support recruitment of prospective board members with philanthropic capacity and community connections.

Institutional Giving Oversight

• Ensure institutional strategies align with the foundation goals and overall priorities.
• Collaborate on prospecting and foundation, corporate, and government funding strategies.
• Support relationship-building with key institutional funders as appropriate.

Gala, Donor Events & Community Engagement

• Lead the strategy for the annual Gala as well as donor cultivation and stewardship events.
• Develop sponsorship strategies and a renewal path that grows event revenue beyond target.
• Partner with consultants and volunteers to execute events; prime the fund-a-need and steward sponsors year-round.
• Represent Destiny at performances, community events, and donor gatherings across the Bay Area.

Development Operations

• Oversee Salesforce donor-database management, reporting, and fundraising analytics.
• Ensure effective management systems and portfolio tracking.
• Ensure timely gift processing, acknowledgments, and stewardship.
• Continuously improve fundraising systems, policies, and operational effectiveness.

Staff Leadership

• Supervise the Manager of Institutional Giving and the Development & Finance Manager.
• Conduct regular supervision, annual performance evaluations, and professional-development planning.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing team culture with clear goals and accountability.
• Promote cross-department collaboration to strengthen fundraising and storytelling.

This job description reflects the general nature and level of work expected in this role and is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required. The Development Director will perform other duties as assigned to meet the evolving needs of the organization.

This is an opportunity to shape the future of one of the Bay Area's most respected arts and youth-development organizations. As Development Director, you will build the philanthropic foundation that lets thousands of young people experience the transformative power of movement arts, belonging, and creative expression, in a place where no child is ever turned away for lack of funds.

If you are a strategic fundraiser, a relationship builder, and a passionate advocate for young people and the arts, we encourage you to apply.

To Apply

Please submit a resume and a cover letter describing your fundraising philosophy and a major gift you are proud to have secured. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Compensation

The salary range for this position is $130,000–$140,000 annually, commensurate with experience. Destiny also offers a comprehensive benefits package.

Work Schedule

This is a full-time position based at Destiny Arts Center headquarters, 970 Grace Avenue, Oakland, California 94608. A hybrid work schedule is