Employment opportunities

Posted: 6/7/19

Job Opening: Director of Development (Full Time)

About The Organization:

Ann’s Place is a compassionate cancer support nonprofit organization located at 80 Saw Mill Road, Danbury, CT. We serve those who are facing cancer, as well as their loved ones, with psycho-social services such as professional counseling, support groups, financial assistance and wellness activities. We help those in the midst of cancer create their own path to improving their quality of life. We do not charge clients any fees for this support, so financial contributions and grants are critical. We are looking for a new member of the team to help grow our revenue to allow us to serve the expanding population of individuals and families seeking assistance during difficult times. While our paid staff is a fairly small team of 12, we have 36 pro bono clinicians and wellness staff, and also engage over 1,000 passionate and caring volunteers in other capacities throughout the year.

Position Description:

The Director of Development reports to the President and works closely with staff members, board members, and volunteers to further the revenue development goals of our organization which has a budget of about $1,200,000 ($1,400,000 with in-kind support).  S/he would develop and implement aggressive fundraising strategies that support the operating, capital and endowment objectives of the organization, personally drive donor cultivation and solicitation activities, manage strong corporate relations, and maximize revenue from current sources of philanthropy.

Specific Responsibilities:

  • Yearly Calendar and Planning: Develop and implement the yearly giving strategies and occurrences necessary to support the operating expenses through grants solicitation, corporate solicitation, individual giving, events, on-line giving programs, direct mail or any other method needed to successfully reach revenue goals.

  • Strategic Planning: Implement an annual and long-term Development Strategic Plan with President and Board

  • Planned Giving: Further develop our planned giving efforts to cultivate, solicit, and secure legacy giving through bequests, life insurance, and other planned giving vehicles.

  • Major Gifts and Leadership Giving: With the President/CEO and members of the Board of Directors, establish clear guidelines in the active stewardship, cultivation and solicitation of major gifts; cultivate new prospects; identify private and business donors; and position other leaders of the organization to solicit major donations. Leadership giving starts at $1,000.

  • Annual Appeals: Develop a strategy for mail/online giving and work with the President/CEO for a coordinated communications plan to donors and supporters. Analyze ROI, donor churn and other appeal statistics.

  • Grants: Identify and apply for grants from foundations and corporations including appropriate cultivation and on-going donor relations to ensure continuous support.

  • Recognition: Fine tune awards and recognition programs for donors, volunteers and other members of the Ann’s Place community for their efforts. Create tiered recognition for giving levels.

  • Donor Correspondence: Work seamlessly with the Support Coordinator to ensure the donor data and thank you letters are accurate. Keep database updated on all contacts and information on donors. Work with Support Coordinator to tag and streamline the data so it can be easily pulled for appeals. Understand the database enough to make decisions on how data is tagged so it can later be pulled for both reports and mailings.

  • Reporting: Work with finance to generate revenue reports, forecasts, and provide monthly reports towards goals.

  • Budgeting: Assist in the budgeting process especially in the areas of revenue and event expenses.

  • Event Assistance: Work closely with the Events Specialist to ensure that donors have a positive experience and are properly recognized at events. Find ways to cultivate relationships with donors through engagement/volunteering at our signature events and on key committees. Take the lead on all sponsor relationships of $2,500 and up and work with Events Specialist and committee chairs to personalize mailings to key funders.

  • Community Events: Work with community members who wish to support Ann’s Place through independent fundraisers. There usually are about 30 of these events annually which require minor support from staff. Work with Community Engagement Specialist and Event Specialist to develop and assign volunteers to be ambassadors at these events.

  • Leadership: As a leader of Ann’s Place, work collaboratively and cross-functionally to ensure that revenue development, clinical and administrative services are in synch for the best interests of clients and donors.

  • Overall Helpfulness: With a small staff team, we all help with items around the building including getting the mail, emptying the dishwasher, filling the paper towel dispenser, cleaning out the refrigerator, answering the phone when it gets busy, carrying supplies into and out of the building and filling in for each other as needed.

Job Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree or higher, preferably in business, public administration, marketing, communications, social work or other relevant academic field.

  • Five – ten years’ experience in development including events, major gifts, leadership giving, annual giving campaigns, planned giving, and grant-writing.

  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with ability to develop both a written and verbal case for giving. 

  • The ability to recruit, mobilize and support high-level skilled volunteers.

  • Proven ability to identify, cultivate, secure and retain new major donors with a goal of growing the number of donors annually to meet the increasing program needs of the organization.

  • Must be proficient in MS Excel, Word and PowerPoint.

  • Knowledge of, and a proven track record in, the greater Danbury/Fairfield County region preferred.

  • Experience using donor software to view, run reports and analyze donor data to ensure we are maintaining our current donors, minimize lapsed donors and create opportunities to increase donor current donor giving to higher levels.

  • Must be sincere with unquestionable trustworthiness, empathy, and the ability to read people and understand the diverse motivations of donors.

Salary Range: $70K - $75K

To Apply: Please send cover letter and resume to shannon@annsplace.org.