Director of Development

Come join a team that is protecting the freedoms and democratic rights of every voter in America!

Vote Smart is a non-profit nonpartisan voter education organization that provides free, factual, unbiased information on candidates and elected officials to all Americans.

Benefits of working at Vote Smart:

• Comprehensive health insurance coverage with premiums fully covered by the employer.
• Enjoy 11 paid holidays, plus an additional week off during the holidays and New Year.
• Access to professional development grants to support your growth as an integral team member.
• Benefit from the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering regular support and counseling across a variety of needs.
• Flexibility with hybrid work options, based on the position and schedule requirement.

Vote Smart is currently seeking a Director of Development and Communication (Dev Comm). The Dev Comm Director provides strategic direction, administration, supervision and holds the primary responsibility of implementing and overseeing day-to-day operations of fundraising and other revenue generating programs,  and public facing communication. This currently includes direct mail and major gift and foundation prospecting and relationship building.  This director is also responsible for stewardship, grant reporting and data analytics.  The Director also manages a range of externally facing communications projects including social media, newsletters, direct mail, email campaigns and other public facing branding.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage all aspects of a robust direct mail fundraising program
• Recommend annual targets and performance metrics to the President and National Director
• Continuously evaluate program for efficiency and efficacy
• Oversee gift recording and acknowledgements and develop framework for major gift fundraising
• Identify prospective donors and manage prospect assignment (director, president and national director)
• Develop annual plans for cultivation and solicitation of prospects and develop systems for tracking progress
• Write proposals, stewardship reports and other donor communications as needed
• Cultivate, support and manage foundation relationships in partnership with the President
• Identify prospective foundation prospects, draft letters of inquiry and prioritize President’s activity around outreach and engagement
• Draft grant and gift proposals, stewardship and grant reports
• Ensure systems are in place to track and report on grant related expenditures
• Oversee subscription program for web based data sets
• Cultivate existing customers to understand business needs and suggest product enhancements
• Identify and cultivate new subscribers, in partnership with other Vote Smart senior staff.
• Create strategies for building awareness of product availability
• Oversee external communications
• Email marketing, phone call and community and partner engagement (we partner and collaborate with other business and organizations in our community)
• Serve as back up to the National Director in day-to-day operations of the Iowa office and all necessary administrative, budget and human resource needs.
• Provide thought partnership with the President and National Director on the overall strategy of revenue development and deployment of the organization.
• Provide day-to-day management for development and communications staff, currently 1 FTE.  
• Provide coaching and regular feedback on performance
• Support professional development of direct report(s)
• Additional Responsibilities:
• Manage programs and achieve goals with limited oversight.
• Interpret, apply, and explain data reports and analytics to inform and adjust strategy.
• Communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders.
• Develop agendas and lead high-impact meetings.
• Exercise effective project management, time management and resource management consistent with the mission of the organization.
• Retain, promote and protect the brand integrity of the organization in all work.
• Manage external partnerships with integrity and attention to goals, budgets, and deadlines.
• Effectively lead a team and motivate employees to reach their highest potential.
• Support the National Director in day-to-day operations of the Iowa office and all necessary administrative, budget and human resource needs.
• Provide thought partnership with the President and National Director on the overall strategy of revenue development and deployment of the organization.

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor's degree with coursework in sociology, social work, psychology, counseling, business, management, communications or politics.
• Experience implementing or supporting nonprofit fundraising operations.
• Minimum two years of direct donor engagement or foundation engagement required.  Knowledge of direct mail program operations required.
• Active role in cultivating, supporting and managing successful foundation relationships
• Minimum one year of supervisory and leadership experience.
• A professional and collaborative approach to challenging situations.
• Commitment through Election Day 2024.

A commitment to serving and empowering individuals and voters through our programs supporting education, democracy and voter engagement across political and policy boundaries.

Qualities We Value:

• Excellent communications skills, especially listening for where our fellow citizens are with politics.
• Nonpartisanship, we each have our own beliefs and passions, but none of this matters without the facts and the free help at the center of our mission.
• Kindness, as we need to balance integrity and responsibility with flexibility and a willingness to help out in any work that needs an extra pair of hands.
• Quirkiness, as the cousin of inventiveness and creativity, seeing politics simply as it is the start of our work, not the end.
• Passion, as the facts about politics and sharing them in an unbiased way needs true believers and those willing to help every American every day, not just when an election rolls around.
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Job Type: 

Full-time, exempt. Exempt employees receive a salary for full-time work (40 hours per week). As stated by the Department of Labor, “being paid on a ‘salary basis’ means an employee regularly receives a predetermined amount of compensation each pay period on a weekly, or less frequent, basis.”

Pay: 

We anticipate a salary of $50,000 per year depending on levels of experience, skill and initiative.

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Health insurance
• Paid time off

Location: 

Applicants should be prepared to work regularly from our Des Moines, Iowa office.

Schedule:

Our office is open from 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday. During an election year, the Dev Comm Director should expect to be available outside these hours to speak with media, politicians, donors, foundations or other partners as needed given the intensive political calendar. All Directors located in the Des Moines area are expected to be in-person for work unless otherwise discussed and approved by the National Director.

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Vote Smart is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce that reflects our community and those that we seek to serve. As a nonprofit serving all Americans, Vote Smart’s reason for being is to make society better by fulfilling its mission. As a part of that promise, Vote Smart’s feels continually responsible for advancing and developing a diversified and inclusive workplace that reflects and responds to the rich diversity of our society. Therefore, we are committed to staying loyal to our mission by preserving and encouraging a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging both in our organization as well as externally in partnerships with the people and communities we serve.

If you, in good faith, believe that you are qualified to succeed in this position, we encourage you to apply. Please include a resume and cover letter to tell us about your unique qualifications and draw attention to your experiences and skills.

All information provided to Vote Smart must be accurate and truthful. In the event that any information on your resume or related materials are found to be untruthful, the organization reserves the right to disregard applications or take immediate disciplinary action, up to and including termination, and also reserves the right to take legal action for related damages.

Benefits of working at Vote Smart:

• Comprehensive health insurance coverage with premiums fully covered by the employer.
• Enjoy 11 paid holidays, plus an additional week off during the holidays and New Year.
• Access to professional development grants to support your growth as an integral team member.
• Benefit from the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering regular support and counseling across a variety of needs.
• Flexibility with hybrid work options, based on the position and schedule requirement.
• Dental insurance
• Paid time off