Director of Events (Southwest)

The Director of Events is a key member of National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) development team. She/he is responsible for raising funds through large-scale community walk-a-thon and pledge-based fundraising events in the southwest region of the United States and other areas as assigned. The Director of Events is ideal for an experienced development professional with strong special events, fundraising, sales, corporate partnership/marketing experience and excellent organizational and leadership skills. The Director of Events is results-oriented and has the ability to maximize the fundraising potential of each event by growing events to a sustainable level and significantly increasing revenue.

The Director of Events will have proven success managing large-scale community walk-a-thons, rides, runs or other pledge-based fundraising events in a non-profit fundraising environment. Cultivates and secures financial support and relationships through interaction with corporations, high-level volunteers, individual donors, and other organizations. The Director of Events will primarily focus on developing and building strong event committees, securing sponsorships, fundraising through the teambuilding structure, and increasing awareness of NBTS's mission and strategic initiatives through each community event and event online presence. This will be a telecommuting position that reports directly to the Regional Director of Events and Sponsorships for that area. The candidate will ideally be based out of Dallas, TX.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Responsible for achieving dollar, volunteer recruitment and management goals for assigned special events including but not limited to Walks, Races, Rides or other special events within assigned geography
• Recruits, trains and manages Volunteers and Volunteer committees to ensure successful implementation of a special event action plan for fund raising events or related activity. Builds strong, dynamic committees for each event
• Creates and implements annual fundraising plans and strategies for assigned events. Develops and manages fundraising plans and tracks goal progress to achievement. Utilizing data and reports, frequently analyzes and assesses event progress for financial and participation goals
• Accountable for reaching assigned goals while staying within pre-approved budget and acceptable expense guidelines to achieve maximum net income
• Secures sponsorships and underwriting through individual efforts, outside sales techniques, networking efforts and leveraging volunteers
• Utilizes sales skills and CRM strategy to retain top donors/top volunteers (i.e. team captains), retrieve lapsed top donors/top volunteers; and provide opportunities to donors/survivors/development volunteers to become advocates and/or volunteers
• Personally recruits assigned number of new team captains for events each year. Cultivates and manages these key relationships to attain fundraising goals
• Supports the event committees in their recruitment and motivation of Family/Friend Teams. Works one-on-one with top Team Captains to build a fundraising plan, ensuring plan implementation and adding value to both Team and Walker efforts
• Recruits corporate teams, working independently and in collaboration with NBTS staff and volunteers. Drives employee engagement of corporate teams with events and other engagement initiatives
• Educates and supports committee chairs and event committees to build knowledge of NBTS programs and mission, and increase participation and revenue
• Trains and supports committees to help identify and solicit sponsors and ensure critical in-kind donations of goods and services for the event
• Organizes all Leveraging Events and committee meetings (kick-off meetings, orientations, receptions, debriefing meetings, committee recruitment events, etc)
• Supports the Director of Event Operations in their efforts to ensure smooth day-of-event production and experience such as registration and volunteer training, delivery of sponsor benefits, securing sites, finalizing routes, and staging
• Provides superior customer service support to event participants and Team Captains by responding to telephone and email communications about events (non-money related inquiries) in a timely manner
• Ensures implementation of data collection for each income activity, including income/expense information and donor/volunteer records
• Identifies and cultivates potential Major Gift, Community event, and Legacy Society prospective donors. Promotes other ways to increase donor support including memorial and Tributes giving opportunities and worksite giving programs
• Works collaboratively with staff responsible for other NBTS programs to deepen the engagement of constituents with National Brain Tumor Society. Works closely with program initiatives, advocacy, communications and corporate relations (where applicable) in a team environment to effectively represent National Brain Tumor Society and its mission in the community
• Implements special projects and other duties as needed

Preferred Position Qualifications:

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor's degree required. Equivalent combination of education and expertise considered. Previous experience with a grassroots walk/race fundraising program is preferred
• Results-oriented professional with a minimum of three years of successful experience in fundraising, networking, community organizing and/or outside sales skills required. Event fundraising experience preferred

Required Skills, Knowledge & Abilities:

• Motivated by mission, enjoys implementing fundraising and sponsorship strategies for events, and meeting and exceeding revenue goals to drive support for mission
• Successful experience recruiting, training, and delegating to volunteers desired. Adept at leveraging and building networks for outreach and fundraising initiatives
• Works well with limited supervision. Creative and independent problem-solver
• Creative and adaptable to changing environment
• An ability to juggle multiple projects and priorities, meet deadlines and work well under pressure
• Detail oriented and highly organized, while maintaining perspective and understanding the big picture
• Excellent communication, public speaking and interpersonal skills
• Ability to connect with and articulate NBTS mission to work with constituents at all levels and from various backgrounds
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, Power Point
• Experience working with Luminate, TeamRaiser and Salesforce Common Ground or a related donor database a big plus
• Travel required within assigned geography (approximately 35%). Evening and weekend work required; up to two to three days/evenings per week during event weeks, plus overnight for events that require travel
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, sit, climb stairs, balance, stoop or kneel
• Some of the work of this position may be performed out of doors in varying climate conditions
• May be required to lift and/or move up to 25 pounds