Senior Development Director

Job Description 

Senior Director of Development 

Organization Overview 

Californians for Justice is a statewide, youth-powered organization fighting to improve the lives of people of color, immigrants, low-income families, LGBQiA2S+/TGNC youth and other marginalized communities. Through organizing in schools and in their neighborhoods, youth who join Californians for Justice become leaders in their own communities. They deepen their knowledge on issues like systemic racism, gender and sexuality, and education inequity, and organize and activate their peers to take action. 

CFJ is the only grassroots, youth-powered organization in California that organizes students to have a voice in both local and statewide education policy. Our campaign and policy reform goals include adequate and equitable school funding, increased access and success in K-12 and higher education, and creating Relationship Centered Schools - schools that invest in youth voice, in staff, and in creating space for youth and adults to build positive relationships with one another. CFJ currently has four regional offices in Fresno, Long Beach, San Jose and Oakland, 50 full-time equivalent staff and a budget of $7 million.

Californians for Justice has been successful because of our strong, dedicated staff team. CFJ staff are unwavering in their commitment to youth power and racial justice, to building connection and trust with their teams, and have a strong sense of purpose and dignity in their work. 

Position Overview 

The Senior Director of Development  is an exciting opportunity for an experienced fundraising or philanthropy professional, with a preference for an individual who may also be experienced and/or interested in education, grassroots organizing, and racial justice.  The Senior Director of Development is the lead and sets the strategic direction for all of CFJ's philanthropic fundraising activities, including revenue from institutional funders, corporate and individual donors, and special events. They play a key role in building relationships and representing CFJ externally with funders and nonprofit allies. 

CFJ has recently experienced transition at the executive level as well as within the Development program.  The ideal candidate will be a self-starter with the ability to maintain existing development efforts, while building up the program using fundraising best practices. The SDOD will combine high-level strategy with hands-on implementation while building relationships and networking. They will also thrive in a diverse workplace, and be energized to join a team with a proven commitment to youth leadership and racial and educational justice. 

This position reports to the Executive Director and leads CFJ’s Development team. As CFJ continues to grow, there will be key opportunities for this role to restructure and shape a Development team, including communications integration. The position is full-time and exempt. In all duties and responsibilities, this position exercises discretion and independent judgment.  Additionally, CFJ has recently retained the professional services of Small Seeds Consulting, and the new SDOD will work alongside the consultant for a temporary period of time. 

Essential Responsibilities 

Fundraising and External Partnerships (60%) 

• Develop and implement an organizational fund development plan that aligns with CFJ’s strategic goals, diversifies funding streams, and supports the organization’s current and future budgets and sustainability goals.
• Develop and strengthen a culture of philanthropy throughout the organization: Coordinate development activities with other facets of the organization, particularly communications and finance. Engage, inspire and support staff and board in their role in fund development. 
• Collaborate closely with the Senior Finance Director to ensure budgets reflect overall fundraising strategy and revenue management and projections are timely and systematized. Partner with finance to ensure monthly reconciliations are accurate.
• Build external relationships and represent the organization: Develop and maintain close working relationships with the philanthropic community, donors, stakeholders, and friends of the organization. Represent CFJ at public facing events. 
• Develop new, innovative strategies to advance CFJ’s financial sustainability..
• Grow institutional support: Lead and partner with the Co-Executive Directors in the identification, cultivation, and solicitation of foundation and corporate contributions. Be the primary relationship holder with select foundations and corporations. Actively manage relationships with all funders, including prospecting, the final processing of grant requests, preparing staff for funder meetings, stewarding current relationships, and following advancement best  practices. Support grant writer with proposals. 
• Grow CFJ’s individual giving program: Oversee individual giving, including a comprehensive grassroots fundraising program utilizing supporter cultivation and community events in collaboration with the Co-Executive Directors. Manage a major gifts portfolio and support the Co-Directors in management of their own high-level portfolios. 
• Board of Directors: Staff Board meetings, develop relationships with board members, create board engagement plans and opportunities. 
• Materials and communications: Oversee design production and distribution of all development materials including, but not limited to, an annual impact report, donor-facing materials and annual campaigns.

Program Management and Supervision (30%)

• Supervise and support development staff to establish individual fundraising/program goals, ensure that goals are met, and support staff in their responsibilities. 
• Ensure effective data tracking and systems: Oversee the evaluation of systems to support development and inform data-driven planning. Ensure excellent donor and gift record-keeping, processing, and acknowledgement.
• Department and staff management: Manage the department, including hiring, supervising, coaching, and developing the staff. Also prepare work plans, budgets, and performance evaluations. 

Organizational Responsibilities (10%) 

• Organizational leadership: Serve as a key member of the Leadership Team with shared responsibility for achieving the organization’s vision and goals. 
• Model leadership and participation in all grassroots fundraising campaigns. 
• Participate in cross-department committees and teams and our Racial Justice Organization Culture work. 
• Provide support and participation for organization-wide and some regional campaign events. 

Essential Qualifications 

Our ideal candidate for this senior position brings experience in three areas: fundraising, education justice, grassroots organizing and/or advocacy; CFJ is flexible in how the candidate obtained these experiences. What CFJ values most is that the candidate is strongly aligned with CFJ’s mission and programming, and that the candidate is also a strong relationship builder: the Senior Development Director will need to be able to speak fluidly about CFJ’s work to key funders and critical, community-based partners.

Candidates should bring:

• Minimum of 7 years of experience in the nonprofit sector overall. 
• Minimum of 5 years of direct fundraising experience. 
• Strong background in cultivating and building relationships with institutional and corporate funders. 
• Demonstrated expertise in fundraising and development best practices.
• Experience with and knowledge of the education, grassroots organizing, and/or policy fields. 
• Demonstrated experience building external relationships, representing an organization publicly, and serving as a visible spokesperson; professional demeanor and presentation.  
• Ability to strategize from a “big picture” perspective; experience in managing goals, and developing and implementing plans for a team or department.
• Experience successfully managing people. Ability to work well with diverse individuals and support their growth and development.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills (Bonus: proven experience in crafting proposals and donor or funder correspondence); meticulous and highly organized.
• Strong writing skills, with the ability to clearly articulate CFJ’s core values, organizational strategies and programmatic details and align these with a foundation’s priorities and goals.
• Good judgment and decision-making, particularly in your interactions with foundations
• Interpersonal skills to develop relationships with staff to foster collaboration and mutual accountability.
• Demonstrated experience in working alongside program staff, building trust, and involving programs in development efforts. 
• Respectful demeanor, confident, and humble. 
• Proficiency in Word, Excel, and ability to effectively use data management systems.
• Familiarity with a  CRM, such as Monday.com
• Strong commitment to social justice, racial justice, and youth empowerment.
• Ability to travel once to twice a month statewide or occasionally nationally. 

Work Environment 

The position can be located in any of CFJ’s four regional offices in Fresno, Long Beach, Oakland, Sacramento or San Jose. CFJ is open to hiring the right candidate outside of these five cities, but within California. 

Physical Demands 

• Able to work on a computer, including sitting at a desk, for extended periods of time. Able to read a computer screen. Manual dexterity to operate a keyboard. 
• Able to speak clearly in English on the phone and in person and be understood by others. 
• Able to occasionally lift objects weighing up to 10 pounds.

Compensation: 

Compensation for this role is $125,000. CFJ provides a generous benefits package, including fully paid health insurance (medical, dental, and vision) for employees and their dependents. We also offer substantial vacation days and time off, employer-sponsored 401(K) and 529 plans, retention bonuses and eligibility for a paid sabbatical after 5 years of employment.