Director of Development

As the Director of Development, you'll be the strategic architect and driver behind City Bureau's financial sustainability, ensuring our ambitious mission is fully funded now and in the years to come. You'll build and lead a high-performing development team, establish robust data and stewardship systems, cultivate deep relationships with foundations, partners, and donors, and integrate fundraising impact into every facet of our organizational strategy. Beyond securing contributions, we see your role as building the infrastructure of fundraising relationships that will solidify City Bureau's future as a vital force for a just democracy.

Responsibilities

Architect Development Strategy & Infrastructure for Sustainability

• Partner with the Executive Director and senior leadership to conceive and implement a comprehensive development strategy and infrastructure for long-term organizational sustainability.
• Serve as a member of City Bureau’s senior leadership team, ensuring that fundraising impact is a key consideration in the evaluation and selection of all projects and program initiatives.
• Develop multi-year revenue targets and corresponding structured goals to fully fund City Bureau’s $5M-$10M annual budget through the next strategic plan
• Create, implement, and monitor a hiring plan to grow the development team to execute on goals and meet revenue targets.

Lead Foundation Grant Initiatives

• Lead prospecting, relationship building, proposal processes, and stewardship for foundation and government grants.
• Coordinate with operations/impact and program teams to develop a solid, consistent, and ambitious long-term case for support that attracts funders.
• Build and maintain relationships with funders through regular communication, meetings, reports, and invitations to explore and engage with City Bureau’s work.
• Proactively reach out to new potential foundation partners to grow our pool of prospective funders, including outside of traditional journalism funding spaces.
• Represent City Bureau at conferences and convenings relevant to fundraising
• Brief and prepare the Executive Director and other key staff to represent development goals in relationships with funders.

Cultivate Major Gifts & Individual Donor Relationships

• Brief and prepare the Executive Director and other key staff to represent development goals in relationships with major donors, and join the Executive Director in meetings as needed.
• Build and maintain relationships with major donors through regular communication and invitations to explore and engage with City Bureau’s work.
• Ensure effective management and use of data in donor stewardship, including through wealth screenings and donor profiling.
• Produce fundraisers and donor stewardship events to raise money and deepen relationships with major donors.
• Work with operations and finance staff to build out options and support for donors to make bequests and/or gifts of stock and other assets.
• Coach and manage board members to meet individual fundraising targets.
• Coordinate with the Communications Team to ensure alignment with marketing on support for awareness, education, and broad stewardship programs for major donors, and on the strategy, coordination, and alignment of grassroots marketing efforts.

Manage Team to Execute Development Strategy

• Manage team members to
  • Prepare all grant proposals and reports at the highest level of quality and on deadline
  • Maintain and leverage data related to giving, including grant reporting deadlines, funder and donor communications, and regular giving campaigns.
  • Lead the completion of award applications for City Bureau’s work.
  • Consult with City Bureau network/coalition partners to strengthen their fundraising practices, especially in consulting relationships that tie to City Bureau’s earned revenue (e.g., sharing fundraising resources with Documenters Networks).
  • Set and execute on grassroots donor and membership campaign goals

• Full time with benefits package including health care, dental, vision, life insurance
• Employer sponsored 401k plans, with 100% employer match up to 4% of salary
• $1,000 annual technology and work tools allowance
• $1,000 professional development allowance
• More than 75 days off annually, including:
  • 15 days paid vacation
  • 12 sick days and 6 personal days
  • Time off for your birthday
  • 14 company holidays each year, which may be exchanged for employees who celebrate other holidays
  • Week-long office closure at the end of the year
  • A 4.5-day week for most of the year. For three months during the summer, City Bureau operates on a 4-day work week.
• Work from home options: City Bureau has a central office in Chicago and requires some in-person meetings and work sessions. This is a hybrid role based in Chicago.
• A culture of intentional professional development and organizational learning: City Bureau staff hold regular share outs to learn from one another and regular community check-ins to connect and surface feedback on policies and practices.