Director of Development

Position Title: Director of Development

Position Information/Duration: Full-Time

Salary Range: $125,000 - $145,000

Location and Position Type: Hybrid, Washington, DC

Reports To: Deputy Director

About Us

Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop builds community to foster personal development and systems change for justice-involved youth and adults through the literary arts, workforce development, trauma healing, peace-building, and member-led advocacy. We envision a DC where Black and Latine communities have abundant access to resources for healing, growth, creative expression, love, and connection. In our future, mass incarceration no longer exists.

About the Role

Free Minds seeks a talented Director of Development (DOD) to plan and implement a $3M+ fund development program that includes individual, institutional, private, and public giving strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability of the organization. The DOD will report to the Deputy Director (DD) and will work in close partnership with the Executive Director (ED) as well as the Board of Directors, specifically the Board’s Development Committee and supervise the Development and Communications Specialist (FTE), a communications intern, and contractors, when applicable. This is a hybrid position, spending approximately 40% of your time (2 days) each week in the office. Occassional nights and weekends are required.

The DOD position is both strategic and tactical and is responsible for directing all fundraising strategy including updating, managing, and executing the Free Minds annual development plan. The ideal candidate has a clear grasp of all core components of development, with particularly strong experience in individual giving, including major gifts, stewardship, and annual giving campaigns (direct mail and digital). This role requires experience with development operations, including CRM management and budget building. The DOD will interface frequently with donors and funders and will be a partner to the Deputy Director and ED in prospecting, developing, and stewarding all major funders. Successful applicants will be hard working, strategic, creative, flexible, and collaborative.

The DOD can expect her/his/their work to include:

Leadership and Development Strategy

• Offer initial input on fundraising goals for annual budget, based on past performance and future opportunity.
• Primary Point of Contact with the Board of Directors, especially Development Committee members, including managing the board fundraising efforts.
• Manage and execute the development and stewardship plans to achieve revenue goals, and update these plans annually with new ideas, industry best practices, and data-driven analysis.
• Ensure a robust gift pipeline big enough to hit annual revenue goals by actively managing prospective and current individual donors, and working with the Development and Communications Specialist on the foundation grant pipeline.
• Contribute positively to organizational culture and reflect Free Minds’ values.

Individual Giving

• Direct and project manage the Deputy Director, ED & Board’s fundraising work by researching and designing moves management plans for major individual donors.
• Energetically and proactively cultivate and nurture relationships between donors and donor prospects at all giving levels.
• Manage and develop existing initiatives, appeals, and campaigns focused on targeting new donors and stewarding and increasing the gifts of existing donors.
• Help develop creative and mission-focused fundraising messaging and materials that effectively articulate Free Minds’ impact.
• With the support of the Development and Communications Specialist, ensure Free Minds is consistently using the CRM and adhering to a common logic.
• Execute Free Minds stewardship plan to ensure donors of all levels receive consistent communications and can stay engaged with the organization.

Foundation & Institutional Funding

• In collaboration with the Development and Communications Specialist, develop and maintain a robust pipeline of current and potential funders, including stewarding current relationships and identifying and researching prospects.
• Support the Development and Communications Specialist’s work writing all grant applications and reports.
• Interface with program staff to ensure the relevant outcome and impact data is collected and included.
• Work with the Deputy Director and ED in building personal relationships with foundation funders.
• Develop a prospect list of non-foundation institutional funders who could support Free Minds with sponsorships, in-kind donations, or through employee engagement opportunities.

Development Operations and Revenue Tracking

• Establish and monitor annual and long-term revenue goals and budgets.
• Ensure all development systems – CRM, online donation page, and email system – are all operational and working together.
• In conjunction with finance, support monthly reconciliations for all revenue streams.
• Develop standard operating procedures for high-quality gift entry and revenue tracking, to ensure accuracy of all records and development reports in the organization’s CRM (Network for Good).

About You

To be maximally successful in this role, you need to have:

• A commitment to advancing antiracism, equity, and inclusion
• A keen awareness of multiple group identities and their attendant dynamics and ability to consistently bring a high level of self-awareness, empathy, and social skills to work and interpersonal interactions
• Experience with philanthropic communities and interests in the greater DC regio
• Excellent writing, editing, and organizational skills, and the ability to communicate in compelling ways to a wide range of stakeholders
• Excellent time management skills with a proven ability to meet deadlines
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent supervisory and leadership skills
• Ability to prioritize tasks and to delegate them when appropriate
• Ability to analyze and communicate data
• Experience using Network for Good as a CRM preferred but not required

You need to have:

• A minimum of 7 years of nonprofit development experience
• A minimum of 3 years of nonprofit management experience leading a team of development and communications professionals
• Demonstrable experience and success as a fundraising generalist, with hands-on practice at major gifts, annual giving, online giving campaigns, institutional giving/grant writing, corporate partnership building, and special events
• The ability to communicate easily, respectfully, and sensitively with stakeholders of all ages, generations, ethnicities, and socio-economic backgrounds
• Experience managing and improving development operations, ranging from CRM management to budget monitoring to gift processing
• Enthusiasm to propose fresh ideas without prompting by leadership, openness to feedback on those ideas, and a persistence to bring those ideas to life
• A passion for doing transformative work with exceptional people while not taking yourself too seriously
• A “teamwork” mindset and the ability to work cooperatively and effectively with others to set goals, resolve problems, and make decisions that enhance organizational effectiveness

About Compensation and Benefits

• • Salary range is $125,000 - $145,000 commensurate with experience
  • Free Minds offers generous vacation time, all Federal Government holidays, medical and dental insurance for employees, equipment (laptop, printer, etc.), transportation subsidy, and a 401(k) plan with company matching contributions. We also offer an inclusive environment where staff are encouraged to bring their whole selves to work every day.
  • Free Minds operates on a flexible work policy that requires employees to spend time at its DC office, but also enables them to work at home for some of the working week, depending on the needs of the job.

How to Apply

Candidates should send a resume and cover letter to jobs@freemindsbookclub.org with Director of Development in the subject line.

Free Minds does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, ethnicity, religion, national origin, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, gender, marital status, disability, or status as a US veteran. DC natives and people of color are encouraged to apply.