Sr. Director of Development

INTRODUCTION:

The Madison Area YMCA is an $18M human services organization employing 400 full- and part-time staff and serving more than 15,000 individual members and participants across Madison, the Chathams, Florham Park, and Harding Township. For more than 15 years, the Madison Area Y has worked to build a culture of philanthropy through which all members, staff and community understand that contributed revenue serves to strengthen the health, safety, wellbeing and inclusion of all. Following a successful $10M capital campaign, the Y opened a $20M expansion in 2021 that has driven consistent growth in operating revenue over the last four years. In 2024 the Y also completed a $1.6M capital expansion, supported with major gifts, of its F. M. Kirby Children’s Center to meet growth demands for early childhood education. These advancements have been made in alignment with the Y’s community service mission of advancing healthy living, youth development and social responsibility. The Y’s 2023-2028 strategic plan calls for broader wellness initiatives that focus on mental and emotional wellbeing, and outreach efforts that more fully engage lower income and newcomer communities, strengthening inclusion and belonging. The strategic plan also documents long-term sustainability in financial health and staff total compensation as top priorities. Efforts to advance strategic plan aspirations include completing a community needs assessment this year, the results of which will guide the growth of the Y’s philanthropy programs. Now in 2025, with growing demand for Y services and scholarship assistance, the Organization is poised to move its philanthropy initiatives to the next level under the direction of a dynamic new Development Senior Director.

POSITION SUMMARY:

In partnership with the President & CEO, the Development Senior Director leads and oversees all aspects of the Y’s philanthropy programs, operations, and initiatives in service to our community. With organizational growth continuing, the Y is working to strengthen its culture of philanthropy through a new philanthropy leader and team. The incumbent will be responsible for driving expanded member and donor engagement and growing contributed revenue through annual, capital, planned and other major gifts. The Senior Director is responsible for developing short- and long-term strategies for growing and sustaining foundation and corporate gifts and grants, establishing new relationships and strengthening partnerships with current foundation and corporate donors. Contributed revenue will help to grow direct scholarship assistance to low-income residents and to fund capital expansion, and the Organization’s endowment. The incumbent is a dynamic and visible organizational leader, promoting and advancing the goals of our strategic plan.

The incumbent is part of the CEO’s top leadership team, collaborating across the executive peer group, and with the Board of Directors on member and donor engagement and cultivation. The Senior Director is responsible for monitoring and measuring progress toward budgeted key performance indicators including engaging new donor prospects, campaign volunteers, and other community partners. The incumbent is also responsible for supervising the development staff, currently a Development Operations Specialist and a Grants and Major Gifts Associate. The Senior Director is also responsible for engaging, training, preparing and supporting management and staff across the organization in their active participation in our annual campaign. The incumbent participates as the lead executive with the Board Committees of Community Engagement and Board & Leadership Development.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Directing and supporting the work of the Development Operations Specialist and Grants and Major Gifts Associate, the incumbent is specifically accountable for the following.

MEMBER TO DONOR CULTIVATION

• Identifies strategies and techniques to convert members to donors, including cultivating new Y members.
• Performs as the lead Y executive in managing two key Board Committees: Board & Leadership Development and Community Engagement: planning action-oriented initiatives and moving them to implementation. Providing detailed profiles on individual candidate for key volunteer roles.

PROSPECT RESEARCH

• Using data from a comprehensive wealth screening report, drives prospect research and develops plans for appropriate outreach, engagement and cultivation, aligning these major gift prospects with appropriate giving opportunities.
• Identifies prospects for potential volunteer leadership positions: future board members, annual campaign, committee members.
• Assures the ongoing maintenance and updates to the Y’s donor and member databases, and its online giving portal, assuring that appropriate donor data is current and accurately maintained.

CAMPAIGN AND MAJOR GIFTS COORDINATION

• Manages a portfolio of the top 20, next 30 and next 50 major donor prospects for capital campaigns, including research, outreach, engagement, visits and other connections moving along the major gift continuum. With the CEO, manages and advances a portfolio of major gift prospects and donors.
• For annual, capital, and planned giving campaigns, lead the prospect research, engagement, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship required in the major gifts moves management cycle.
• Works with Marketing and Communications partners to produce materials and tools to communicate regularly with members, donors, supporters and donor prospects.
• Manages and monitors multiple cultivation and solicitor schedules for other Y management team members, assuring that donor and prospect visits and contacts are scheduled and completed as planned.
• With the Development team, assures that documentation and follow-through actions (communications, conversations, solicitations, responses, etc.) are documented in the fundraising database.
• With the Development team, designs, schedules, plans and manages a range of special events, including awareness raising, fundraising and donor stewardship.

DONOR MANAGEMENT & STEWARDSHIP

• Designs, develops and implements an ongoing donor stewardship program focused on donors at every level.
• Works with Marketing and Communications partners to produce materials and tools to communicate regularly with donors, supporters and potential allies.
• Identifies opportunities to network with donors and prospects and engages members of the staff and board as appropriate to make the most of those opportunities.
• Maintains consistent quality communications with donors in coordination with the staff and the Board.
• Ensure that timely and effective gift acknowledgements follow each gift.
• Identifies and implements opportunities for donor recognition, stewardship, and appreciation.

GRANTS & PROPOSALS

• Working through the Grants & Major Gifts Associate, oversee the development, execution, reporting and stewardship of all grants and written proposals, including monitoring and producing timely grant reports, applying a long-term major donor relationship-management approach to all grantors.
• Through the Grants Associate, oversee the maintenance of the grants reporting schedule and an efficient and effective grants tracking and reporting system.
• Develops and maintains an ongoing donor stewardship process for individual donors and foundation/corporate donors, managing the donors’ recognition and mission impact requests.

ORGANIZATION LEADERSHIP

• Build and maintain positive, effective working relationships with members, staff, program participants, community members, donors, and Board and Committee members.
• Build and strengthen relationships between our Y and community organizations through meaningful collaborations and partnership opportunities.
• In collaboration with program directors and operations executives, represent the Y and Development Team at Community Events and promote the Y as a cause driven organization that addresses the needs of our community.
• Participate as appropriate in professional development opportunities and training such as the NJ Financial Development Network and NAYDO.

Additional Duties as Assigned to All Employees

YMCA LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES: ORGANIZATIONAL LEADER

Mission Advancement: Incorporates the Y’s mission and values into the organization’s vision and strategies. Ensures community engagement; promotes the global nature of the Y. Leads a culture of volunteerism ensuring engagement, inclusion, and ownership. Leads a culture of philanthropy.

Collaboration: Advocates for and institutionalizes inclusion and diversity throughout the organization. Initiates the development of relationships with influential leaders to impact and strengthen the community. Is recognized as an inspirational community leader who navigates complex political and social circles with ease. Communicates to engage and inspire people within and outside the YMCA. Ensures that a talent management system is in place and executed effectively.

Operational Effectiveness: Possesses penetrating insight and strong strategic and critical thinking skills. Invests resources in well-designed innovation initiatives. Creates a structure to deliver organization-wide results to achieve objectives. Develops and implements stewardship strategies. Determines benchmarks and ensures appropriate leadership to meet objectives.

Personal Growth: Creates a learning organization. Effectively drives change by leveraging resources and creating alignment to expand organizational opportunities. Shares authority and demonstrates courage and humility. Has the functional and technical knowledge and skills required to perform well; uses best practices and demonstrates up-to-date knowledge and skills in technology.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree. Advanced degree and/or certifications in development preferred.
• Demonstrated results-oriented fundraising leader supervising staff and working in collaborative environments with peers, colleagues, donor prospects and board members to reach fundraising goals.
• Five or more years of professional experience in philanthropy and successful major gift fundraising, working with major donors and planning and implementing special events and campaigns, managing operating budgets and donor databases.
• Capital campaign and planned giving experience required.
• Proficiency in managing fundraising databases, generating reports on giving and other key performance indicators.
• Ability to effectively engage with top community leaders and diverse groups from all social and economic segments of the community.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written communication.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• Ability to work in with irregular work hours including evenings and weekends.
• Ability to walk, stand, and sit for long periods of time while maintaining alertness for several hours at a time. May also require bending, kneeling, leaning.
• Potential exposure to communicable diseases and bodily fluids is possible. Able to administer first aid.
• Must be able to lift and carry up to 30 pounds.
• Ability to speak concisely and effectively communicate.
• Visual and auditory ability to respond to critical situations and physical ability to act swiftly in an emergency.