Director of Development

About the Role

Action in Africa (AIA) is looking for a strategic, relationship-driven Director of Development to lead our fundraising program and build the revenue engine that will support our next stage of growth. At its core, this role is responsible for designing and implementing a comprehensive fundraising strategy spanning major gifts, annual and donor campaigns, corporate sponsorships, grants, and special events.

This is a hands-on leadership role. Approximately 60% of the Director’s time will focus on campaigns, grant strategy and oversight, stewardship, development operations, board partnership, events, team leadership, and organizational planning. The remaining 40% of time will be devoted to cultivating current donors and identifying, qualifying, and engaging new donors.

What You'll Do

• Manage and grow a portfolio of individual donors and prospects, with particular attention to mid-tier and major-gift opportunities and long-term relationships
• Create individualized cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies that move donors toward deeper engagement and increased investment
• Identify and qualify new prospects through research, referrals, board and community networks, events, and other relationship-building channels
• Secure and lead donor meetings, prepare briefing materials and proposals, make direct asks, and coordinate meaningful follow-up
• Build a disciplined moves-management rhythm with clear next steps, contact reports, pipeline reviews, and revenue projections
• Partner with the ED, board members, and program leaders to connect donors with the people, programs, outcomes most relevant to their interests
• Strengthen donor retention and upgrade strategies through timely, personalized, and mission-centered stewardship
• Design and execute an integrated annual fundraising plan encompassing major gifts, annual and year-end giving, donor campaigns, corporate sponsorships, grants, and special events
• Own campaign strategy and execution, including goals, audience segmentation, messaging coordination, timelines, outreach, follow-up, and performance review
• Support AIA's grant strategy and institutional funding cycle, including prospect identification, cultivation, proposal development, submissions, reporting, compliance, and funder stewardship, along internal grant team.
• Partner closely with staff and external contributors supporting grant writing to ensure proposals are compelling, accurate, timely, and aligned with program priorities and measurable outcomes
• Develop corporate and institutional partnerships that align philanthropic interests with AIA's priorities
• Equip and engage board members in fundraising through prospect identification, introductions, cultivation, stewardship, and ambassador support
• Oversee team members responsible for maintaining accurate donor records, gift documentation, acknowledgments, dashboards, and reports in AIA's CRM
• Contribute to revenue planning, budgeting, forecasting, and capital campaign readiness with organizational leadership

Leadership & Team Management

• Supervise and develop 1-3 development team members, establishing clear priorities, ownership, performance expectations, and opportunities for professional growth
• Create an effective team rhythm through regular one-on-one meetings, pipeline and campaign reviews, collaborative planning, and timely feedback
• Coordinate fundraising activity across leadership, programs, finance, communications, and the board so donor commitments, grant requirements, and campaign deliverables are well managed

What You Bring

• A relationship-centered approach and demonstrated success building trust with individual donors, institutional funders, corporate partners, board members, and colleagues
• Confidence making direct asks and moving opportunities from identification through cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship
• A balance of strategic thinking and disciplined execution, with the ability to turn plans into measurable activity and results
• Strong judgment, emotional intelligence, discretion, follow-through, and respect for community-led work
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to translate program impact into a compelling case for support

What Success Looks Like

• A qualified donor pipeline with consistent movement, credible revenue forecasts, and increased donor engagement
• Annual and year-end campaigns delivered on schedule with clear goals, coordinated execution, disciplined follow-up, and post-campaign analysis
• A coordinated grants pipeline and reporting calendar that supports strong proposals, responsible stewardship, and durable funder relationships
• A high-performing development team with clear goals, accountability, collaboration, and consistent coaching
• Meaningful fundraising roles for board members and increased participation in cultivation and stewardship

Work Schedule

This is a full-time, exempt position at a weekly minimum of 36 hours. The Director will coordinate a consistent schedule with the Executive Director to support donor engagement and team collaboration. Occasional evening or weekend donor activities and travel may be required.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• At least five years of progressively responsible nonprofit fundraising or development experience, including direct responsibility for cultivating and soliciting individual donors
• Demonstrated success securing gifts, developing a prospect pipeline, and advancing revenue goals
• Experience planning and executing multi-channel fundraising campaigns
• Demonstrated experience leading grant strategy or overseeing successful institutional proposals, reports, compliance, and funder stewardship
• Prior experience supervising and developing staff, setting goals, and creating accountability across a small team
• Strong project-management skills and comfort using a donor CRM and data to manage activity, evaluate results, and inform decisions
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with corporate sponsorships and capital campaign planning
• Experience working across international teams
• Experience with national and international fundraising platforms and pipeline management

Confidentiality

Employees in this role will have access to confidential donor and organizational information and will be required to sign Action in Africa's Proprietary Information and Confidentiality Agreement as a condition of employment.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Action in Africa is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

At-Will Employment

Employment with Action in Africa is at-will, meaning either the employee or the organization may terminate the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause or notice, in accordance with applicable law.

• 18 days PTO (includes sick and vacation) + 13 Federal and company Holidays
• Half day Fridays
• Significant employer contribution toward health insurance benefits coverage
• Ability to travel to Uganda after six months with the company
• Parental leave policy after six months with the company