Development Director, Eastern Regions

Reading Partners is changing the education landscape. We are a leader in working to solve the literacy crisis in our country by leveraging community volunteers in under-resourced schools. Our diverse and expansive volunteer base provides one-on-one tutoring to students twice weekly, and our program is proven to help children master the reading fundamentals they need to unlock their potential as successful, happy, and confident readers in school and in life. Our people are our heartbeat and our greatest resource; we are all passionately rallied around our mission to help children become lifelong learners by empowering communities to provide individualized instruction that truly works. Join our stellar, committed team leading the charge to deepen our impact and expand our service. Watch this video to learn more about the mission and core tutoring work of Reading Partners.

The high level:

The Development Director (DD) is part of a team of fundraisers and relationship builders with a portfolio of regions working together to support Reading Partners’ strategic plan. The Development Director’s main roles are to create and implement the overarching regional fundraising strategy, lead cultivation and stewardship of many high-level external relationships, and lead, develop, and mobilize local support to achieve ambitious fundraising goals. Reporting directly to the Chief Regional Officer, with support from the National Development team and the Vice President of Regions, the Development Director creatively develops, leads and drives ambitious fundraising strategy, board management in close partnership with the Executive Director(s), and new fundraising generation.

As a trusted advisor and strategic thought partner to the Executive Director(s), the DD is a leader who catalyzes regional growth as a resource mobilizer, as a fundraising and external relations expert, and as a savvy people leader and relationship builder. They will work within a team of three Development Directors supporting up to two regions. This role will entail periodic travel to various areas. The Development Director will lead fundraising efforts for our Mid-Atlantic and South Carolina regions.

This role is hybrid and requires candidates to be located in or near Baltimore, MD, Washington, DC, or South Carolina (Charleston Metropolitan Area)​​​​​​​ upon their start date. The ideal employee is located in or near Baltimore, MD, Washington, DC, or South Carolina (Charleston Metropolitan Area)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​.

What you’ll do:

Each year, create, lead, and drive overarching fundraising strategy, operational plans, and all revenue activities to meet or exceed the fundraising goal for the assigned portfolio .

• Manage a portfolio of existing and new foundation, corporate, and individual relationships to meet annual fundraising goals by end of fiscal year.
  • Maintain, renew, and upgrade current portfolio of donors
  • Own, develop and implement innovative strategies to increase support from new funding streams
  • Create a fundraising strategic plan for the next 3-5 years
• Drive regional external relations and organizational brand awareness within portfolio
  • Grow prospects and pipeline for major individual donors
  • Increase corporate giving partnerships by 10%
  • Steward local fundraising events
• Support Board and partner engagement and stewardship
  • Build and support a highly invested board in local regions
  • Manage annual Board fundraising planning and goal achievement for each region in the portfolio
  • Work collaboratively with the Board and partners to expand the supporter network
  • Develop high-quality, mission-aligned email and social media content to steward donors and grow brand awareness
• Drive development operations activities to achieve high levels of data integrity, customer service, and communication
  • Project manage all event and solicitation logistics, including annual fundraising event and annual appeal
  • Oversee development systems and track progress against goals in Salesforce
  • Produce reports and data to drive streamlined communication

Other duties as needed.

How you’ll do it:

Relationship Development:

• Demonstrate experience in external relations and relationship development. Regularly deliver convincing messaging and tailored experiences. Demonstrate a genuine joy in connecting with donors, and all external stakeholders.
• Internally, establish highly collaborative relationships with all team members. Demonstrate a hunger to learn, grow, support, and add great value. Regularly seek to understand all aspects of our model to convey externally.

Strategic Planning:

• Demonstrate an ability to devise innovative regional strategic fundraising plans, create action steps, and mobilize many stakeholders to achieve fundraising goals. Build sustainable plans to maximize market opportunities, meet goals and significantly grow funding. In addition, leverage systems, people, and resources to drive processes and track progress against goals to report on progress to senior leadership and board. Execute work in a highly organized, analytical, and data-informed manner.

New Revenue Generation:

• Demonstrate a proficient ability to conduct research, to prospect, and to drive ongoing external development efforts. Demonstrate excitement to steward and leverage relationships that result in meeting or exceeding target fundraising goals. Boast an entrepreneurial spirit and actively seek to deepen current donor relationships and forge new ones.

External Relations and Communication:

• Effectively write high-quality donor communications that demonstrate deep knowledge of our program and promote our mission. Demonstrate the ability to write customized and compelling grant reports, proposals and letters of intent. Through exceptional writing, serve as an ambassador of Reading Partners.
• Externally, serve as an ambassador of Reading Partners. Quickly establish credibility when promoting Reading Partners to external audiences. Demonstrate a high degree of comfort and poise with donors, corporations, and prospects.

Operations Management:

• Demonstrate a proficient ability to conduct research, to prospect, and to drive ongoing development efforts in rapidly growing organizations.
• Demonstrate a strong detail orientation, accuracy, and ability to develop compelling reports and communications to be used internally and externally. Execute all work in a highly organized, analytical, and data driven manner.

People Leadership:

• Positively collaborate with the regional staff team to meet and exceed aggressive fundraising goals. Consistently coach, grow, and create stretch assignments to develop future fundraising leaders from within.

About you!

You’ll be successful in this role if you:

• Are achievement-oriented and have a demonstrated track record of achieving significant fundraising goals
• Have 7+ years of increasing responsibility in a development or related role
• Track record of building strong and productive relationships with regional/national philanthropic organizations and individual donors
• Have demonstrated experience in planning, leading, and managing development projects, to achieve desired outcomes, and tracking and reporting on progress to leaders
• Are skilled at relationship development within the fundraising community, among peers, and internal/external stakeholders
• Have a high degree of comfort with Salesforce or other fundraising databases
• Can demonstrate experience managing virtual and in-person fundraising events
• Are an exceptional and persuasive communicator in written and verbal communication
• Have experience in fundraising marketing and/or campaign communications
• Hold a Bachelor’s degree and/or equivalent experience
• Demonstrate a commitment to fostering a dynamic and collaborative work environment
• Display a deep belief in our mission and root your work in our core values
• Ability to prove eligibility to work legally in the U.S. and that you are at least 18 years of age

Bonus Points if you:

• Are an AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, or other national service alum/alumna
• Have experience working in re-launch or growth phases of organizations

What We Offer:

Reading Partners’ compensation and benefits programs are designed to attract, motivate, engage, and retain top talent to propel our mission forward. We aim to set salaries based on objective, external, high-quality market data. Our salaries are adjusted for candidates in different geographic regions. We do our very best to ensure that we’re bringing our best offer - therefore we do not engage in salary negotiations.

Compensation: The pay range for this position is $109,613 - $128,956 and is contingent on geographic location. After applying, candidates who move forward in the hiring process are provided with the salary for their geographical location.

Our benefits: We offer a comprehensive benefits program intentionally crafted to support employees and their families with physical, mental, and financial health:

• Health & Insurance Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision insurance with substantial employer contributions toward both employee and family premiums; life and disability insurance at no cost to employees; and a free Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Pre-Tax Medical Support: Significant pre-tax employer funding to help offset employees’ out-of-pocket medical expenses, including providing first dollar coverage for some plan options.
• Mental Health Support: Spring Health for easy access to therapy, coaching, and wellness resources, including six sessions provided at no cost to employees.
• Inclusive Health Support: Carrot for guidance and support related to hormonal health, fertility, family-building, and gender-affirming services.
• Retirement Benefits: 403(b) retirement plan with immediate eligibility to participate and to receive employer matching contributions.
• Paid Time Off: Flexible Paid Time Off (Unlimited PTO) and Paid Parental Leave for up to 8 weeks for birth and non-birth parents.
• Holidays & Office Closures: 14 paid holidays annually, plus one week of office closure in early July and two weeks in late December.
• Culture & Growth: A dynamic, mission-driven culture with a strong commitment to employee development and career growth.

The other things you need to know:

• This is a hybrid-based role. The ideal employee is located in or near Baltimore, MD, Washington, DC, or South Carolina (Charleston Metropolitan Area)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​.
• Travel: This position requires occasional travel to regions in the Development Director’s portfolio.