Senior Director of Development

ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE: The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) protects people from toxic chemicals by working with communities, consumers, workers, government, and the private sector to demand and support business practices that are safe for public health and the environment. CEH believes that air, water, food, and the products we use every day should be free of dangerous and untested chemicals. We hold companies to account through public interest litigation, work together with institutions to implement environmentally preferable purchasing, and reform entire regulatory systems through policy. This is an organization of committed advocates who work together to protect the health of all people, including those who face disproportionate health effects of toxic chemicals caused by systemic racism and social injustice. 

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES: The Senior Director of Development (“SDoD”) provides dynamic leadership, brand awareness and storytelling, develops and executes fundraising strategy, and manages the Philanthropic Partnerships team. This entrepreneurial professional has experience and success in soliciting, stewarding, and securing major gifts, securing foundation grants, overseeing successful annual fund campaigns, soliciting corporate sponsorships, executing events, and managing development operations. The SDoD will lead a high-functioning development team called the Philanthropic Partnerships team. The SDoD will collaborate with program and communications staff to ensure that development language is compelling and factually correct to facilitate meaningful conversations with donors/funders. The SDoD works closely with the CEO and the CEH Board of Directors to devise and execute fundraising initiatives.  

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to: 

Strategic Vision and Planning 

• Develop and implement a comprehensive, annual, and multi-year fundraising strategy to grow philanthropic revenue and propel the growth and impact of CEH. 
• In collaboration with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), develop and articulate a strategic vision and annual advancement plan for the organization, aligning fundraising goals with program priorities and initiatives. Provide strong leadership to instill a culture of philanthropy and engagement across CEH. 
• Manage robust and diverse prospect pipelines for both major donors and institutional funders to enable long-term fundraising success. 
• Partner with the Board of Directors to energize and inspire board members in building a culture of philanthropy and cultivating new donors, funders, and friends to CEH. 

Direct Fundraising 

• Cultivate, solicit, and steward major gift donors and prospects, including foundations, corporate sponsors, and individuals.  
• Oversee foundation strategy, prospect pipeline development and management, and relationship management. 
• Spearhead donor outreach efforts, serving as the primary point of contact to, cultivating and strengthening relationships with existing and prospective donors, partners, and stakeholders. 
• Oversee mid-level, annual fund, and recurring donor campaigns that includes both print and digital appeals and stewardship.  
• Craft compelling fundraising language that inspires and mobilizes CEH supporters. 
• Ensure a results-oriented work environment, including the timely submission of high-quality grant applications and funding requests, adhering to all deadlines, and reporting requirements. 
• Attend industry and social gatherings to cultivate new relationships and increase CEH’s visibility. Clearly communicate the impact of philanthropic support to internal and external audiences through various channels. 

Development Operations  

• Oversee the Salesforce donor database, ensuring efficient tracking and timely acknowledgement of gifts. Utilize resulting data analytics to inform strategic decision-making and optimize fundraising efforts. 
• Support development staff in the creation of annual development metrics reports, forecast presentations, competitor analyses, and other presentations to the CEO, board, and staff. 
• Collaborate with the Senior Director of Finance and Operations in annual Development department planning, revenue forecasting, budgeting, quarterly reconciliation, and budget versus actual tracking.  

Organizational Leadership 

• As a key member of CEH’s senior staff, actively support organizational management initiatives in partnership with the CEO, including strategic planning, change management, project management, policy development, communications, board engagement, team-and-culture building activities, annual budgeting, and other special projects as needed.  
• Manage a four-person development team, directly supervising two staff members while coaching, mentoring, and supporting the professional growth of the entire team and integrating a diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice lens to internal processes to create a team culture of achievement, effectiveness and focus on organizational success 
• Lead the Philanthropic Partnerships team, including: 
• Organizing and supervising the team’s work streams to ensure high-quality deliverables, achieved objectives, and met timelines;   
• Creating and delivering high quality presentations, progress reports, briefings, or other materials to effectively communicate project status, recommendations, and/or findings to various audiences;  
• Act as a thought partner to Program Directors on how to raise funds for their respective programs and effectively message and propel forward their impact. 

NEEDED QUALIFICATIONS 

• Minimum of 10 years of development and major gifts experience across multiple revenue channels. Nonprofit fundraising experience is a plus. Bachelor’s degree required. Master’s or graduate degree is preferred. 
• Experience with sales, marketing, or strategic planning, either in management consulting or in a similarly demanding, fast-paced, and analytic environment; ability to look strategically at the big picture and search for insightful, creative solutions.  
• Experience with successful cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of strategic relationships with local, state, and national donors, foundations, corporations, and community partners.  
• Results-driven approach to fundraising with the ability to set and achieve concrete goals.  
• Demonstrated experience planning and implementing in-person fundraising events. 
• Excellent oral and written communication. Comfort with relationship-building and public speaking and a clear writing style are necessary.  
• Strong financial acumen and experience building and managing organizational-wide budgets, department budgets and forecasting philanthropic revenue. 
• Demonstrated experience working closely with governance and/or advisory boards. 
• Ability to thrive in team environments and work effectively in collaboration with diverse people  
• Experience managing high-performing teams, building a strong culture of success, professionalism, and accountability. 
• Enterprising person with a friendly demeanor. Positive and creative orientation. Willingness to take risks and hunger for innovation. 
• Database management experience (i.e., Salesforce or similar donor database a plus) 
• Comfort with modern technology and proficiency with Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint, Google Suite, Zoom, Teams, Asana, etc. 
• Knowledge of environmental health is preferred but not required. 
• Willingness and ability to travel within the Bay Area and up to 30% annually as needed and to work a varied schedule as needed on occasion including evenings and weekends.  

SALARY: 

CEH offers competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a supportive working environment. This position offers an extremely competitive salary based on a nonprofit scale and commensurate with skills and experience.  Our offices are open, and we are operating in a hybrid model. 

CEH is an equal opportunity employer. As an organization committed to diversity and the perspective of all voices, it considers applicants equally of race, gender, gender identity or expression, color, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, age, ability, personal appearance, family responsibilities, or national origin.  

APPLYING FOR THE JOB: 

Write/gather the following materials and send in a single PDF: 

• Cover letter 
• Resume 

Please merge these materials into a single PDF whose file name includes “Senior Director of Development” and your surname.  Then email that PDF to: jobs@ceh.org (subject line: Senior Director of Development). 

Write/gather the following materials and send in a single PDF: 

• Cover letter 
• Resume 

Please merge these materials into a single PDF whose file name includes “Senior Director of Development” and your surname.  Then email that PDF to: jobs@ceh.org (subject line: Senior Director of Development).