Director of Development

Location: Brooklyn, NY – On-Site
Employment Type: Full-Time, Exempt
Schedule: Monday–Friday, Standard Business Hours
Salary: Based on Experience

Position Overview

A vibrant community-based nonprofit organization is seeking a commercially minded Director of Development to build and lead a disciplined, data-driven, and accountable fundraising operation.

The Director will have two primary mandates: strengthen the strategy, infrastructure, and support that enable Board and lay leadership to successfully raise significant funds within the community, while also developing new revenue from corporations, foundations, family offices, government funding, sponsorships, institutional partners, and other opportunities.

This is both a leadership and hands-on individual contributor role. The Director will own the organization's development strategy and fundraising goals while personally researching prospects, developing proposals, managing the fundraising pipeline, and participating in donor and partner conversations.

Key Responsibilities Fundraising Strategy & Growth

• Own the annual and multi-year development plan and take accountability for achieving fundraising goals.
• Build and manage a disciplined fundraising pipeline from prospect identification through cultivation, solicitation, commitment, and collection.
• Develop a diversified fundraising strategy that strengthens community giving while expanding outside revenue sources.
• Design and manage digital donor acquisition funnels across email, social media, and web landing pages.
• Develop strategies to convert prospective donors into recurring contributors.
• Evaluate fundraising opportunities based on potential revenue, probability, required investment, and strategic fit.
• Partner with Finance to maintain visibility into pledges, payments, and outstanding commitments.
• Develop strategies to reduce the time between donor pledges and payment.

Board & Community Fundraising

• Develop the strategy, structure, tools, and accountability needed to support successful Board and lay-led fundraising.
• Translate existing relationships and community connections into actionable fundraising plans.
• Establish clear prospect ownership, recommended asks, next steps, and follow-up.
• Partner with the CEO, Board President, and other leadership to identify and prioritize prospective donors.
• Determine the appropriate strategy and solicitor for major fundraising opportunities.
• Prepare Board members and other solicitors for donor conversations with research, giving history, relationship context, talking points, and recommended ask strategies.
• Track fundraising activity and ensure opportunities continue moving through the pipeline.
• Participate in and, when appropriate, directly lead fundraising conversations.

Institutional Giving & New Revenue

• Develop new revenue opportunities with corporations, foundations, family offices, government agencies, and other funding partners.
• Manage the complete grant lifecycle, including prospecting, qualification, applications, submissions, reporting, and renewals.
• Identify and pursue appropriate government funding opportunities.
• Coordinate government applications, relationships, reporting, and compliance as needed.
• Develop sponsorship opportunities around programs, events, facilities, audiences, and community reach.
• Collaborate with program and organizational leaders to identify initiatives that may attract outside funding.
• Continuously identify new partnerships and revenue opportunities.

Development Operations, Data & Technology

• Establish and maintain the CRM, prospect data, and reporting infrastructure needed to effectively manage fundraising.
• Implement consistent processes for prospect management, gift tracking, and donor follow-up.
• Build and manage a disciplined pledge collection process.
• Track outstanding commitments, aging, follow-up, and escalation.
• Develop a consistent donor stewardship and engagement strategy designed to strengthen relationships and improve retention.
• Use technology, automation, and AI to improve prospect research, relationship mapping, grant discovery, reporting, and team productivity.
• Establish meaningful fundraising KPIs.
• Maintain accurate fundraising forecasts and identify potential performance gaps early.
• Regularly report fundraising performance, pipeline activity, collections, risks, and opportunities to senior leadership.

Leadership & Cross-Functional Partnership

• Serve as the organization's internal leader on fundraising strategy and development.
• Partner closely with the CEO, Board leadership, Finance, Marketing, and program teams.
• Bring coordination, structure, and accountability to fundraising efforts across the organization.
• Build strong relationships with donors, prospective donors, partners, and community stakeholders.
• Navigate a close-knit, relationship-driven community with discretion, cultural sensitivity, and sound judgment.
• Operate effectively as both a strategic leader and hands-on contributor.

Key Performance Indicators

Success in this position will be measured through:

• Achievement of annual fundraising goals
• Cash collections against fundraising commitments
• Growth and quality of the fundraising pipeline
• Board and lay leadership fundraising effectiveness
• Corporate and institutional revenue growth
• Foundation and family office funding
• Government funding
• Sponsorship revenue
• Donor retention and stewardship
• Pledge collection rates
• Aging of outstanding commitments
• Average time between pledge and payment
• Fundraising ROI and pipeline conversion
• Forecasting accuracy
• CRM and technology utilization

Qualifications

• 7+ years of relevant experience in development, fundraising, institutional advancement, partnerships, business development, or a related field.
• Demonstrated success building and executing fundraising or revenue-growth strategies.
• Experience supporting Board members, executives, senior leaders, or volunteers in successful fundraising efforts.
• Demonstrated experience managing multi-channel digital fundraising campaigns.
• Experience with institutional giving, corporate partnerships, sponsorships, grants, and major gifts.
• Strong financial and analytical skills.
• Experience with pipeline management, forecasting, budgeting, and performance measurement.
• Strong project-management and organizational abilities.
• Excellent follow-through and accountability.
• Experience with nonprofit CRM platforms such as Bloomerang or comparable systems.
• Comfortable using data, technology, automation, AI, and modern fundraising tools.
• Excellent writing, presentation, and communication skills.
• Professional presence and sound judgment when working with significant donors and partners.
• Entrepreneurial approach with the ability to identify and develop new revenue opportunities.
• Ability to introduce structure and accountability into a relationship-driven environment.
• Willingness to personally execute fundraising activities rather than solely managing or delegating them.