Director of Development in Los Angeles, California at Los Angeles Education Partnership

Position Summary

LAEP is seeking an experienced and entrepreneurial Director of Development to strengthen and grow the organization’s fundraising program. This is a hands-on leadership role with responsibility for building a thoughtful, diversified fundraising strategy while also managing key donor and funder relationships.

Working closely with the CEO, the Director will lead institutional fundraising, strengthen individual and major giving, engage the Board and Fundraising Committee in meaningful fundraising activities, and identify opportunities to broaden LAEP’s philanthropic support.

The Director will lead a small, two-person development department and will build the systems, relationships, and practices to support LAEP’s growth over time. This role carries responsibility for leading the organization’s fundraising efforts to achieve approximately $1.9 million in annual revenue in the coming year and building the department’s capacity to raise $5 million annually within the next three to five years. This person must be comfortable with both setting strategy and executing critical work streams: developing proposals, meeting with donors, engaging with Board members, managing the fundraising pipeline, and meeting critical commitments and deadlines. As LAEP’s fundraising capacity and revenue grow, this role is expected to evolve, with greater emphasis on team leadership, portfolio management, and long-term fundraising strategy.

The ideal candidate will bring strong fundraising experience, sound judgment, initiative, and a collaborative approach. They will be able to see the big picture while also staying close to the details and will be energized by the opportunity to build something rather than inherit an established development department.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Development Strategy and Revenue Diversification

• Partner with the CEO to set achievable and ambitious fundraising goals that address the needs of our programming and translate them into an annual fundraising plan and longer-term development strategy.
• Evaluate LAEP’s current fundraising activities, identify the opportunities with the greatest potential, and focus the team’s time and resources accordingly.
• Build and strengthen the systems, processes, tools, and practices needed to support a growing fundraising program.
• Collaborate with Finance to develop accurate fundraising projections and regularly monitor progress against goals, pipeline, and revenue expectations.
• Use fundraising data and results to understand what is working, where there are gaps, and where adjustments are needed.
• Collaborate with the Marketing & Communications and the Evaluation, Accountability and Impact teams to develop inspirational messaging and collateral to use with funders.

Institutional Funding and Grants Leadership

• Lead relationships and fundraising strategies for a portfolio of foundation, corporate, and government funders, with a focus on securing significant and multi-year support. Identify, pursue and steward funding opportunities in partnership with relevant stakeholders.
• Supervise the Grants Specialist and establish clear priorities, roles, timelines, and processes for the grants function.
• Through direct supervision of the Grants Specialist and in coordination with Finance and program directors, oversee proposal budgeting, grant compliance and reporting, restricted funding tracking, and renewal preparation.
• Ensure proposals and reports are accurate, compelling, timely, and aligned with funder expectations and LAEP’s priorities and values.
• Maintain a clear picture of institutional commitments, upcoming deadlines, funding opportunities, risks, and renewal prospects.

Donor Cultivation and Portfolio Management

• Build and manage a portfolio of high-priority prospective and current donors, with a focus on developing relationships that lead to meaningful and sustained support.
• Personally cultivate, solicit, and steward donors, working closely with the CEO and Board members when their relationships or leadership can move an opportunity forward.
• Develop strategies for engaging individual prospects and donors and track next steps to continuously build relationships with donors.
• Prepare the CEO, Board members, and other LAEP ambassadors for donor meetings and other fundraising opportunities with the information and context they need to be successful.

Board Engagement

• Partner with the CEO, Board, and Fundraising Committee to strengthen the Board’s role in fundraising and establish clear, realistic expectations for participation.
• Support Board members to identify where their relationships, influence, and personal connections can be helpful to LAEP’s fundraising efforts.
• Share regular updates on fundraising progress and opportunities with the board to maintain momentum from initial introduction through follow-up and stewardship.
• Track Board fundraising activity and provide the follow-through and support needed to turn individual Board participation into broader fundraising results.

Qualifications

• 8–10 years of progressively responsible fundraising and development experience in a nonprofit or other mission-driven organization.
• Demonstrated success in building and growing a development program, department, or team.
• Experience cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding foundation, corporate, and individual donors; developing compelling proposals and budgets; managing grants and reporting requirements; securing renewals; and advancing prospects into long-term funding partners.
• Experience working directly with executive leaders and engaging Board members in fundraising.
• Experience managing and developing staff while also remaining comfortable with hands-on fundraising responsibilities.
• Strong financial and organizational skills, including experience with fundraising budgets, projections, databases, and pipeline management.
• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university in a related field.

Application Requirement:
Please include a resume and a brief cover letter explaining why you are a strong fit for this position. We review cover letters to identify highly motivated and serious candidates, so complete applications are required for consideration.