Senior Director of Development in Chesapeake, Virginia at Neighborhood

Neighborhood
Chesapeake, VA |
Reports to Chief Executive Officer

Neighborhood is building a new model for economic mobility.

We do not simply prepare individuals for jobs. We are closing the structural gap between underserved communities and regional employers by redesigning how opportunity, capital, and workforce systems align. Our work strengthens people, reshapes systems, and mobilizes investment to ensure living wage career pathways are not rare exceptions but expected outcomes.

Our long-term vision is to build a regional economic mobility engine capable of measurably increasing income levels across Hampton Roads. We are building toward a scalable model of 3 to 5 million dollars in annual revenue within the next three to five years in order to expand program capacity, deepen employer partnerships, strengthen capital resilience, and extend the Economic Access Initiative across the region.

At the center of our expansion is the Economic Access Initiative. The Economic Access Initiative is Neighborhood’s broader strategy to align workforce systems, employers, capital, and community investment in a way that increases income mobility at scale. It is not simply a program. It is an ecosystem strategy designed to influence how opportunity flows across a region.

With a 2026 revenue budget of 1.2 million dollars, Neighborhood is entering a defining stage of growth. We are seeking a Senior Director of Development who is ready to help build the capital engine required for this next chapter.

The Senior Director of Development is a senior leader responsible for leading and executing Neighborhood’s fundraising strategy in close partnership with the CEO.

This role focuses on building and scaling a major donor centered revenue engine while strengthening foundation and corporate philanthropic partnerships. The Senior Director will manage a personal portfolio of major donors, drive donor pipeline growth, strengthen fundraising systems already in place, and help institutionalize fundraising as Neighborhood scales.

The Senior Director will operate as both strategist and operator. There is no large development department. This leader will help shape the plan, manage execution, optimize systems already built, and partner directly with the CEO as a key strategic leader in Neighborhood’s next stage of growth.

This is a hands-on senior leadership role inside a growth-stage organization preparing for regional scale.

Within the first 24 months, the Senior Director of Development will:

• Expand the major donor base from a small core group into a resilient portfolio of committed partners
• Secure multi-year commitments that significantly increase financial predictability
• Increase donor retention and average gift size
• Establish disciplined forecasting and reporting systems
• Activate the board as engaged partners in revenue strategy
• Help institutionalize fundraising so revenue strength is embedded in the organization, not concentrated in one individual
• Help build a capital strategy capable of supporting growth toward 3 to 5 million dollars in annual revenue

• Lead execution of a multi-year fundraising strategy aligned with organizational expansion
• Build annual fundraising plans with clear growth targets
• Lead revenue forecasting and dashboard reporting
• Align fundraising pacing with organizational growth priorities
• Identify capital gaps and help develop strategies to address them

Major gifts are the primary growth engine of Neighborhood.

• Design and lead a major donor program capable of supporting scale
• Manage a personal portfolio of high-capacity donors and prospects
• Secure new major gifts and multi-year commitments
• Build and manage a strong pipeline of qualified major donor prospects
• Partner closely with the CEO on top-tier cultivation and solicitation

• Lead foundation strategy and grants calendar
• Ensure competitive proposal development and reporting
• Cultivate long-term foundation partnerships
• Develop corporate philanthropic partnerships aligned with mission and systems change

This role focuses on strategic philanthropy, not event sponsorships.

• Oversee CRM integrity and moves management discipline
• Strengthen donor segmentation and stewardship systems
• Optimize fundraising systems already built
• Leverage automation and external consultants strategically
• Improve donor impact reporting and engagement cadence

• Partner directly with the CEO to prioritize fundraising focus
• Prepare the CEO for major donor meetings and solicitations
• Help develop a board fundraising engagement strategy
• Increase board participation and accountability in revenue growth efforts
• Help evolve the organization’s case for support as Neighborhood scales

• 7 or more years of senior-level fundraising leadership experience within nonprofit or mission-driven organizations
• Demonstrated success securing five and six figure gifts
• Experience managing a major donor portfolio
• Strong strategic planning and forecasting capability
• Comfort operating without a large internal development team
• Experience in growth-stage or entrepreneurial organizations preferred
• Alignment with dignity-centered, systems-aware approaches to economic mobility

• You think in scale, not survival
• You believe capital can accelerate systems change
• You are disciplined, metrics-driven, and relational
• You are comfortable building in motion
• You are energized by ambitious growth
• You are ready to help institutionalize what a founder has built

Salary: $105,000
Annual insurance stipend: $4,000

Neighborhood provides structured annual compensation increases, including performance-based step increases and cost-of-living adjustments, creating clear opportunity for salary growth as the organization expands.

PTO: 160 hours (20 days)

In addition to PTO, the office is closed:
• The full week of Thanksgiving
• Two full weeks at Christmas