Director of Development – Baltimore

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 works. Join our stellar team leading the charge to deepen our impact and expand our service. Watch this video to learn more about Reading Partners.

The high level:

The Development Director (DD) is part of a team of fundraisers and relationship builders from across the regions and national office working together to support Reading Partners’ strategic growth 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 Executive Director in Baltimore, the Development Director creatively develops, leads and drives ambitious fundraising strategy, board management in close partnership with the Executive Director, and new fundraising generation. As a trusted advisor and strategic thought partner to the Executive Director, the Development Director is a senior leader in the region who catalyzes regional growth as a resource mobilizer, as a fundraising and external relations expert, and as a savvy people leader and relationship builder. 

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 of $1 million for the Baltimore region.

• Manage a portfolio of existing and new foundation, corporate, and individual relationships to meet annual fundraising goal by end of fiscal year. 
• Maintain, renew, and upgrade current portfolio of donors
• Support the region in raising 5% more than previous year revenue goal
• Own, develop and implement innovative strategies to increase support from new funding streams
• Create fundraising strategic plan for the next 3-5 years
  
  
• Drive regional external relations and local brand
• Grow prospects and pipeline for major individual donors
• Increase corporate giving partnerships by 10%
• Expand revenue, attendance, and participation in Reading Partners Baltimore’s annual Spelling Bee event
  
  
• Support Board and partner engagement and stewardship
• Build and support a highly invested board
• Manage annual Board fundraising planning and goal achievement
• Work collaboratively with Board and partners to expand supporter network
• Develop high-quality, mission-aligned email and social media content to steward donors and grow brand awareness 
• Lead and manage host committee for annual event

• 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 relationships 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 in rapidly growing organizations particularly in Baltimore. 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 particularly in Baltimore.
• 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 with internal/external stakeholders
• 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 
• A desire to root your work in our mission and core values
• Ability to prove eligibility to work legally in the U.S.
• COVID-19 vaccination is required unless a medical or religious accommodation is requested and approved. Please review our Vaccination Policy.

Bonus Points if you:

• Have a high degree of comfort with Salesforce or other fundraising databases
• Are an AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, or other national service alum/alumna
• Have experience working in launch or growth phases of organizations

What we offer:

Reading Partners offers the full package – great benefits, a great place to work and the opportunity to have a glowing and growing career. 

• This is a full-time, exempt, salaried position with an annual salary of $85,000. 
• We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, flex spending accounts, generous paid time off, commuter benefits, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and currently a 403(b) match option.
• We offer an exciting and dynamic culture, and we commit to investing in and supporting our amazing people to grow their careers with us.

The other things you need to know:

• Travel: This position travels occasionally throughout Baltimore City/County. This position may also involve occasional travel to Reading Partners’ National Headquarters in Oakland, CA. 

What’s Next?

If you’re interested in joining our Reading Partners team, please submit the following application materials to our online job posting:

• A cover letter describing your interest in Reading Partners and how your past experience has prepared you for this role. Please include your salary needs. 
• Resume