Background: The Kindezi School is a non-profit grassroots elementary charter school in Atlanta that is focused on academic rigor, holistic development, and serving children living in underserved neighborhoods. Through innovative approaches to school organization, The Kindezi School has created a unique academic program in which class sizes range from 6 to 8 students each.

Partly because of our small class-sizes, Kindezi already has a strong track record of growth in both academic and socio-emotional development indicators. While serving a high poverty population, Kindezi is one of Atlanta’s top 10 elementary schools, as measured by standardized tests. Furthermore, the rate of disciplinary problems per week has decreased each year by roughly 50% even as the student population has increased.

The Kindezi School is looking to build on its current success and will attempt to open a second school in 2015 using the same model and the same nonprofit entity. There are currently 163 students at Kindezi but there are already 500+ students on our waitlists. Our aim is to make schools like Kindezi—with its small classes, strong teachers, and superior results—available to any parent who wants it for their child.

General Job Description: The primary responsibility of the Fund Development Manager is to ensure the continued success and growth of The Kindezi School’s fund development program.  The Fund Development manager will oversee the development and management of donor cultivation and management activities, annual giving, grant writing, special events and related relationship-building activities. The Fund Development Manager will report to the Principal of the school.

Primary Responsibilities:
-Write and implement an effective fund development plan to meet the mission and priorities of the school, including strategies for individual giving (annual appeal, special events), corporate sponsorship, workplace giving, foundation giving, major gifts and capital funding.
-Manage and oversee annual appeal and other special campaigns.
-Develop and oversee the annual fund development budget.
-Work with the Principal and Board of Directors to identify, cultivate and steward individual donors, corporate sponsors, foundations, and fund development volunteers.
-Oversee grant planning and create and maintain grants management calendar (tracking LOI, application, reporting and other deadlines).
-Identify granting organizations whose funding guidelines fit within the school’s mission and activities, and coordinate grant writing and reporting across agency programs. 
-Create consistent and effective materials (case story, brochures, press releases, internet, etc.) to communicate to prospective donors.
-Design and manage communications with current and potential donors.
-Provide support to Principal, Board of Directors Fund Development Committee and Board members.
-Facilitate FD committee meetings and provide direct supervision to the Fund Development Assistant.
-Oversee development and management of the schools donor management database.

Minimum Qualifications:
-Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Nonprofit Leadership, or a related field, and 5+ years’ experience as a fund development professional (equivalent education/experience may be substituted for stated requirements).
-Strong knowledge of broad-based fundraising campaigns including: major gifts, direct mail, planned gifts, special events, corporate and foundation gifts.
-Demonstrated supervisory experience, and ability to build a positive team environment.
-Demonstrated experience in creating and implementing innovative and successful fund development strategies.
-Proven success in solicitations of individual gifts from high net worth donors
-Demonstrated ability to write successful grant applications.
-Knowledge and experience with fundraising database applications.
-Commitment to the mission and goals of the organization.

Skills Needed:
-Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills.
-Ability to develop and give effective presentations.
-Familiarity with donor management software, i.e., Raiser’s Edge, Donor Perfect, or DonorSnap
-Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Internet Explorer.
-Budget management skills.
-Effective time management and organizational skills, with ability to prioritize and multi-task.
-Creativity and problem-solving skills.
-Ability to work successfully independently and as part of a team.
-Strong time-management, organization and prioritization skills.
This position requires access to a car and a valid driver’s license.