Director of Development, Major Gifts

Since 1984, Share Our Strength® has led the fight against hunger and poverty by inspiring and organizing individuals and businesses to share their strengths. Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit, is ending childhood hunger in America by connecting children with the nutritious food they need to lead healthy, active lives. Through its No Kid Hungry Campaign®—a national effort to end childhood hunger in America by 2015—Share Our Strength ensures children in need are enrolled in federal nutrition programs, invests in community organizations fighting hunger, teaches families how to cook healthy meals on a budget, and builds public-private partnerships to end hunger, both nationally and at the state level.


The Director of Development, Major Gifts leads Share Our Strength’s initiatives to raise millions of dollars from major donors through personal cultivation and solicitations and through high-profile culinary events. Working closely with the Co-Founder, Chief Development Officer, Senior Director of Development and other organizational leaders, the Director will develop a holistic fundraising plan, leveraging Share Our Strength’s assets to significantly increase revenue from major donors, select No Kid Hungry dinners and other creative initiatives. The Director will ensure that this fundraising plan reflects the organization’s overall strategic plan to end childhood hunger in the U.S., and will develop and lead a team of staff and volunteers to execute the plan. The Director will guide efforts to grow Share Our Strength’s base of major donors nationwide and in key local markets, with particular emphasis on the Boston, D.C., and New York City metro areas and the state of California.

• Work with the Senior Director of Development to create and execute a plan to diversify and increase revenue from existing and new major donors and No Kid Hungry dinners.
• Manage a portfolio of major donors, soliciting and stewarding five- and six-figure gifts and modeling how to integrate event-related contributions into overall giving strategies according to donors’ preferences.
• Lead execution of major donor identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship activities, with particular attention to leveraging culinary events as cultivation and stewardship opportunities and to meticulous customer service. Ensure that briefings, event talking points and collateral, proposals and stewardship reports reflect programmatic priorities and organizational messaging, and lead to unrestricted funds or restricted support for budgeted projects.
• Manage development and execution of major donor solicitation and stewardship strategies for the Executive Team, members of the Board of Directors, the No Kid Hungry Leadership Council, event host committee members, and other executive-level volunteers and senior staff members.
• Oversee efforts to recruit and manage event host committees and to steward event attendees, ensuring they remain committed to the organization’s mission and deepen their involvement. Ensure that events are developed and executed with creative excellence, carefully managing costs.
• Manage and lead a team of fundraising and events professionals. Management duties include recruiting and supervising staff, coordinating team workflow and priorities, preparing and monitoring the department’s expense budget and revenue pipeline, and coordinating the team’s collaboration with other departments. Develop metrics to monitor team performance against goals. Ensure that fundraising actions are tracked and recorded in The Raisers Edge database.
• Develop strategies with Culinary Events leadership to most effectively handle event execution; to establish hand-off technique for major event donors in non-priority markets; and to strategically seed events and relationships in new markets.
• Facilitate effective collaboration with other departments to achieve revenue goals and support the overall organizational strategic plan. Work closely with internal teams to raise awareness of programmatic activities, particularly in states and cities with active No Kid Hungry campaigns, leveraging culinary and major donor activities and relationships to reinforce programmatic impact. Ensure that culinary events promote the organization’s brand, raise visibility, and are effectively marketed to maximize attendance.
• Serve as a member of Share Our Strength’s Senior Leadership Team and represent the Major Gifts and No Kid Hungry dinner teams on cross-functional internal working groups.
• Represent Share Our Strength at organizational and external events as appropriate. This may include but not be limited to cultivation events, dinners and galas, donor and prospect meetings, professional industry gatherings, and speaking engagements.

Reports to: Senior Director, Development

Location: Washington, DC- HQ

Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred.
• At least 10 years experience soliciting and securing five- and six-figure gifts.
• Experience planning and executing special events in entrepreneurial settings, with track record of significantly increasing revenue from major donors and special events.
• Demonstrated record of developing and implementing innovative fundraising strategies, including demonstrated success building a robust major gifts program.
• Experience with capital campaigns preferred.
• Proven ability to manage a high-performing teams of staff and volunteer solicitors to achieve revenue goals. At least 3-5 years of direct management experience.
• Demonstrated ability to influence and engage diverse audiences and to build long-term relationships, including experience leveraging executive-level staff and volunteers to achieve fundraising success.
• Outstanding analytical, strategic planning, budget management, time management, and organizational skills.
• A demonstrated ability to manage multi-faceted projects and a capacity to perform well independently in a fast-paced, multi-tasking environment.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, including presentation skills.
• Basic knowledge of and/or experience with the restaurant industry.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office. Experience with The Raisers Edge preferred.

To Apply:
Submit resume, cover letter, and salary requirements to: jobs@strength.org. Reference job title “Director of Development, Major Gifts” in the subject line. No calls please. Equal Opportunity Employer.