AERDF
Director of Development
Remote - Full Time
Opportunity:
The Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF) seeks a Director of Development with demonstrated success in architecting and leading successful multimillion dollar fundraising campaigns that support sustainable revenue models for PreK-12 or other social impact-oriented missions. This is an opportunity for a seasoned fundraising operations leader to help secure AERDF’s next philanthropic partners to join our existing set of anchor donors who have funded all operating costs for our organization’s first phase as a start up organization.
You will assume a key role in a maturing startup environment by designing and implementing customized outreach strategies to cultivate new prospects and engagement strategies for existing and future donors. Additionally, you will manage the operations, including evolving and leading the management of our Hubspot based donor pipeline and support donor reporting and storytelling efforts. All of these efforts are in service of helping AERDF close a $30M fundraising goal by the end of 2024 and begin a significant new fund in 2025.
The Director of Development is a new role and will sit on the Public Affairs and Development Team, reporting to the Chief Public Affairs and Development Officer. This position will be supported by a recently grown hub of communications and marketing technicians that deliver support on writing, graphic design, digital and social communications. Your role will also work closely with AERDF Advanced Inclusive R&D program teams and other senior leaders to leverage key organizational initiatives and progress toward program and enterprise wide goals to further our success against fundraising goals. You will work remotely from anywhere in the U.S but must be able to work on a Central or Eastern time zone schedule.
Responsibilities:
The primary responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:
- Developing customized plans to identify and cultivate new donor prospects with the capacity to give at a 5 to 20 million dollar level
- Broaden existing set of donor cultivation frameworks to further enable strategic, responsive and decisive engagement steps
- Strengthen existing pitch materials for prospective donors to powerfully introduce AERDF and grow desire to learn more about our work and consider collaboration
- Advance AERDF intel gathering capacity to help identify new prospects and assess depth of mutual interest to inform outreach steps
- Build next version of our annual engagement plans for existing AERDF donors to increase awareness of organizational progress in support of our stewardship and gift renewal goals
- Survey existing donors on programmatic areas of interest to strengthen AERDF’s current learning strategies
- Identify and organize 2-3 site visits per year for prospective and existing donors to see our programs in action with support from the CPADO
- Support the development of powerful narratives to advance within annual grant reporting
- Manage and evolve AERDF’s fundraising operations and infrastructure
- Build and implement a fully operational moves management strategy to engage senior AERDF teammates in showcasing for donors AERDF projects underway, lessons learned and upcoming plans
- Lead reporting for quarterly board meetings and agendas for monthly check-ins with anchor donor program officers
- Maintain updated donor contacts and records in Hubspot to enhance effectiveness of communication and support data driven decision making
What You Will Bring:
Skills, Mindsets & Qualifications
Skills, Mindsets & Qualifications
- At Least seven years of experience in fundraising including:
- Strong understanding of fundraising principles and best practices, with experience in donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship
- Expertise in setting up and managing the back-end operations to support the successful execution of the fundraising strategy
- Structuring of captivating in person learning experiences that have advanced donor prospect
- What you’ve accomplished:
- A proven track record of securing major gifts in support of nonprofit fundraising goals at or above $5 million
- Demonstrated ability to evolve existing donor relationships securing renewed gifts at or above initial giving levels
- Skills you have developed and knowledge you have acquired:
- Personally demonstrated to commitment to racial equity and deep experience in organizations and/or client relationships with commitments to racial equity
- Ability to understand programmatic work and create and implement donor engagement plans that will promote organizational priorities
- Ability to speak and write persuasively to earn interest from internal and external audience
- Strong understanding of fundraising principles and best practices, with experience in donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver high-quality work on time
- Strong analytical skills; able to conduct independent analysis, draw conclusions, and make concrete, actionable recommendations
Compensation:
We offer a competitive compensation package including base salary and comprehensive benefits. AERDF is a remote and flexible work environment and our base compensation levels vary depending on location, experience, and qualifications.
The starting salary offer range for this Level 5 Role is $140,940 and $203,580, based on location.
We are deeply committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. People of all backgrounds and identities, particularly those with the lived experience of the students and communities we serve, are encouraged to apply. Please do not hesitate to apply even if you do not meet all of the qualifications.
Our Organization:
AERDF is a national nonprofit research & development organization launched in 2021 that discovers breakthrough scientific inventions in Pre-kindergarten education to transform the learning trajectory for Black and Latino students and students experiencing poverty across the nation.
AERDF’s ambitious three-to-five-year programs, funded at $25-50 million, address major teaching and learning challenges. Our programs build on existing community-driven evidence and expertise, as well as learning sciences, to translate fundamental insights into usable knowledge, useful practices, equitable approaches and transformative tools for education practitioners and students. Since AERDF’s launch, its programs – currently focused on math, formative assessment, and reading – have been piloted with more than 20,000 students.
