Senior Director of Individual Giving

Senior Director of Individual Giving

Department:Office of School Advancement
Location:Washington, DC

Position Start Date:Immediately

Status:Full-time

Reporting directly to the Assistant Head of School for Advancement the Senior Director of Individual Giving (SDIG) will be responsible for the strategic leadership, development, and oversight of a comprehensive fundraising program for individual donors at all levels including Annual Fund, Leadership and Major Gift, and Planned Gift donors as part of a multi-year campaign.

As a senior leader of the development team, the SDIG will excel at frontline fundraising, develop strategy and infrastructure, and manage a team to achieve successful outcomes. There will be a focus on pipeline development, moves management, and documented systems to deepen relationships with individuals and their engagement with the School community through Annual, Major, and Planned Giving donors and prospects.

The SDIG will provide oversight for the Annual Fund, including direct marking, special event fundraising, and volunteer management, as well as Major Gift fundraising programs and leads a team of dedicated professionals to achieve annual and multi-year goals. The SDIG will hold a portfolio of approximately 75-100 Leadership and Major Gift donors with personal philanthropic goals to achieve annually.

This is an exciting opportunity for a leader to join an established and professional team to help build and strengthen effective fundraising systems and deliver on revenue goals while staying abreast of trends affecting revenue outcomes. The SDIG will serve as a member of the Senior Director Team and oversee a team of five (two Major Gift Officers, Director of Campaign and Strategic Initiatives, Director of Annual Giving, and Assistant Director of Annual Giving), work collaboratively across the Advancement functions, and partner with the Communication team.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership and Management

• Ability to co-lead the school’s efforts to build a strong philanthropic culture and vision that includes all internal and external stakeholders
• Plan, develop, and implement a robust and creative Annual, Major, and Planned gift fundraising program focused on individuals to achieve maximum growth to meet Sidwell Friends School campaign and annual giving goals
• Lead and manage a team of frontline fundraisers with individual expectations, deliverables, and accountability as well as inspire team collaboration
• Develop and sustain productive cross-functional relationships (stewardship, constituent engagement, alumni relations, development operations/analytics, and communications/brand marketing) to accomplish comprehensive cultivation, stewardship, and revenue goals
• Partner with leadership and advancement staff on campaign strategy and execution
• Collaborate with the Senior Director of Advancement Services and Operations on prospect identification, research, and qualification for the growth of fundraising pipelines
• Collaborate with the Senior Director of Advancement Services and Operations on oversight of the moves management system and craft integrated comprehensive strategies to increase giving levels and numbers of gifts
• Partner with Advancement Services and Operations to develop and deliver donor analysis reports for all lines of giving
• Utilize data and metrics to benchmark efforts, inform strategic and tactical decision-making, and identify broad-based solicitation opportunities
• Establish, track, and report on fundraising plans; manage budgets and proactively forecast shifts in revenue expectations
• Collaborate with advancement and communications colleagues to continuously refine and articulate a sophisticated case for support

Frontline Fundraising

• Manage a dynamic portfolio of individual donors and prospects with the capacity to make unrestricted and restricted philanthropic 6-figure gifts or more
• Directly solicit and close gifts from major donors in collaboration with the Head of School, Assistant Head of School for Advancement, and other internal stakeholders or external volunteers
• Directly solicit and close campaign and planned gifts and provide support for campaign volunteer management

Key Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years of frontline fundraising experience
• Minimum 5 years management experience
• Demonstrated success with raising 6+-figure gifts
• Experience developing strategies for the cultivation and solicitation of individual donors
• Experience partnering with school and volunteer leadership
• Excellent research, writing, and organizational skills
• Experience with Raiser’s Edge or similar fundraising database
• Strong follow-through; high-level analytical, problem-solving, and presentation skills
• Strong working knowledge of integrated fundraising programs
• Strong planning, strategy, financial, budgeting, and analytical skills for informing the fundraising program
• Highly collaborative, communicative, and transparent, with the ability to build strong and effective internal and external relationships
• Ability to manage multiple projects as priorities change, with an exceptional eye for detail and accuracy
• Demonstrated success in meeting all deadlines and performance goals
• Highly strategic with can-do attitude
• Entrepreneurial spirit and sense of humor
• Planned giving experience a plus