Director of Development

About Lead For America

Lead For America (LFA)  is dedicated to providing place-based service opportunities to local individuals to help mission-driven organizations advance solutions that are informed by place and responsive to community. The American Connection Corps (ACC), launched by LFA in 2021, is an  AmeriCorps service program focused on closing the digital divide in digitally disconnected communities. Supported by a broad coalition of partners including AmeriCorps and major corporations, ACC has members serving in 30 states across the country. 

Department Context:

The Development Department’s primary objective is to drive revenue for LFA. This encompasses fundraising, grants, donor relations, and other activities that sustain LFA’s bottom-line. Secondarily, this department helps drive LFA’s strategic growth, which may include stewarding partnerships that have strategic importance rather than financial importance - that is, partnerships that manifest in a stronger brand reputation for LFA, raise awareness of LFA, offer training opportunities for ACC Members, help LFA with policy achievements, and so forth. 

Core responsibilities of this department include: Fundraising campaigns, donor stewardship, grant writing, strategy development, and partnerships that advance LFA’s brand, scale, and impact. 

Role Expectations:

The Director of Development is a strategic and operational leader responsible for advancing Lead For America’s mission through internal capacity and systems, effective fundraising strategy, execution, and relationship management. This role will continue to build and oversee all aspects of the organization’s development operations—building and maintaining a robust fundraising pipeline, cultivating strong relationships with funders, and supporting the CEO in stewarding and soliciting major donors, foundations, and corporate partners.

The ideal candidate is both a strategic thinker and a systems builder and  and operator—someone who brings stellar communication, collaboration, and project management skills to coordinate across departments and ensure that development efforts align seamlessly with organizational priorities.

What You’ll Do:
Fundraising Strategy & Leadership (30%):

• Design and implement a comprehensive fundraising strategy to support organizational growth and sustainability, in collaboration with the CEO and senior leadership.
• Develop annual and multi-year revenue goals across individual, institutional, and corporate giving streams.
• Partner with the CEO to develop and execute high-level fundraising strategies for major donors and institutional funders.

• Provide data-driven insights to inform strategic decisions and ensure progress toward fundraising goals.

Development Operations Infrastructure & Pipeline Management (30%):

• Build and manage a dynamic fundraising pipeline that tracks engagement, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship stages.

• Ensure that prospects move effectively through the pipeline by coordinating internal responsibilities, follow-up, and communications.

• Lead the selecting and building of the CRM and development systems for accuracy, timeliness, and actionable reporting.

• Create regular dashboards and reports to track key performance metrics and support strategic decision-making.

Relationship Management & Funder Stewardship (15%):

• Lead the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of a portfolio of funders, including foundations, individual donors, and corporate partners.

• Support the CEO in preparing for donor meetings, briefings, and follow-ups; draft communications, proposals, and presentations as needed.

• Manage grant timelines, submissions, and reporting in collaboration with program and finance teams.

• Develop thoughtful engagement and stewardship strategies to strengthen funder relationships and deepen investment in Lead For America’s mission.

Collaboration & Internal Communication (10%):

• Work cross-functionally with program, communications, and finance teams to align messaging, impact reporting, and storytelling with fundraising objectives.
• Foster a culture of transparency and collaboration across departments to ensure development activities are integrated with programmatic and operational goals.
• Coordinate with communications to ensure consistent branding and messaging across proposals, reports, and public materials.

Input and maintain data in CRM and relevant tracking systems (5%):

• Understand how to use (CRM) and other systems effectively
• Ensure data integrity and accurate, up-to-date records for relationship management activities, company interaction, and leads including entering and updating information to have real time accurate data in (CRM)
• Utilize tracking systems for your work streams that allows for regular analysis of owned workstreams. 

Organizational Requirements (10%): 

In addition to the responsibilities unique to the Role described above, all Team members devote a portion of their time to supporting strategic and operational efforts across our teams that advance the organization:

• Compliance for org-wide administration - expense reporting, benefits, KPI tracking
• Taking part in additional organizational initiatives, priorities, and responsibilities, as needed.

Qualifications:

7-10 years of experience in nonprofit development and/or philanthropy — with a strong track record of translating fundraising strategy into effective development operations at scale. You bring hands-on experience managing complex fundraising portfolios, multi-stakeholder relationships, and systems that ensure pipeline progress, stewardship, and impact.

Proven team and relationship management experience — you’ve supervised and developed staff or volunteers, created clarity around roles and expectations, and led teams through planning, execution, and continuous improvement. You build strong, trust-based relationships with funders and colleagues alike, leading with empathy, directness, and a commitment to shared goals.

Strategic fundraising and operational expertise — you’re skilled at building systems, processes, and tools that support high-quality development execution. You excel at managing pipelines, timelines, and communications, and know how to keep complex initiatives and relationships moving forward.

Strong problem-solving and feedback orientation — you’re adept at identifying fundraising or operational challenges, gathering input from internal and external partners, and iterating toward solutions. You help close the loop between strategy, execution, and continuous improvement.

Data- and outcomes-driven — you track performance and progress against fundraising goals, use data to inform decisions, and contribute to a culture of accountability and learning across the organization.

Cross-functional collaborator — you work effectively across functions and departments (e.g., Programs, Communications, Finance, and the Executive Office) and know how to align messaging, impact data, and organizational priorities to advance fundraising success.

Financial acumen and resource alignment — you’ve worked within or managed development budgets, tracked revenue forecasts, and partnered with Finance to ensure organizational priorities are resourced effectively and sustainably.

Commitment to equity and inclusion — you integrate equity principles into fundraising strategies, relationship management, and internal collaboration, ensuring inclusive approaches that respect and uplift diverse communities and stakeholders.

Mission alignment — you care deeply about the power of civic leadership, community-rooted change, and Lead For America’s mission to strengthen communities across the nation. You’re motivated to build the relationships and systems that make this work possible.

Salary and benefits:

Below is the anticipated minimum and maximum salaries we can provide at this time. Starting salary is dependent on role and experience level. Based on these factors, the below salary range is subject to vary considerably. Note that salaries are expected to rise over time with increased experience, inflation, and the growth of the organization, and that for most roles there is ample opportunity for promotion.

Salary Range: $120,000-$130,000