Development Director

Interplanetary Help Desk • Austin, TX

20h • Onsite

About The Position

Interplanetary Help Desk produces benefit concerts for nonprofits in Austin. We help great causes raise money, while supporting music venues and musicians. We need you to secure high-value sponsorships, brand partnerships, and philanthropic support. Your primary focus will be large corporations, with additional outreach to foundations and individuals capable of giving $25,000 or more. This is a revenue-generating role where you'll build and manage a robust pipeline of prospects, crafting compelling sponsorship and visibility opportunities that align partner objectives with our mission, creating greater value for both organizations. You bring a strategic approach to brand alignment and audience engagement and are able to translate visibility, values, and reach into meaningful packages that elevate our sponsors’ presence while advancing a social impact mission. You know how to communicate brand benefits like exposure, goodwill, and community connection, and you're energized by helping partners see the why behind the partnership. You're a passionate relationship builder who knows that success in sponsorship and advertising sales isn’t just about making the ask— it’s about building trust, creating alignment, and generating momentum. You’re just as energized by preparing a colleague, executive, or board member to lead the conversation as you are by managing it yourself. You show up with a low-ego, high-impact mindset, always focused on what best serves the mission and strengthens the connection. This is an inside sales role, on the phone with no travel and local prospects. The team will support you with sales content, relationships, and participating in pitches as needed. Much of the sale is done via email and social media, so excellent written selling skills are a must. We’re using Salesforce to manage the process. We have a mission-driven product, a respectful work environment, and a sales process that deeply values relationships. Making a sale is never more important than making a friend.

Requirements

• Proven experience in BtoB sales or large-donor nonprofit fundraising .
• Strong background in new business development, lead generation, and client management.
• Excellent communicator and strong writer. You're comfortable and articulate with senior-level executives in person, on the phone, and in email/social media.You understand how to position brand value.
• Relationship-building skills. Sociable, caring, engaging, and approachable person who can build meaningful relationships.
• Relentless perseverance and tenacity. You're a committed, driven winner with grit. You can hit the phones all day long, brush off rejection, and stick with it because you know that what you're selling is truly meaningful.
• Meticulous attention to detail. Database hygiene and detailed note-taking are expected of everyone.
• Mission-driven. Passionate about doing work that has a meaningful impact on society. Show deep commitment at a personal level to the people we serve, the work we do, and our team.
• Positive attitude. Cheerful-but-driven, great teammate, enjoys winning as a team, enthusiastic, good humor, adaptable, and raises the energy level in a room.

Responsibilities

• Identify and engage potential sponsors and brand partners aligned with our mission and make contact with them.
• Understand partner objectives —their brand goals, target audiences, and challenges— and build deep, long-term, empathetic relationships.
• Master our messaging and storytelling. Internalize our mission and the impact we create for nonprofit partners, local music venues, musicians, and the broader community. Ensure partners understand how their investment in Interplanetary Help Desk aligns their brand with Austin’s cultural identity and community spirit.
• Manage outreach, negotiation, and closing of partnership deals.
• Build and maintain a pipeline of 100 active accounts, moving prospects through every stage with discipline and care. Meet or exceed a monthly revenue quota.
• Develop and track key performance indicators (KPIs) that matter to sponsors so we can clearly communicate the visibility, alignment, and impact they receive through partnership.
• Steward sponsor relationships by ensuring timely and thoughtful sponsorship fulfillment, strong brand visibility, and clear impact reporting with the goal of securing renewals and expanding long-term partnerships.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed