Director of Development

Empire Justice Center•City of Albany, NY

9d•$108,702 - $113,879•Hybrid

About The Position

Empire Justice Center is a statewide legal services organization dedicated to fighting for marginalized low-income individuals and families across New York. They achieve this through direct legal representation, high-impact litigation, legislative advocacy, and training future advocates. The organization's team is passionate and committed to serving communities facing poverty, housing insecurity, immigration issues, domestic violence, disability discrimination, and civil rights violations in schools. The Director of Development will lead, implement, and manage the organization's comprehensive fundraising program in collaboration with the Chief Operating Officer, President & CEO, Board of Directors, and program leadership. This role involves overseeing day-to-day fundraising activities across various streams including individual giving, major gifts, foundation and institutional giving, corporate and law firm support, annual giving, and donor cultivation and stewardship. The Director will be responsible for translating the development strategy into actionable annual work plans, fundraising campaigns, prospect strategies, and measurable outcomes.

Requirements

At least 5 years of Director-level or leadership role in Development with an $8M+ nonprofit.
Demonstrated experience and success with individual, major gift and/or institutional fundraising.
Strong writing and proposal-development skills.
Excellent interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
Strong project-management and organizational skills.
Experience managing and using a nonprofit CRM/database.
Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
Commitment to Empire Justice Center's mission and to advancing justice for low-income New Yorkers.
Proficiency in utilizing the Microsoft 365 Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, SharePoint, PowerPoint), with the ability to quickly learn and adapt to other applications.
Proficiency in utilizing Adobe and other document management systems, with the ability to schedule appointments, manage calendars, documents, and collaborative workflows.

Nice To Haves

Experience in legal services, civil rights, advocacy, public interest, or a similarly mission-driven organization.
Experience with major gifts and donor portfolios.
Experience working with foundations, corporations, or law firms.

Responsibilities

Travel to and work in the Albany office 3 days per week is required to meet client and organizational needs.
Must demonstrate a high level of comfort and commitment to working with people from marginalized communities.
Work closely with your assigned supervisor and participate in regular supervision meetings, including work plan development and grant deliverable management.
All positions will supervise other practice group members if needed.
Due to limited resources, all staff are expected to perform administrative and other support-related duties to serve our clients and fulfill our mission as a non-profit legal services organization.
Other duties as assigned by your supervisor and/or to meet the organization’s needs.
Implement the organization's annual and multi-year fundraising plans.
Establish fundraising calendars, goals, timelines, and performance measures.
Track progress toward fundraising goals and identify opportunities or challenges requiring attention.
Lead and coordinate fundraising activities across individual, foundation, corporate, law firm, and other philanthropic sources.
Develop and maintain a strong donor and prospect pipeline.
Coordinate prospect identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship activities.
Work with the COO and CEO to prepare for donor meetings and solicitations.
Manage and grow the organization's individual giving program.
Develop and implement strategies for annual giving, recurring giving, and donor retention.
Manage a portfolio of major donors and prospects.
Develop individualized cultivation and solicitation plans.
In collaboration with Marketing, prepare briefing materials, proposals, donor correspondence, and solicitation materials.
Coordinate donor meetings, cultivation activities, and stewardship.
Track donor moves and next steps through the organization's CRM.
Manage a portfolio of foundation and institutional funders.
Research prospective funders and identify opportunities aligned with organizational priorities.
Draft and manage letters of inquiry, proposals, and reports.
Work with program staff and the Senior Manager of Grants and Data Systems to obtain programmatic information, outcomes, and impact data needed for proposals.
Maintain a comprehensive foundation calendar and work with the Senior Manager of Grants and Data Systems to ensure timely submissions and reports.
Support the CEO in developing and maintaining strategic funder relationships.
Develop and implement a strategy for corporate and law firm philanthropy.
Research and identify prospective corporate and law firm partners.
Solicit and coordinate sponsorships, charitable contributions, and other partnership opportunities.
Develop cultivation and stewardship strategies.
Develop and coordinate annual fundraising campaigns.
Develop and manage direct-mail, digital, and other annual giving appeals in partnership with marketing and communications staff.
Work with Marketing to develop donor communications and campaign materials.
Analyze campaign results and make recommendations for improvement.
Develop and implement a consistent donor stewardship program.
Ensure donors receive timely acknowledgments and meaningful communications about the impact of their support.
Develop and draft donor reports, impact updates, and other stewardship materials.
Develop strategies to increase donor retention and engagement.
Lead the planning, coordination, and execution of Empire Justice Center's annual Celebration of Leadership fundraising event.
Work with Marketing to develop materials and email campaigns.
Assess opportunities for additional fundraising events.