Director of Development

Inner Spark Learning Lab•Los Angeles, CA

8d•$110,000 - $115,000

About The Position

The Director of Development will lead Inner Spark’s fundraising across individual giving, institutional giving, and corporate sponsorships. The organization has existing fundraising momentum, including local foundation support and individual donors, and is seeking someone to build the design, coordination, and processes needed for a disciplined, repeatable development function. The role will help Inner Spark pursue new place-based and national partners and individual donors, supporting the organization’s school-transformation work and its Listen, Learn, Adapt, and Share framework. The director will manage individual donor relationships and annual fund campaigns, oversee institutional fundraising strategy and key funder relationships, and assess opportunities to grow corporate partnerships. The role will partner with the Executive Director on major-gifts strategy and grant proposals, while a Senior Development Manager planned for Fiscal Year 2028 will own day-to-day grant writing, reporting, and deadlines. The director will also build development systems and workflows, coordinate grant reporting and storytelling with program leadership, support board fundraising, and represent Inner Spark externally.

Requirements

At least 7 years of nonprofit fundraising experience, with demonstrated growth in responsibility.
Track record of identifying new donors, cultivating relationships, and making asks independently and in partnership with team members, for both individual and institutional funders.
Experience managing or mentoring development staff and executive leaders.
Familiarity with the Los Angeles and national education funder landscape.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate complex program work into compelling funder narratives.
Proficiency in Notion or comparable project management tools.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with Funraise and HubSpot.

Responsibilities

Manage a portfolio of individual donors with demonstrated giving capacity between $1,000 and $10,000; the Executive Director focuses on gifts above $10,000.
Design and support implementation of a major-gifts strategy, including cultivation events, one-to-one relationship management, and disciplined moves management, in partnership with the Executive Director.
Supervise the fractional marketing team communicating with individual donors giving under $1,000, and lead the strategy and execution of Annual Fund campaigns.
Manage the institutional portfolio strategically, including key funder relationships, portfolio prioritization, and fiscal-year grant targets.
Partner with the Executive Director and a Senior Development Manager planned for Fiscal Year 2028; the Senior Development Manager will own day-to-day grant writing, reporting, and deadline management.
Assess funders and opportunities for alignment, organizational capacity, and strategic fit.
Write and edit grant applications and proposals in partnership with the Executive Director.
Coordinate and manage grant budgets with the bookkeeper and finance support team.
Assess whether corporate partnerships are an area for organizational growth.
Build a repeatable, documented development function that does not depend on any one person.
Own the development operating system in Notion, including pipeline tracking, workflow documentation, and team accountability structures.
Establish and maintain recurring coordination with the Chief Program and Learning Officer so grant reporting and storytelling are prepared in a timely manner.
Staff the board development committee and engage board members in donor introductions and cultivation events.
Represent Inner Spark in funder spaces, national convenings, and the Los Angeles education ecosystem.