Director of Development - Vida

Spano Pratt•Appleton, WI

About The Position

Vida is a not-for-profit organization based in Appleton, Wisconsin, founded in 1983. It provides free, confidential, and compassionate medical care, parent support services, material support, and maternity housing for individuals and families across the Fox Valley and beyond. Its mission is to offer hope, compassion, and education while empowering women and men to make life-affirming decisions. The newly created Director of Development role leads the strategy, execution, and results of Vida’s contributed-revenue program, including major gifts, fundraising events, and grants. Working closely with the Executive Director, the Director will cultivate, solicit, and steward major donors; lead and be accountable for fundraising events; and oversee the grant program and external grant-writing partner. The role will establish the systems, plans, relationships, and performance measures needed to grow philanthropic support and provide donors with meaningful, consistent engagement with Vida’s mission and impact. Initially, the Director will lead fundraising through cross-functional staff, volunteers, and external partners rather than a dedicated development department. The position directs and holds accountable employees who support event operations while respecting their primary reporting relationships, manages development-related consultants and vendors, and recommends future staffing and resources as the program grows. The main administrative office is in Appleton, Wisconsin, but the role may be based at any Vida location. Regular interaction with donors, community partners, staff, Board members, and volunteers is expected. Some local travel and evening or weekend work may be required.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
At least five years of progressively responsible nonprofit fundraising experience, including demonstrated success cultivating and soliciting major gifts.
Experience developing and executing fundraising plans across multiple revenue streams, particularly major gifts, events, and grants.
Demonstrated ability to build trusted relationships with donors, prospects, Board members, community partners, staff, and volunteers.
Experience directing fundraising events and coordinating staff, volunteers, consultants, or vendors to achieve defined goals.
Working knowledge of grant development, grant reporting, donor stewardship, development operations, and fundraising ethics.
Experience using a donor database or CRM to manage portfolios, activities, gifts, and reports.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate mission impact and make a compelling case for support.
Strong planning, organization, judgment, and follow-through, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
Self-directed and collaborative, with the ability to build the structure and systems of a developing fundraising program.
Commitment to Vida’s mission and values.
Genuine commitment to Vida’s Christian mission and values; demonstrates servant leadership, humility, integrity, compassion, and respect for every individual.
Ability to work effectively across Christian traditions and preserve Vida’s ministry-centered culture while advancing professional fundraising practices.
Ability to align revenue priorities with program needs and organizational growth, and use forecasts, donor trends, performance measures, and financial analysis to guide decisions.
Ability to build relationships with individuals, businesses, churches, and institutional funders, and to make direct solicitations with patience, resilience, and confidence.
Ability to translate Vida’s programs, client experiences, outcomes, and funding needs into persuasive communications for varied audiences.

Nice To Haves

Experience helping an organization formalize, expand, or professionalize its development function.
Successful experience with corporate sponsorships, planned giving, annual giving, or capital campaigns.
Experience partnering with an Executive Director and Board members on donor cultivation and solicitation.
Knowledge of the communities and philanthropic landscape served by Vida.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a comprehensive annual development plan with goals, strategies, timelines, responsibilities, and performance measures for major gifts, events, and grants.
Own contributed-revenue performance and provide forecasts, pipeline updates, and progress reports to the Executive Director and Board.
Build a diversified, sustainable fundraising program and adjust strategies based on fundraising results, donor trends, and return on investment.
Partner with the Executive Director, organizational leaders, and Board members to align fundraising priorities with strategic and programmatic needs.
Build and manage a portfolio of current and prospective major donors through identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and renewal.
Conduct personalized donor conversations and solicitations, involving the Executive Director, Board members, and other leaders when appropriate.
Create donor engagement and stewardship plans, and ensure timely acknowledgment, recognition, reporting, and follow-up.
Lead and be accountable for fundraising events, including revenue goals, sponsorship strategy, donor engagement, budgets, timelines, and post-event evaluation.
Direct and coordinate staff and volunteers supporting event planning and execution, establishing roles, expectations, and deadlines.
Cultivate and solicit event sponsors, corporate partners, table hosts, and other supporters; assess events’ financial and relationship-building impact.
Own the grant strategy, calendar, pipeline, and results across foundation, corporate, and government funding opportunities, as applicable.
Manage the external grant-writing firm and provide the information and materials needed for proposals and reports.
Review and approve grant proposals, applications, and reports in partnership with the Executive Director and relevant staff.
Maintain funder relationships, identify grant opportunities, and coordinate with program and finance staff to meet grant commitments, reporting requirements, budgets, and deadlines.
Maintain accurate donor and prospect records, gift documentation, contact reports, and fundraising activity in the donor database or CRM.
Establish and monitor development metrics, prepare regular reports, and develop and manage the annual fundraising budget.
Ensure fundraising practices comply with applicable laws, ethical standards, donor restrictions, and organizational policies.
Coordinate fundraising with program, finance, operations, and administrative staff; engage and support Board members and volunteers in fundraising activities.
Develop or coordinate donor-facing cases for support, proposals, presentations, appeals, sponsorship materials, and impact updates.
Coordinate with marketing and communications staff or external resources when fundraising initiatives require aligned messaging or materials; the position is not responsible for broader marketing.
Provide direction and accountability to employees supporting fundraising-event operations while respecting their primary reporting relationships.
Recommend future development staffing, systems, and resources as the fundraising program grows, and manage development-related consultants and vendors.