Development Director, School Board School
This is an exciting time for School Board School. Our work is needed now more than ever, and so we've significantly grown our programming in order to grow our impact. We're hiring our first Development Director to ensure we have the revenue to support all of this important work. Our budget is increasing significantly and in this role, you will lead the creation and execution of a development plan to meet our fundraising goals, including ways to attract new donors and apply for new grants, both local and national.
GENERAL INFO
What we do:
At School Board School, we equip aspiring school board members and education advocates with the knowledge and network to drive systemic change. We democratize access to information and people and in doing so, we change the narrative about who should be advising and authoring the policies and practices that create our school systems. Find out more about School Board School here: https://www.schoolboardschool.org/
Find out more about what it’s like to work at or with School Board School here.
ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR ROLE
What will you do in this role?
This is a really exciting time for School Board School. We were founded in 2018, and twelve aspiring school board members and education advocates joined the first class of our 7-month learning program. Since then, we’ve had five classes, and more than 100 people have come through our learning program. We have built one of the largest and most diverse coalitions of education leaders in the country right here in Greater Cincinnati.
Over the past year, we’ve grown our programming and our impact significantly. Over 1,300 people from across the country registered for our free virtual training series, we launched a school board election awareness campaign in Cincinnati, and we’re expanding our learning program to new regions.
As our Development Director, your job is to ensure we have the revenue to support all of this important work. Our budget is increasing significantly, and as our first full-time Development Director, you will co-create and execute a development plan, tracking progress to goals, and keeping relevant systems and parties updated. That includes, but may not be limited to:
- Co-creating and executing a development plan
As we transition from being a scrappy start-up to a sustainable organization, this development plan will be an important foundational piece. You will:
- Work with the Executive Director to co-create this plan to reach the organization’s fundraising goals and support the overall strategic plan.
- Lead the implementation of this development plan.
- Track your progress to the revenue goals and provide regular reports on progress to these goals in order to ensure we have the funds needed to accomplish our mission.
- Leading all fundraising and development activities
This includes but is not limited to:
- Researching, developing, and executing strategies to meet fundraising goals, including ways to bring in new donors and apply for new grants, both local and national.
- Drafting and submitting grant proposals and reports.
- Planning and executing the Annual Fund Campaign, which kicks off in the fall.
- Planning and executing the annual fundraising event, called our Breakfast Benefit, which occurs in October.
- Managing fundraising/development systems
- Pipeline/donor management, including tracking all donor and prospect activity in Salesforce.
- Supporting the Executive Director with development activities (e.g., drafting potential donor emails, providing context prior to meetings).
- Managing when grants and reports are due to ensure we meet all deadlines.
- Tracking all grant information in Salesforce and other trackers.
- Creating an annual report.
Who are you?
You are an experienced development professional: You have at least 5 years of experience under your belt, and are excited to take on the challenge of leading the development work for a growing organization. Your experience covers grant writing, individual donor campaigns, and events.
You are an exceptional writer, and you can tell an organization’s story to motivate different audiences: You believe in our mission and enjoy telling the story of our organization’s impact in ways that will motivate a diversity of people and organizations. You understand that we often have one shot at a grant or a new connection, and so your writing has to be concise, compelling, and error-free.
You also love details: There are a lot of moving parts to keep track of with grants, an annual fund, and an event. You have to love paying attention to details. From proofreading your grant proposals, to scheduling meetings, to keeping track of deadlines, you get that the little things matter and you obsess over getting them right.
You set big goals and reach them: Put frankly, we have to hit our revenue goals in order to keep our organization running. Owning these big goals excites you, and you have a track record to prove you set and hit big goals when it comes to fundraising and development.
You understand how race, class, power, and privilege impact our school systems: This is something you think about, talk about, and work on. You know that every child can succeed, and that it’s our job to build school systems where every child is safe, included, and educated.
APPLICATION INFORMATION
Deadline: Apply by Sunday, Sept. 10
Start Date: As soon as possible
Location: flexible; Cincinnati preferred
Salary: $65,000
Benefits: School Board School has a generous PTO policy, and pays 50% of the premium for an employee’s medical insurance coverage.
To apply: Review the application process found here, and submit your application no later than Sunday, Sept. 10.
Questions? Email Elisa Hoffman at elisa@schoolboardschool.org.
Thank you to our sponsors and partners
