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Director of Development

Employer
Great Oaks Charter Schools
Location
New York, NY, United States
Salary
Competitive
Director of Development

About the Great Oaks Foundation

The Great Oaks (GO) Foundation is a non-profit organization with the mission of launching and supporting a network of charter schools that prepare students for college success through high-dosage tutoring coupled with outstanding classroom instruction. By design, GO's schools contribute to the vitality of the urban neighborhoods where they are located by attracting and creating social, human and investment capital.

What sets Great Oaks schools apart from other college preparatory charter schools is a high-dosage tutoring model provided by the Great Oaks Fellows, a selective cadre of recent college graduates who tutor and mentor every student in the school. This is a crucial strategy in Great Oaks schools to improve achievement and prepare teachers to work in our schools.

The Great Oaks Foundation has successfully replicated this program in Newark, NJ; Bridgeport, CT; New York, NY and Wilmington, DE. We have launched a recent partnership with Baltimore Collegiate to launch a Great Oaks Fellow group at the site. A select group of the tutors at Great Oaks are enrolled in a Teacher Residency program that is being conducted in partnership with NYU's Steinhardt School of Education and Relay Graduate School of Education.

To learn more about Great Oaks https://greatoakscharter.org/

Position Overview

The Great Oaks Foundation seeks a full-time Development Director to oversee strategic fundraising activity and execute on a major campaign as Great Oaks Foundation embarks on an expansion of its high-dosage tutoring program. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and working closely with the Associate Director of Development, President, and members of the Board of Directors, this professional must have experience in successful grant prospecting and grant writing efforts from federal, state, corporate and foundation sources of funding. The Director will systematically and effectively strengthen the organization's overall fundraising capacity.

The lifeblood of the Great Oaks Foundation is the multiyear grant that it receives from the federal AmeriCorps program. The Director of Development will play the lead role in writing the renewal application to continue that grant, due in January of 2022. For this reason, familiarity with the AmeriCorps grant process is preferred but not required.

The Director will lead the preparation, writing, and submission of grant proposals-ranging in size, scope and complexity-to a wide array of funding agencies and organizations. These include both public and private external entities, such as foundations, corporations, government, and other institutions. The Director of Development will also serve as our major gift officer and will be charged with implementing major giving and planned giving fundraising strategies. The focus of fundraising will be for the benefit of the Great Oaks Foundation as well as two GO schools where the Foundation provides charter management services.

Position Responsibilities
  • Design a multi-year development strategy for the Great Oaks Foundation and two GO schools; work with Foundation and school leadership to identify funds needed, preferred funding targets, and fundraising approaches.
  • Establish and implement the infrastructure needed to grow the Great Oaks Foundation budget through the solicitation of major gifts, federal and state grants, special events, and corporate and foundation support.
  • Lead proposal/application writing and submissions with support from the COO and the Associate Director. A significant focus of this work will be a recompete application to AmeriCorps due in January 2022, and subsequent continuation applications on an annual basis.
  • Lead funder relationship management to understand their priorities, desired project outcomes, answer ongoing questions during all phases of engagement, and facilitate their working relationship with the Great Oaks Foundation.
  • Lead and coordinate funder briefings, regular updates, and informal updates; manage follow-up with prospective and active funders.
  • Oversee and maintain a development calendar that coordinates new solicitations and proposals, reporting on active grants, and other strategic projects in coordination with the COO and Associate.
  • Support research and reporting on funding prospects aligned to fundraising goals and strategy, in collaboration with the Associate Director.
  • Support reporting on active grants and ensure accountability and compliance with grant agreements, in collaboration with the Associate Director.
  • Train and mentor development staff and communicate fundraising goals and progress across the organization.
  • Perform related work.

Qualifications and Competencies

The successful candidate will be an experienced educational leader, with proven success in an academic or non-profit setting. Director of Development will bring the ability to deliver outstanding outcomes and will possess exceptional relationship building skills and the ability to communicate clearly to multiple stakeholders. The successful candidate will also bring some or all of the following:
  • Bachelor's Degree (required), Master's Degree (preferred)
  • 7+ years of successful fundraising experience, preferably in the education and nonprofit fields.
  • Experience in planning, leading, and managing development projects, including coordinating with peers to achieve desired outcomes, and tracking and reporting on progress to senior managers/board of directors
  • Skilled in creating powerful, compelling written and oral communications for fundraising. Ability to convey complex ideas through brief, simple materials. Experience and credibility when presenting materials to external audiences.
  • Tangible experience of having expanded and cultivated existing donor relationships.
  • Ability to construct, articulate, and implement annual strategic development plan.
  • Strong organizational and time management skills with exceptional attention to detail
  • A professional and resourceful style; the ability to work independently and manage multiple tasks and projects at a time, but also a team player who will productively engage with others at varying levels of seniority within and outside the Great Oaks Foundation.
  • A strong belief that all students can succeed.

Compensation

Great Oaks provides a competitive compensation and benefits package; exact compensation will vary based on experience and education.

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