Description
Position at IDEA Public Schools

About IDEA Public Schools :  

 

At IDEA Public Schools, we believe in college for ALL and we are committed to ensuring that   all   our students graduate from college. IDEA Public Schools has grown from a small school to the fastest-growing network of tuition-free Pre-K-12 public charter schools in the United States sending 100% of our students to college. 50% of our students graduate from college in 6 years - that's 3 times the national rate for students in our communities!  

 
IDEA was founded in 2000 as a single school with 150 students in the Rio Grande Valley. When interest exceeded building capacity, to meet the demands, IDEA's co-founders committed to serving more students in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and beyond. We now serve  over 65,000  students across Texas and Louisiana. Be on the lookout for IDEA schools opening near you-with continued growth in our current regions an d new launches in  Tampa Bay , FL  (2021) ,  and  Jacksonville, FL (2022) !  

 

When you choose to work at IDEA, you are part of our IDEA Team and Family. You will work alongside team members who set and reach ambitious goals every day, are excited to continue to grow with IDEA, and work relentlessly to make college for all a reality.  

 

To learn more about IDEA, check out this   video .  

About Austin

 

Austin is a vibrant city filled with a rich cultural heritage and is ranked as the #1 Best Place to Live for the second year in a row by U.S. News and World Report. The city of Austin is the state capital and holds the ranking as the 11 th largest city in the United States. Currently, Austin is home to 16 of IDEA's schools and serves nearly 7,800 students at campuses in Greater Austin.

 

In a city that is a hub for knowledge, IDEA is working to support the community through education, which is the single most effective anti-poverty strategy we possess as a nation. This is why we focus on AP courses for all students, college acceptance, and matriculation. Only 1 in 8 Austin students graduate college ready. Changing this statistic is part of the promise IDEA makes to current and incoming students. Our goal is to serve over 10,000 students by 2022. 

Role Mission:  IDEA's Regional Development team seeks a Director of Development to thoughtfully steward and expand its current donor base in the region.  The Director of Development will sit on IDEA's development team and is responsible for working closely with the Executive Director to meet ambitious fundraising targets and lead regional board management.  Through keen financial stewardship and fiscal accountability, IDEA Austin is close to reaching a level of enrollment that would enable the region to achieve 100% sustainability on per pupil revenue alone, a goal of all IDEA regions. This role exists to ensure a) stewardship of our generous donors and community partners is of the highest quality and b) financial gaps for Austin alumni on their college journey are met through scholarship funds.

 

The Director of Development will also focus on introducing IDEA Austin to wider audiences within the region to broaden our current donor base to reflect the deep level of support we have received to date from community members. You will a) identify opportunities and engage in major gift solicitation of foundations, individuals and corporations in the Austin region, including grant writing and reporting, b) create targeted donor acquisition and stewardship through a diverse portfolio of campaigns, events, meetings, and school tours; and c) build out a portfolio of annual donors, d) strengthen the impact of the local advisory board.

 

The Director of Development is a key member of IDEA's Regional Development team, will collaborate closely with the Austin Regional team, the Director of Annual Giving, the College and Alumni Success team, and will report to the Managing Director of Regional Development. This position requires a candidate to live in the Austin area and be comfortable traveling to campuses for donor engagement efforts.

 

About You : You are a relationship guru who can implement diverse approaches to bringing people into our organization. You have a keen attention to detail and are very comfortable both providing critical internal support and managing your own portfolio of partners. You find joy in collaborating with others and like to flex your communication skills with external audiences. You are a master project manager/operator comfortable managing up and sideways and you bring these skills into your role daily.

 

Accountabilities:
Obtain 600 new donors at $1 or above who have never given to IDEA previously to support Growth, College Matriculation, or Programming by June 30, 2022. (Advancement Team-wide goal)

• Support IDEA's Advancement Team efforts to securing funding for regional and national programmatic needs
• Contribute to successful federal, state, foundation, and individual funding applications by either leading the application process or organizing supporting documents
• Develop individualized cultivation plan for fundraising prospects
• Leverage local influencers for connections to prospective local donors
• Conduct research to identify potential new donors and donor groups, alongside strategies to compel them to support our work 
• Pilot a community volunteer program through a series of events in Austin that are high-quality and provide attendees with an opportunity to get to know IDEA's mission, vision and program, which in turn compels them to support IDEA philanthropically.
• Identify opportunities

 
Raise $600K in program support and scholarship funds for Austin by June 30, 2022.

• Create a path towards a sustainable donor base by acquiring new first-time donors, renewing, and upgrading existing donors.

• Partner with the Director of Annual Giving to pilot an annual giving program in the Austin region
• Prioritize the most critical work for the AustinExecutive Director, manage up to drive actions on your portfolio, and course adjust constantly in response to the constraints of time, capacity and competing commitments 
• Plan and lead regional campus tours, working with the advancement operations team and the regional schools' teams to prepare for funder and prospect visits. 
• Execute Austin's signature fundraising event alongside Executive Director and advancement operations team

 
Ensure 100% of Austin Regional Advisory Board members give financially, solicit at least one gift on IDEA's behalf, and engage in at least 5 touchpoints with the IDEA program by June 30, 2022.

• Create individualized annual plans for each board member that include engagement opportunities with the IDEA program and introductions to community members within their network.
• Manage all Austin regional board correspondence, meeting schedules, agendas and PowerPoint presentations, working with Austin Executive Director to plan 4 regional board meetings a year with 90% attendance
• Steward board members through timely updates on regional news
• Steward each board member in a manner tailored to the individual to assure they are equipped to be a passionate and effective ambassador for IDEA in support of the Executive Director and regional team

 
Stewardship of IDEA Austin's multi-year funders to support current pledge commitment.

• Develop a donor stewardship plan, alongside the Austin Executive Director that will continue to build commitment from our donors, including a regular communications schedule for key updates, hosting school tours and other events to expose partners to IDEA's mission and culture
• 100% of grant proposals and reports and amendments are completed and submitted on time
• Lead relationship management, including stewardship of the largest regional donor, to secure annual payment towards existing commitments

 
Provide quality research and operational support ensuring 100% of Austin's portfolio opportunities are in engage phase or further in the pipeline by June 30, 2022 for the 2022-23 fiscal year; and that all data (prospects, artifacts, actions and communication) are accurately captured on a weekly basis in our CRM, Salesforce

• Using online tools, create research summaries or documents including, background, areas of interest, giving history, and application deadlines for each prospect; create strategies for initial approach for each prospect including method of contact, possible connections, potential areas of IDEA interest, and proposed relationship manager (yourself, the Executive Director of Austin, the Managing Director of Regional Development)
• Conduct prospect research activities to identify funding opportunities and research targets
• Create and manage a workflow to ensure news regarding advocacy and philanthropy in the Austin area is shared promptly with internal stakeholders
• Ensure all data from donor and community member engagement is 100% up to date, including but not limited to: accurate contact information, relationships, attendance, engagement stage, and next steps.
• for corporate volunteer partnerships through research and engagement of Austin corporate social responsibility officers within major companies in the area

 

Live values of IDEA

• Believes and is committed to our mission and being an agent of change: that all students are capable of getting to and through college
• Has demonstrated effective outcomes and results, and wants to be held accountable for them
• Has a propensity for action, willing to make mistakes by doing in order to learn and improve quickly
• Works with urgency and purpose to drive outcomes
• Thrives in an entrepreneurial, high-growth environment; is comfortable with ambiguity and change
• Seeks and responds well to feedback, which is shared often and freely across all levels of the organization
• Works through silos and forges strong cross-departmental relationships in order to achieve outcomes

 

Qualifications

 

Education: Bachelor's Degree required

Experience

• 2-3 years of professional experience, preferably in education, or within a nonprofit
• Salesforce experience preferred, but not required
• Prior community relations/development work experience in the Austin area preferred
• Proven track record of delivering results 

 

 Compensation: 

 Salaries for people entering this role typically start between $82,000 and $100,900, commensurate with relevant qualifications and experience. This role is also eligible for a performance bonus based on individual and organizational goal attainment. 

IDEA Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, sex or disability, in admission or access to, or treatment of employment in its programs and activities. Any person having inquiries concerning the organization's compliance with the regulations implementing Title VI of Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), or Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), may contact IDEA Human Resources at (956) 377-8000.