Development Director, Summer Search Philadelphia

Posted by on March 26, 2012

Development Director, Summer Search Philadelphia

Posted on: March 6, 2012

Development Director

Summer Search Philadelphia

ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION

Summer Search is a dynamic national non-profit organization that transforms the education and life-prospects of low-income young people. By the age of 24, only 9% of students in the bottom income quartile have earned a bachelor’s degree, compared to 75% of students in the top income quartile. Summer Search makes a holistic, five-year investment in students that yields impressive results. In 2011:

95% of students were eligible for free/reduced lunch
96% of our seniors went onto post-secondary school including 94% to college
85% of our students currently in college were persisting on and on track to graduate

For compelling stories of our students’ individual transformation visit: http://www.summersearch.org/about/stories.aspx and: http://vimeo.com/user1642384/videos

Summer Search started in 1990 in San Francisco and has expanded to serve students in North San Francisco Bay and Silicon Valley, Boston, New York, Seattle and Philadelphia. In the past five years we’ve more than doubled the students served as a result of a successful national growth campaign. With an innovative program model and proven results, Summer Search is poised to become a force in the youth development and education fields.

The newest of the seven sites, Summer Search Philadelphia was launched in September 2006 encouraged by the School District of Philadelphia and other civic leaders to bring more opportunities for low-income students. Since then, the program has grown to serve 100 high-potential students annually and is poised for aggressive growth in the next five years. Much of our success is attributed to our phenomenal staff and board talent and we hope you join our team.

OUR VALUES

Summer Search is committed to professional and personal growth opportunities for every staff member. Summer Search staff members, students, alumni and Board members embody our three values:

Reflection: Flexibility and openness to a professional environment that expects direct feedback, self-evaluation and the capacity to learn and grow on the job.
Altruism: We each take ownership of this program but also see it as an opportunity to go beyond ourselves and genuinely empower others.
Performance: We work with a sustained sense of passion and productivity, striving for excellence in all we do.

POSITION OVERVIEW

Summer Search Philadelphia seeks a Development Director who will have the exceptional opportunity to help lead the development strategy for one of Philadelphia’s fastest growing youth and education nonprofits. The position will work in partnership with the Executive Director to refine and implement initiatives set forth in the site’s new 5-year strategic plan. Our goal is to more than double students served, while growing the budget to $1.5-$2M in sustainable local revenue. The Director of Development is responsible for spearheading significant growth in annual gifts, major gifts, foundation and corporate contributions, events, and special campaigns to support the mission of Summer Search Philadelphia.

KEY SELECTION CRITERIA

Summer Search is seeking an entrepreneurial and strategic Development Director. This role calls for a gifted relationship builder, an excellent communicator and listener who understands, believes in and can embody our mission of transforming the education and life prospects of low-income youth. Key qualifications include:

1) At least five years of development experience, acquired within organizations reputed for revenue growth. This will include a successful track record of:

Identifying, cultivating, soliciting and stewarding major individual donors
Partnering closely with board members and/or volunteers to leverage their strengths and interests around development, seeking to maximize their own giving and to expand their network of supporters
Growing a strong base of foundation grants through relationship building with foundation officers
Executing large scale fundraising events to increase revenue and visibility

2) Stellar communicator and relationship builder with an ability to:

Articulate our unique position in the marketplace
Manage donor relationships and build superb working relationships with stakeholders, including staff at every level of the organization as well as with board members, volunteers, funders, students and program partners

3) Additional personal characteristics include:

Savvy and hands-on leader with an entrepreneurial, get-it-done spirit; this includes an proactive personality with a sense of urgency and attention to detail
Flexibility in approach, a great sense of humor, a collaborative spirit and a willingness to adapt and work independently to hit goals

4) Bachelor’s Degree required

5) Experience with Raiser’s Edge database a plus

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Secure major gifts from current and prospect individuals, foundations and corporations

Cultivate, solicit and steward current major individual donors and secure new major ($5K+) individual donors.
Grow existing relationships with foundations and seek new relationships at the $15K level. Oversee all aspects of grant writing process, including identifying and researching prospects, writing proposals, submissions, reporting and internal tracking.
Develop strong partnership with the Philadelphia Advisory Board to support fundraising, working closely with the Chair of the Development Committee and related committees and task forces in all cultivation and solicitation efforts.
Cultivate and manage Philadelphia’s corporate relationships and volunteers in the spirit of donor cultivation and network expansion.

Refine and execute Summer Search Philadelphia’s development strategy to triple revenue by FY2017

Review and adjust draft five-year development strategy as needed to poise Philadelphia for short- and long-term success.
Secure buy-in from Advisory Board on overall strategy and individual targets.
Execute five-year development strategy in partnership with Executive Director, the Advisory Board and national leadership, ensuring we build a sustainable and growing funding base as we work towards local sustainability and student growth.

Execute successful events to generate revenue and increase visibility

Oversee the process of creating and planning cultivation events, including the Annual Signature Event, Investors’ Cocktail and smaller cultivation events throughout the year.
Leverage existing Summer Search programmatic activities, communications and other cultivation opportunities to engage current and potential supporters.

Lead development operations

Supervise project and operations associate and work collaboratively with entire Philadelphia and National teams on fundraising efforts.
Develop and monitor department and project budgets and annual planning and evaluation of development efforts and systems.
Oversee development systems using Raiser’s Edge database including tracking and recording relationship building with donors, and creating and pulling reports

OUR BENEFITS

Summer Search is committed to creating an environment that is supportive of learning, growth and staff development. Our investment in staff includes:

Medical, dental, vision, Flex-spending, commuter benefit, life and disability insurance
Competitive salary commensurate with experience
401 (K) and Employer Match
Generous paid vacation days, sick days, and holidays

HOW TO APPLY

Email a resume and cover letter describing your qualifications and interest in Summer Search to philadelphiahire@summersearch.org. Please indicate “Director of Development, Philadelphia” in the subject line of your email and include how you heard about the position.

Summer Search is an equal opportunity employer.