Director Of Annual Giving, Chester Fund for Education and the Arts

Posted by Chester Fund for Education and the Arts on May 22, 2017

About The Chester Fund

Our mission is to support The Chester Charter School for the Arts (CCSA), an arts-integrated, academically rigorous, non-profit charter school in the Chester Upland School District.

CCSA serves educationally underserved children in Kindergarten to 12th grade. CCSA teaches through a unique arts-integrated model, providing all students with dance, art, music, and drama instruction and using the arts to enhance all academic learning.

The Chester Fund raises approximately $1 million annually, in addition to undertaking special capital fundraising projects on behalf of the school. The Chester Fund offices are located at the Chester Charter School for the Arts in an outstanding new facility in the city of Chester, PA. The campus is conveniently located at 1200 Highland Avenue in the west end of Chester, immediately off the I-95 Highland Avenue exit.

Position Overview

Reporting to the Executive Director of The Chester Fund, the Director of Annual Giving is responsible for annual fund donor engagement and communications in support of fundraising.

Donor Relations

• Design and manage annual fund mailing campaign.
• Identify, cultivate, solicit (in person and by mail), and steward a defined portfolio of individual donors with capacity to make a leadership annual gift of $2000-25,000.
• Working with the Executive Director and Dean of Arts Integration, select strategic venues for a maximum of 4 student exhibition events annually in donor communities (retirement communities, religious communities, and other strategic venues). With support from the Development Manager, engage with community volunteers to implement these events, including coordinating volunteer outreach and communications to drive attendance.
• Working with the Executive Director, assist with foundation applications as needed.

Development Communications

• Create comprehensive communications plan in support of annual fundraising and stewardship efforts.
• Write and coordinate editing process for communications to include: annual fund mailing campaigns; annual report to be mailed in September; newsletter/magazine to be mailed in May; weekly blog posts; press releases as needed; invitations to events; other collateral as needed.
• Manage design process for communications: graphic design support will be contracted out depending on applicants’ skills and interests.
• Responsible for social media and website strategy (Development Manager will post social media and website updates as directed.)
• Coordinate photography and video needs using external contractors with support from Development Manager.
  Requirements

Bachelor’s degree.

• 5 years’ experience in non-profit development, preferably in an education setting.
• Experience with in-person donor solicitations a plus.
• Experience using communications strategically to support community building and donor relations.
• Exceptional writing skills and the ability to conceptualize printed collateral.
• A creative outlook: ability to conceptualize annual fundraising campaigns and generate new ideas with enthusiasm.
• Confidence and strong interpersonal skills. Must be comfortable interacting with a wide range of constituents including students, faculty, board members, volunteers, and high level donors.
• Excellent skills in Microsoft applications (Word and Excel), and experience with donor database software required. Working knowledge of design applications (InDesign) and Constant Contact a plus.
• Willingness to work flexibly and cheerfully in a highly collaborative, small team.

https://www.thechesterfund.org/contact/