WILL seeks its first-ever Associate Director of Development (AD) to join the team. Reporting to our President, the AD will bring a passion for our programming paired with a high level of expertise and strategic thinking to drive revenue and build long-term and exponential growth opportunities for WILL over the next decade.
About WILL
WILL is a transformative, holistic, 12-month experiential learning, youth leadership, and life skills development program for District of Columbia area youth from underserved/under-resourced neighborhoods. WILL’s mission is to provide diverse growth experiences and challenging learning opportunities to inspire youth to make good decisions, become effective leaders, and achieve their goals.
At WILL, we believe that all youth have greatness in them. Through experiential learning, self-empowerment, leadership, and life skills programs, WILL provides youth the opportunity to unleash their full potential.
About the Role:
The AD will manage and nurture WILL’s current philanthropic revenue portfolio and donor base, be a lead strategist, and play an integral role with WILL’s President and Board in growing revenue and donor engagement. Working closely with and reporting directly to Founder and President, Steve Abraham, the AD is responsible for developing, executing, and analyzing WILL’s annual development plan and representing WILL to funders.
The AD can expect her/his/their work to include:
Leadership and Development Strategy:
● Collaborate with and support WILL’s leadership team, strategizing and executing fundraising activities
● Serve as a staff leader and fundraising expert to the WILL’s Board of Directors
● Manage and execute WILL’s annual development and stewardship plans to achieve annual revenue goals and to generate funding to support WILL’s programmatic operations and growth.
Individual Donor Stewardship and Management
● Partner with Founder and President, Steve Abraham, to identify, cultivate, and solicit individual donors for major gifts
● Manage and develop existing initiatives, appeals, and campaigns focused on targeting new donors and stewarding existing donors
Event Fundraising
• Collaborate with WILL’s President in the development and implementation of concepts, themes, and formats for the WILL Power Party (WPP), WILL’s signature fundraising event, to engage supporters, increase brand awareness, and grow revenue
• Oversee all aspects of WPP, including host committee development and management, vendor and venue coordination, securing sponsorships, acquisition and management of silent and live auction items, implementation of an effective communications plan, fundraising software, and volunteer coordination before, during, and after the event to ensure efficiency and optimal attendee and sponsor experience and revenue generation
• Ensure WPP promotion, logistics, and follow-up are professionally planned and implemented
• Lead post-WPP event activities, including but not limited to debrief meetings, recognition of key constituents, financial reporting, and data transfer
Foundation and Corporation Relations
● Manage relationships with existing foundations/corporations
● Author compelling grant proposals and complete grant reporting processes in a timely and efficient manner
● Research and develop relationships with potential foundation/corporate funders
Fundraising Operations and Gift Entry
● Design and update a progress-to-goal report and development dashboard for WILL’s President and Board of Directors
● Execute high-quality gift entry and revenue tracking to ensure accurate and thorough documentation of all development activities
● Ensure integrity and accuracy in all records and reports in WILL’s CRM, Little Green Light
Required Qualifications:
• 4-8 years of nonprofit development experience
• 2-3 years of experience with development CRM systems
• Demonstrable success as a fundraising generalist, with hands-on experience with major gifts, annual giving, institutional giving/grant writing, corporate partnership building, special events, and online giving campaigns
• Outstanding project management skills
• A high level of integrity and ability to manage and keep confidential sensitive information about donors, partners, and beneficiaries
Desired Qualifications:
• Ability to build a development program from the ground-up, leveraging a solid foundation while recognizing the opportunity to be instrumental in the development of WILL’s fundraising strategy and execution
• A dynamic, professional, and poised brand ambassador for WILL, embracing the opportunity to promote and embody WILL’s 21-year history of demonstrated positive youth development
• A reliable and friendly communicator who reaches out and follows up with professional persistence
• A creative thinker and willing to test out new ideas
• A stickler for details
• A self-motivated, strategic thinker who is comfortable working independently
Location and Benefits
• Candidates must be within commuting distance of WILL’s office at 1140 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC
● Generous PTO (vacation, personal days, and holiday schedule)
o WILL provides between Christmas and New Years as paid days off
o WILL observes nine (9) federal holidays, as well as the day after Thanksgiving, totaling ten (10), observed paid holidays
o New employees accrue five (5) working days of annual leave per year for the first two calendar years of employment
o Employees accrue three (3) paid sick days per year
o WILL also provides two (2) “flex” paid days off per year to be used at the discretion of each employee
● Employee Health insurance (medical, vision, and dental) – WILL pays 100% of the premium cost for vision and dental insurance, and 100% of the premium for the base medical insurance policy
● Retirement benefits
Apply for this Role:
Candidates should send the following (with “WILL Associate Director of Development Application” as the subject) to steve.abraham@will-lead.org. Applications are not complete nor reviewed until all items have been submitted:
● A current resume
● A cover letter outlining:
o How your experience and skills match what WILL is looking for in our AD,
o Your salary range expectations, and
o Your available start date
As a condition of employment, all persons offered employment with WILL must pass a background check.
Wilderness Leadership & Learning, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, or disability
