Director of Development

Do you want an impactful career AND quality time to spend with your family or pursue your hobbies

You can have both by joining Empire Justice Center as a Director of Development!

About Empire Justice Center
Empire Justice Center is a diverse highly respected statewide legal services organization that fights for marginalized low-income individuals and families across New York. We succeed through direct legal representation high-impact litigation legislative advocacy and training the next generation of advocates. Our team is passionate determined and committed to justice for communities facing poverty housing insecurity immigration issues domestic violence disability discrimination and civil rights violations in schools.

What makes this role unique:

The Director of Development is responsible for leading implementing and managing Empire Justice Centers comprehensive fundraising program in partnership with the Chief Operating Officer President & CEO Board of Directors and program leadership.

The Director will lead day-to-day fundraising activities across individual giving major gifts foundation and institutional giving corporate and law firm support annual giving donor cultivation and stewardship. The Director will help translate the organizations development strategy into clear annual work plans fundraising campaigns prospect strategies and measurable results. Youll also enjoy:

True work-life Balance: A flexible 35-hour full-time workweek (true work-life balance)!

• A comprehensive health insurance plan for you AND your family!
• Additional benefits include: 14 paid holidays generous vacation sick and personal time group term life insurance 403(b) with employer contributions (after 12 months of employment) and a $2000 bilingual salary enhancement for qualifying employees.

Responsibilities:

• Travel to and work in the Albany office 3 days per week is required to meet client and organizational needs.
• Must demonstrate a high level of comfort and commitment to working with people from marginalized communities.
• Work closely with your assigned supervisor and participate in regular supervision meetings including work plan development and grant deliverable management.
• Please note that all positions will supervise other practice group members if needed.
• Due to limited resources all staff are expected to perform administrative and other support-related duties to serve our clients and fulfill our mission as a non-profit legal services organization.
• Other duties as assigned by your supervisor and/or to meet the organizations needs.

Fundraising Program Management

• Implement the organizations annual and multi-year fundraising plans.
• Establish fundraising calendars goals timelines and performance measures.
• Track progress toward fundraising goals and identify opportunities or challenges requiring attention.
• Lead and coordinate fundraising activities across individual foundation corporate law firm and other philanthropic sources.
• Develop and maintain a strong donor and prospect pipeline.
• Coordinate prospect identification qualification cultivation solicitation and stewardship activities.
• Work with the COO and CEO to prepare for donor meetings and solicitations.

Individual & Major Gifts

• Manage and grow the organizations individual giving program.
• Develop and implement strategies for annual giving recurring giving and donor retention.
• Manage a portfolio of major donors and prospects.
• Develop individualized cultivation and solicitation plans.
• In collaboration with Marketing prepare briefing materials proposals donor correspondence and solicitation materials.
• Coordinate donor meetings cultivation activities and stewardship.
• Track donor moves and next steps through the organizations CRM.

Foundation & Institutional Fundraising

• Manage a portfolio of foundation and institutional funders.
• Research prospective funders and identify opportunities aligned with organizational priorities.
• Draft and manage letters of inquiry proposals and reports.
• Work with program staff and the Senior Manager of Grants and Data Systems to obtain programmatic information outcomes and impact data needed for proposals.
• Maintain a comprehensive foundation calendar and work with the Senior Manager of Grants and Data Systems to ensure timely submissions and reports.
• Support the CEO in developing and maintaining strategic funder relationships.

Corporate & Law Firm Giving

• Develop and implement a strategy for corporate and law firm philanthropy.
• Research and identify prospective corporate and law firm partners.
• Solicit and coordinate sponsorships charitable contributions and other partnership opportunities.
• Develop cultivation and stewardship strategies.

Annual Giving & Campaigns

• Develop and coordinate annual fundraising campaigns.
• Develop and manage direct-mail digital and other annual giving appeals in partnership with marketing and communications staff.
• Work with Marketing to develop donor communications and campaign materials.
• Analyze campaign results and make recommendations for improvement.

Donor Stewardship

• Develop and implement a consistent donor stewardship program.
• Ensure donors receive timely acknowledgments and meaningful communications about the impact of their support.
• Develop and draft donor reports impact updates and other stewardship materials.
• Develop strategies to increase donor retention and engagement.

Fundraising Events

• Lead the planning coordination and execution of Empire Justice Centers annual Celebration of Leadership fundraising event.
• Work with Marketing to develop materials and email campaigns.
• Assess opportunities for additional fundraising events.

Experience and Attributes:

• At least 5 years of Director-level or leadership role in Development with an $8M nonprofit.
• Demonstrated experience and success with individual major gift and/or institutional fundraising.
• Strong writing and proposal-development skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
• Strong project-management and organizational skills.
• Experience managing and using a nonprofit CRM/database.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Commitment to Empire Justice Centers mission and to advancing justice for low-income New Yorkers.
• Proficiency in utilizing the Microsoft 365 Suite (Outlook Word Excel Teams SharePoint PowerPoint) with the ability to quickly learn and adapt to other applications.
• Proficiency in utilizing Adobe and other document management systems with the ability to schedule appointments manage calendars documents and collaborative workflows.

Preferred

• Experience in legal services civil rights advocacy public interest or a similarly mission-driven organization.
• Experience with major gifts and donor portfolios.
• Experience working with foundations corporations or law firms.

TO APPLY: Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. If interested please visit our Work With Us employment page at . Please submit a complete application including a resume writing sample and contact information for three professional references (one supervisor is required). Please do not call or send hard copies. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Empire Justice Center is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and strongly desires a diverse and inclusive workforce. Empire Justice Center provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants. It prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type specifically: race color religion age sex (including pregnancy and gender identity) national origin disability status genetics neurodiversity protected veteran status sexual orientation gender identity or expression or any other characteristic protected by federal state or local laws.

If you need reasonable accommodations please contact Human Resources at Empire Justice Center is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment Empire Justice Center ensures that persons with disabilities and/or communication barriers have reasonable accommodations.

Salary

The referenced pay range/scale represents this jobs estimated minimum and maximum compensation. Individual annual salaries/hourly rates will be set within the jobs compensation range and determined by factors including but not limited to education experience qualifications the individuals expertise market data and internal equity considerations.