Job Description

Director of Development and Communications (Seabury)

Posted on September 17, 2020

About Us

Seabury Resources for Aging's (Seabury) mission is to provide personalized, affordable services, and housing options to help older adults in the greater Washington, D.C. area live with independence and dignity. Since its founding 96 years ago, Seabury has served as a kind, compassionate advocate, and support that vulnerable seniors deserve. Seabury currently serves more than 15,000 seniors annually.

Seabury’s values:

Compassion — Our interaction is based on our empathy for those we serve.

Innovation — Our approach is flexible and novel.

Respect — We value every person as an individual with dignity.

Cheer — We want our passion to be apparent in all we do, so that it is a joy to work for and with us.

Loyalty — We are faithful to one another, those who work with us and those we serve.

Excellence — We strive to exceed expectations.

Sustainability — We will meet the needs of the present without compromising our ability to meet the future.

About the Role

The Director of Development and Communications (DODC) is a new position on the Seabury team and will be responsible for bringing both structure and imagination to our growing number of fundraising and communications activities. You will be the lead strategist and project manager focused on growing Seabury’s roughly $445,000 philanthropic revenue portfolio. The DODC is both strategic and tactical, and is responsible for updating, managing, and executing the Seabury annual development and communications plans. The ideal candidate has a clear grasp of all core components of development, with particularly strong experience in individual giving, including major gifts, stewardship, and annual giving campaigns (direct mail and digital). This role requires experience with development operations, including CRM management and budget-building.

The DODC will interface frequently with donors and will partner with the Chief Advancement Officer (CAO) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in prospecting, developing, and stewarding all major gifts. This position supervises the Corporate and Foundation Relations Manager, Development Operations Manager, and Communications Manager. The DODC reports to the CAO.

This position is located in Washington, D.C. with remote work accommodations during the pandemic. Seabury offers a competitive benefits package. Salary will be $80,000-$90,000 commensurate with experience.

The DODC can expect her/his/their work to include:

Development (80%)

Leadership and Development Strategy:

• Contribute positively to organizational culture and reflect Seabury’s values
• Manage and execute the Seabury development and stewardship plans to achieve revenue goals
• Ensure a robust gift pipeline big enough to hit annual revenue goals by actively managing prospective and current individual donors
• Oversee preparation, execution, and follow-up for board meetings, and serve as a staff liaison to the Board of Directors’ Advancement Committee and the Young Professionals Board

Fundraising and Donor Relations

• Research and design moves management plans for major individual donors and support the CEO and CAO in execution of the plans; Project manage the CEO and CAO’s fundraising work
• Energetically and proactively cultivate and nurture relationships between Seabury’s donors and donor prospects, Board members, volunteers, and other key constituents
• Manage and develop existing initiatives, appeals, and campaigns focused on targeting new donors and stewarding existing donors
• Serve as the primary point of contact for small and mid-size donors

Foundation and Corporate Funding

• Work with the Foundation and Corporate Relations Manager to ensure Seabury has a robust pipeline of local, regional, and national grant opportunities to pursue
• Assist the Foundation and Corporate Relations Manager, CEO, and CAO in building personal relationships with foundation and corporate funders

Development Operations and Revenue Tracking

• Establish and monitor annual and long-term revenue goals and budgets
• Design a regular progress-to-goal report and development dashboard for the CEO and CAO, and work with the Development Operations Manager on regular updates
• Execute high-quality gift entry and revenue tracking, to ensure accuracy of all records and development reports in the organization’s CRM (Salesforce)

Consistent and Creative Donor Stewardship

• In partnership with the Development Operations Manager, manage the execution of Seabury’s donor stewardship plan
• Think creatively about the donor stewardship plan and update it annually with new and meaningful ways to connect donors and foster a sense of community
• Help develop creative and mission-focused fundraising messaging that effectively articulates Seabury’s impact and collaborate Communications Manager on optimal design and content for a donor-focused communications

Communications (20%)

Manage External Communications

• Work with Seabury’s leadership team to develop and execute its annual communications calendar, content plan, and design and approval process
• Manage Communications Manager in creation, development, distribution, and maintenance of all print and electronic collateral
• Work with Seabury team members to collect, organize, and share compelling stories from Seabury’s clients, residents, and staff

About You

To be maximally successful in this role, you need to be:

• A dynamic and poised professional who will represent Seabury’s work with enthusiasm and authenticity
• A natural people person who appreciates that everyone has an important story to tell
• A practiced public speaker who can think on your feet
• A stickler for details and quality
• A creative thinker willing to test out new ideas
• A strong self-motivator
• An exceptional communicator and networker
• Dedicated to data and systems and ready to utilize Seabury systems to project manage all development and communications work for the team
• Someone who values diversity and is amenable to working alongside allies to promote social justice
• Experienced in working with older adults and knowledgeable about issues surrounding aging

You need to have:

• A Bachelor’s degree and 8-10 years of nonprofit development and/or communications experience
• Demonstrable experience and success as a fundraising generalist, with hands-on practice at major gifts, annual giving, online giving campaigns, institutional giving/grant writing, corporate partnership building, and special events
• Experience managing and improving development operations, ranging from CRM management to budget monitoring to gift processing
• Enthusiasm to propose fresh ideas without prompting by leadership, openness to feedback on those ideas, and a persistence to bring those ideas to life
• A passion for doing transformative work with exceptional people while not taking yourself too seriously
• A “teamwork” mindset and the ability to work cooperatively and effectively with others to set goals, resolve problems, and make decisions that enhance organizational effectiveness

How to Apply

Candidates should send the following to hiring@threadstrategies.com with Seabury Director of Development and Communications in the subject line:

• Resume
• Salary range
• A writing sample that is authored solely by the candidate and relevant to fundraising work, like a thank you letter or a follow-up email after a donor meeting

No recruiters please.

Hours of Work, Holidays, and Other Benefits

• Full-time, 40 hours per week, generous PTO

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