Summary:

For Love of Children (FLOC) is a mission-driven organization providing educational services beyond the classroom to help students succeed from first grade through college and career. FLOC has successfully operated since 1965, reaching and serving over 10,000 young people. Our services are free to students of low-income families in the District of Columbia and West Virginia. With offices in Washington DC and West Virginia, we serve nearly 600 students per year in local schools and at FLOC’s facilities. FLOC brings together students, volunteers, families, and community partners in proven programs that teach, empower, and transform.

Our fundraising and communication efforts are critical to the long-term success of our work and the Director of Donor Relations plays an essential role in leading these activities.

For Love of Children is seeking an experienced and motivated Director of Donor Relations to increase organizational revenue, maintain its annual operating budget, bring new strategies and contacts to the organization, and manage all development and communications operations. In partnership with the Executive Director, the Director of Donor Relations is responsible for developing and implementing all fundraising efforts, as well as leading all marketing and public relations events to ensure the continued success and financial health of the agency. The ideal candidate can skillfully bolster FLOC’s growing individual gifts portfolio, manage Board giving in tandem with the Executive Director, and deliver new corporate sponsorship ideas. In addition, the new Director of Donor Relations will lead the organization in strengthening the FLOC brand and all public communications in multiple modalities. He or she will work together with FLOC’s Executive Director, members of the Board of Directors, a grant management company with a long history and excellent track record, along with other members of the development team.

The Director of Donor Relations will join a talented team of mission-driven staff and the successful candidate will:

• Have a proven ability to raise substantial funds through multiple sources such as individual donors, large and small foundations, corporate partners, as well as government agencies.
• Be an experienced and self-motivated leader that can quickly establish positive and productive working relationships with internal as well external stakeholders and partners, including board members, individual donors, foundation program officers, and government leaders.
• As an established practitioner, the Director of Donor Relations has experience leading large gift individual giving as well as soliciting annual donations and hosting donor events.

The ideal candidate is passionate about the success of young people, and thrives in an environment where professionals, volunteers, families, and especially youth are positively impacted by community-based programming.

Position Purpose and Key Responsibilities:

Strategy

• Create and implement a strategic funding and giving strategy in partnership with the Executive Director, Board of Directors, and Development team;
• Implement and monitor annual development plan and strategy for organizational fundraising efforts including major gifts, workplace giving, foundation and corporate support, annual spring fundraising event, and FLOC signature events;
• Develop, in tandem with the Executive Director, FLOC brand expansion and visibility through the oversight of programmatic and organizational special events, e-communication, social media outreach, and general awareness building efforts;
• Consult with the Executive Director on board development and training for the Fred Taylor Scholarship Fund Board, and the FLOC Board of Directors;
• Serve as part of the senior management team and assist in the development of organizational capacity.

●      Lead the development and implementation of the strategic communication plan with the Executive Director and Board to promote FLOC’s goals and funding needs through local and regional media campaigns, social media outreach, FLOC ambassadors’ program, and general public relations;

Donor Fundraising

• Develop and implement a strategy designed to cultivate and solicit donations from major donors to assist and/or alleviate the necessity to expend revenue;
• Lead the Executive Director and the Board in the cultivation of prospective and current donors;
• Expand all individual development activities, workplace giving, corporate giving, cause marketing partnerships, faith-based community and other non-profit giving.  This includes major gifts, point of entry events, and a specific and heavy focus on prospect cultivation, and donor stewardship;
• Research a wide variety of individuals, faith organizations, special interest groups, and corporate entities for the perpetual growth and development of new and existing funding streams;
• Continually develop and maintain positive relationships with associations, businesses and corporations for monetary, in-kind and volunteer support;
• Manage all public and external relation efforts, including media activities, agency publications, and other collateral materials that enhance FLOC’s visibility and enable FLOC to attract new prospects;
• Lead and guide all fundraising and signature event planning efforts for FLOC, including: monthly fundraising events with the Board and FLOC’s three signature events: Annual Fundraising Event, Book Festival, Scholarship Dinner;
• In partnership with the Executive Director and the Board, coordinate annual fundraising “ask event” to ensure adequate participation, appropriate activities and reasonable adherence to the goals and targets;  
• Continually participate in creative and innovative special events that provide the opportunity for individuals and groups with special interests to become actively involved and engaged with FLOC programs.

●      Supervise the in-take of all in-kind donations to ensure equitable appropriation amongst programs;

●      Oversee the implementation of direct mail and solicitation campaigns; coordinate with Program Managers to target solicitations for special needs specific to programs.

Communication and Special Events

Fiscal

• In collaboration with the Executive Director, create a reasonable development office operating budget with measurable goals and objectives to ensure program fiscal viability; 
• Periodically monitor and review development fundraising activities to ensure that the programs and agency maintain fiscal year and long-term goals.

Supervision

• Supervise the Development staff in the tracking of prospective, cultivated and finalized donations, including in-kind gifts; producing all donor acknowledgements; and generating regularly used reports through software;
• Support the maintenance of donor files, and track direct mail responses for use in reports and budget preparation;
• Support the Development staff with management of all grant research, writing, and reporting not covered by the grants management firm, and assisting the Executive Director with some foundation relationship stewardship. 

Experience:

A minimum of 5 (five) years of expanded experience in:

• Fundraising, marketing or communications;
• Individual gift giving, prospect cultivation, and donor stewardship in a non-profit organization;
• Event planning; corporate grant programs;
• Staff management and supervision.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and effective solicitation and organizational skills are required;
• Highly organized and detail oriented;
• Minimum 5 years experience in donor cultivation and stewardship;
• High functioning ability with computer software and applications, including MS Word, MS Excel, donor tracking databases and internet;
• Knowledgeable and passionate about youth development and education issues in Washington DC;

Position Type:

• Full-time exempt position (Will consider employment at 30-40 hours/week)

Work Environment:

• This job operates in an office setting. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, and filing cabinets.
• This is largely a sedentary role; however, external stakeholder meetings may be required. This would require the ability to travel to and from local meetings, speak with a variety of external stakeholders (funders, donors, partners, and others), and represent FLOC in the community.
• This job is located in the District of Columbia.

Compensation:

• FLOC offers competitive salaries based on the experience and skills of employees. Additionally, FLOC provides a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, 403b, ancillary benefits, and generous leave benefits.

To Apply:

Please send your resume and cover letter in attachment form to Brandelyn Anderson, Executive Director at HR@floc.org, with the subject line, “FLOC Director of Donor Relations”. Only competitive candidates will be contacted and invited to participate in the selection process. No phone calls please.  Applications are accepted until the position is filled.

Organization Details