About Jeremiah Program

Jeremiah Program (JP) offers proven, successful strategies to disrupt poverty for single mothers and their children, two generations at a time. This two-generation approach is unique in its focus on the whole family, positioning JP Moms as the best architects of their own and their children’s futures. With a focus on supporting families and addressing the structural barriers that keep Americans in poverty, JP consistently achieves long-term, sustainable outcomes showing educational, health, and economic gains for our families and their communities.

Jeremiah Program is a national organization, headquartered in Minneapolis with campuses in Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Fargo-Moorhead, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Rochester – SE MN. JP is growing and expanding throughout the nation to meet a growing demand for our antipoverty model.

Learn more about JP and our work here.

The Role

In partnership with the Executive Director, the Development Director is charged with cultivating, navigating, and maintaining the external relationships for the fundraising and development needs to support regional growth and programming. The Development Director is responsible for meeting ambitious stewardship and new donor goals.
These goals are met through best-in-class cultivation and targeted donor stewardship through a diverse portfolio of events, meetings, and campus tours. The Development Director leads the campus development team, working with all campus leaders to identify needs that may be met through development activities.

About You

The ideal candidate is a masterful communicator and relationship builder and is a strategic planner and executer. You will bring great interpersonal skills, an ability to work with a significant volume of highly varying data requiring rigor, a strong understanding of data systems, and ability to thrive in a complex environment, one that is newer to project management and therefore often lacks an awareness of project management tools and methodology. Most importantly, you will possess a deep commitment to and understanding of current housing, education, early childhood, and all social justice issues intersecting with poverty. You have enthusiasm, familiarity and demonstrated alignment with JP’s mission and a commitment to building/deepening your commitment to racial justice and are dedicated to leveraging economies of scale with a mission-based and donor-centric approach to fundraising.

What You’ll Do

Development Operations

• Provide leadership to development function at the campus level, partnering with the Executive Director on all fundraising activities and leveraging development and marketing expertise and resources of national Campus Support Team to achieve assigned goals.
• Coordinate grant applications, institutional relationships, site visits and related tracking and reporting.
• Manage strategy and execution of key events in consultation with national team and provide accurate and timely data on event results.
• Embody and adhere to development/fundraising best practices, staying up to date on new approaches that ensure the effectiveness of local development operations.
• Manage donor database at the local level, ensuring integrity of donor and prospects data and compliance with entry standards for portfolios.
• Maximize database functionality by working in close partnership with Campus Support Team to identify new and better ways of using the database.
• Monitor assigned development expense budget and track revenue goals.

Donor and Community Board Management

• Identify individual, corporate and foundation prospects, cultivate donor relationships and oversees all aspects of major gifts operations.
• Oversee key major gifts functions and bodies of work including, but not limited to, high level portfolio management, cultivation, solicitation, acknowledgement, and stewardship process.
• Execute and steward local individual giving strategy to meet assigned targets in ways that fosters long-term donor engagement and investment in the organization.
• Foster active participation at all levels by community board members, ensuring effective roles and functioning.
• Partner with development committee to provide the necessary information and access to meet annual fundraising goals.
• Work with Executive Directors to ensure 100% of community board of trustees meet give/get expectations and facilitate commitments and engagements from their networks.

Who You Are

• Mission Alignment. You must believe in and be a passionate advocate for JP’s mission and values. Applicants should have prior experience working within a structured and effective development department and bring an entrepreneurial approach both to their career path and development work.
• A Relationship Builder. You are genuinely curious about new people and possess strong listening skills. You like learning what motivates people, what inspires their generosity, and makes them feel appreciated. You have the ability to initiate, organize and manage projects, and to interface successfully with colleagues in a collaborative approach.
• Persistent and Optimistic. You are intrinsically motivated and undaunted by ambitious goals. You have the creativity and tenacity to find your way around a “no” answer to a more productive “not right now,” “maybe,” or best yet, “yes.” You embrace and drive change.
• Exceptional in Communicating Verbally and in Writing. You demonstrate the ability to inspire commitment and write and edit persuasive materials including successful appeals, proposals, stewardship materials and other collateral. You have excellent presentation and negotiation skills.
• An Organizational Maven. You can manage across multiple work streams and functions, keeping deadlines and managing complexity by simplifying solutions, systems and processes with clarity and attention to detail. You have an ability to efficiently initiate and complete multiple tasks on time.
• Adaptable and Flexible. You can handle any curveball, and in fact, you expect them. You can meet deadlines and manage competing priorities. Additionally, you are strategic and have the ability to pivot quickly as priorities shift and the team continues to take shape. You can and are willing to travel if needed.
• Stakeholder Experience. You have excellent interpersonal skills and an ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders, including the Community Board of Trustees, staff, volunteers, community groups, and be a fixture in the community who is inspirational and a proactive connector.
• The Ability to Execute on Fundraising Plans and Strategies That Generate Significant Results. You regularly use data to drive decision-making and reflect on your rigorous and donor centered plans for sustaining and growing your donor base and revenue. You have strong prospect research skills and a solid understanding of moves management.
• Available to Travel. You are open to traveling every other month or six trips a year.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Directly manage 2 development team members — a Senior Manager of Individual Giving and a Development Associate

Professional Experience/Qualifications

• BA/BS (Master’s degree preferred) in relevant field
• 7+ years’ experience in key development related activities with at least 5+ years of experience managing a team
• Ability to execute on fundraising plans and strategies that generate significant results and proven track record initiating, stewarding, and moving individual gifts to higher levels of support
• Experience personally managing portfolio $3M or more
• Strong prospect research skills and a solid understanding of moves management
• Genuine relationship-building skills with the ability to inspire generosity and make prospects and donors feel valued
• Ability to utilize data to drive decision-making and reflect on rigorous and donor centered plans for sustaining and growing donor base and revenue
• Ability to initiate, organize and manage projects, and to collaborate successfully with peers and other key stakeholders in person and remotely across local and national teams
• Exceptional verbal, presentation, and written communication skills with demonstrated ability to write and edit successful and persuasive appeals, proposals, stewardship materials and other collateral
• Excellent negotiation skills and positive and patient approach to donor cultivation with the creativity and tenacity to find your way around a “no” answer to a more productive outcome
• Highly organized and proactive leadership skills, with the ability to plan strategically and stay on track with a portfolio of donors from prospect to achievement of desired goals
• Resourceful problem solver with the ability to shift priorities quickly
• Experience motivating staff and creating opportunities for learning and development of team members
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and donor databases and an ability to learn new technologies that enable effectiveness in the role
• A self-development orientation and track record of seeking professional growth
• Willingness to travel up to 4-6 trips per year

Salary & Benefits

Salaries for people entering this role typically fall between $80,000 and $100,000 and are commensurate with relevant experience and qualifications and in alignment with internal equity. Additionally, we offer medical, dental, vision, and supplemental benefits as well as retirement plans and a generous vacation package.

How to Apply

Jeremiah Program is committed to the recruitment, selection, development, and promotion of employees based on individual merit. Our policy is to provide equal employment opportunity to all people without regard to race, color, religion, sex, nationality, age, or disability. We offer competitive compensation including contributions to employer-paid health and dental, life and disability insurance, and generous time off.

Qualified candidates are encouraged to apply online. Please upload a current resume and thoughtful cover letter articulating your interest and fit for the role, including compensation requirements.