Senior Director of Development

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Full vaccination (as defined by CDC guidelines) required for all positions. At this time, HRC is following the CDC's definition of fully vaccinated (two doses of the MNR vaccine or one of the J&J) and including up to date with your boosters. A person is up to date with their COVID-19 vaccination if they have received all recommended doses in the primary series and one booster when eligible. HRC will continue to review these criteria. Individuals may request accommodation if they are unable to be fully vaccinated for either medical or religious reasons.

Position Summary:

Amid an environment characterized by decidedly high stakes but also brimming energy fueled by visionary new leadership, the Human Rights Campaign seeks candidates for Senior Director of Development. Reporting to the Senior Vice President of Development and Membership, the Senior Director of Development oversees the strategic direction, operational efficiency, and staff management of the following fundraising programs: major gifts, planned giving, foundation relations, mid-level giving (Federal Club membership, starting at $100 per month), political fundraising, and events (30 per year). This leader personally manages a portfolio of donors and relationships, as well as engagement with members of the Board of Directors and HRC Foundation Board on fundraising. The Senior Director of Development is also responsible for ensuring consistent, compelling communications with donors, prospects, and volunteers. They serve on the Development and Membership Department leadership team and as a key thought partner to the Senior Vice President of Development and Membership.

The successful candidate will appreciate the Development and Membership Department's existing culture and fundraising success to date while also bringing fresh ideas and perspective, proactively seeking and implementing growth opportunities, and ensuring appropriate integration of efforts across fundraising programs. The Senior Director of Development will prioritize enhancing the working cohesion of assigned areas of responsibility with other units across the Development and Membership Department and organization-wide, fostering an ethos of strategic coordination and transparency.

The Senior Director of Development manages three direct reports and a staff comprising about 27 positions in total. They will work toward a total goal of securing approximately $40 million annually from corresponding fundraising programs.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:
The following describe the essential duties of the person assigned to this position. They are not intended as an exhaustive list of all job duties and responsibilities.

Executive Leadership and Planning

• Set annual and multi-year goals for major gifts, planned giving, foundation relations, mid-level monthly giving, political giving, and events in consultation with the Senior Vice President of Development and Membership, departmental leadership team, and direct reports. Proactively develop strategies for integration and growth, ensuring adequate diversification across fundraising programs and alignment with the mission, vision, and strategic direction of HRC. Provide strategic leadership for expanding the donor pool and strengthening the fundraising performance of donors, including size and number of gifts.
• Focus on maintaining existing funding streams with an emphasis on growth of high-netting funding programs and maximizing opportunities.
• Partner with members of the Board of Directors and HRC Foundation Board to ensure strong engagement and alignment, leveraging their talent and resources and facilitating their appropriate roles as fiduciaries and long-term stewards.
• Serve effectively as a member of the Development and Membership Department leadership team, consulting and collaborating on programmatic, financial, communications, and other issues related to program development and management.
• As a senior leader of HRC, promote racial equity and inclusion as a cornerstone of the Development and Membership Department's work.
  

Fundraising and External Relations

• Ensure ongoing discovery of new giving prospects and evaluation of opportunities to deepen relationships with the existing donor base. Ensure appropriate integration of assigned programs to facilitate progressive levels of donor engagement and philanthropy.
• Personally manage a portfolio of current and prospective donors at the highest levels of giving capacity, including both individual and foundation sources, moving them through the stages of cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Lead and oversee the creation and promotion of effective cultivation and solicitation opportunities that involve the HRC President, other senior staff, and Board members, collaborating with the Senior Vice President of Development and Membership, as appropriate. Manage connections between prospective and current donors and these leaders, including prioritizing the latter's role and involvement in development activities, implementing strategic communications, preparing reports, briefings, and other materials in support of this involvement, and ensuring additional staffing, as necessary.
• Collaborate with staff across the organization in order to ensure consistency in representing HRC to potential donors, prospects, and other audiences, utilizing a variety of platforms for strategic communications and engagement.
• Ensure effective planning and execution of events, return on investment, and that events appropriately relate to donor discovery, cultivation, recognition, and/or solicitation of major gifts, facilitating collaboration with colleagues and Board members, as needed.
• Ensure high-quality, individualized, and meaningful stewardship of donors, including coordination with colleagues throughout HRC, as needed.
• Support advancement of the HRC mission through the nurturing of existing relationships, and through the establishment of new partnerships and relationships to grow HRC's financial resources and expand HRC's fundraising capacity.
• Participate, as appropriate, in the representation of HRC in various forums, such as leadership giving, national partner, and donor meetings, etc.
  

Management

• Oversee the hiring, managing, mentoring, training, and evaluation of a best-in-class team across assigned areas of responsibility. Guide and motivate team members, ensuring that staff have clear and achievable objectives, as well as the resources and organizational support needed to carry out responsibilities and effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders and counterparts. Monitor metrics on a regular basis in order to maximize staff performance.
• Ensure that efficient processes and data-informed decision-making guide the work of team members. Oversee preparation and administration of budgets, management controls, policies, and procedures, ensuring sound fiscal management and efficient allocation of resources. Benchmark with peer institutions to ensure HRC is on track and employing best practices.
• Oversee growth, maintenance, and enhancement of team members' technological proficiency and tools. Maximize utilization of technologies to streamline operational processes.
• Partner with finance colleagues to set revenue goals and ensure regular review and input to forecasts.
• Regularly prepare detailed reports and analyses on program activity in assigned areas of responsibility for the Senior Vice President of Development and Membership and the departmental leadership team. Prepare such additional reporting as appropriate for broader distribution.
  

Other:

• Other duties as assigned.

Professional Skills and Competencies:

• Ten or more years of progressively responsible experience in individual fundraising, with emphasis on major gifts, political fundraising, and stewardship.
• Proven track record of positively influencing both strategic and tactical fundraising initiatives and delivering philanthropic growth for a mission-based organization. Experience with the challenges of working across a large organization and broad, diverse network of stakeholders.
• Five or more years of management experience and the ability to lead and motivate large teams. Ability to recruit, evaluate, and develop professionals and contribute to the ongoing fostering of a results-oriented, multiracial/multicultural workforce. Track record of maintaining best practices, clear goals, and shared accountability.
• Demonstrated success in developing the case for support, aligning organizational needs with funder interests, and developing and executing strategic, innovative fundraising plans to grow revenue and exceed goals.
• Demonstrated experience cultivating, training, building relationships with, and working in collaboration with executives, senior staff, and board leaders on development-related activities, providing them with quality support and intelligence and increasing their comfort with and success in fundraising.
• Demonstrated ability to strategically move individuals and foundations, across the spectrum of prospect development. Substantial experience helping lead high-dollar leadership giving, political bundling operations, and political action committee/candidate fundraising.
• Experience working with strategies for identifying and cultivating the next generation of major gift donors.
• Demonstrated ability to integrate data into decision-making and strategy development.
• Ability to assist with department-wide budget development and experience with revenue forecasts.
• Flexibility with work schedule; this position requires evening and weekend work.
• Ability to travel up to 20% of the time, including weekend.

Personal Characteristics:

• Commitment to HRC's mission; knowledge of and a passion for the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
• Unimpeachable integrity and commitment to honoring donor intentions; mature judgment in handling sensitive information. Values-driven, committed to personal and professional development, and leads by example and with humility. Elevates institutional goals and values beyond personal gain, ensuring efforts are mission-focused and quality driven.
• Competent with respect to issues such as racial, sexual, gender, cultural, and religious identity and committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Flexible and adaptive leadership style, as well as the emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills to develop and sustain impactful relationships with internal and external stakeholders from disparate backgrounds.
• Energetic self-starter who is highly organized, capable of managing multiple tasks and projects simultaneously, and has a strong sense of professionalism. Ability to work both independently and without close oversight, but also a team player who will productively engage with others at varying levels of seniority. A penchant for transparency, consultation, collaboration, and diplomacy, and adaptable to changing circumstances in a dynamic environment.
• Superb oral and written communication skills, as well as a good sense of humor, with the stature, demeanor, and comfort level to serve as a visible and public-facing ambassador of HRC. Ability to clearly articulate goals and progress, and how funding strategies impact larger organizational goals.

Compensation:
Salary for the role is currently anticipated to range from $175,000 to $220,000, commensurate with experience. HRC offers a comprehensive benefits package inclusive of medical, dental, vision, life, accidental death and dismemberment, and short and long term-disability insurance, as well as 401(k) plan and paid time off, among other benefits.

All positions at the Human Rights Campaign may require travel on a regular basis or periodically. Where the need arises for business travel, appropriate compensation as outlined by the Fair Labor Standards Act will apply. The person in this role and all staff are employees of the c4, the Human Rights Campaign.

The Human Rights Campaign has retained the DSG Fundraising & Advancement Practice of the Diversified Search Group to assist in this confidential search process. Inquiries, nominations, and applications (current resumes and cover letters) may be submitted via the following link - , or directed to:

Gerard F. Cattie, Jr.

Managing Director and DSG Fundraising & Advancement Practice Leader

Diversified Search Group

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