The Organization
Habitat for Humanity Chicago (Habitat Chicago) is a nonprofit affordable homeownership organization that partners with households and neighborhood residents to build homes and revitalize communities in Chicago with a primary focus on the Southside.
Position Overview
The Development Director is responsible for creating and overseeing the strategic direction, leadership, and management of fundraising designed to ensure Habitat Chicago has the resources to carry out its strategic plan priorities and achieve long-term sustainability. The Development Director reports to the Executive Director and is a member of the leadership team responsible for creating Habitat Chicago’s long-term strategy.
The ideal candidate excels in relationship building and thrives on driving the organization’s fundraising plans. Strong candidates have a proven track record in securing major gifts, managing projects and teams, and shows a personal passion for housing and Chicago neighborhoods.
This is an excellent opportunity for a successful development professional interested in leading the fundraising strategy of a metrics-driven organization focused on expanding its impact both in Chicago and nationally.
Key Responsibility: Fundraising (50%)
The Development Director matures and advances a comprehensive development program and drives the organization’s fundraising targets.
- Achieve annual fundraising goals ($2.47 million raised in FYE2020; $3.18 million budgeted in FYE2021)
- Create an aggressive, achievable, multi-faceted annual fundraising plan that will support Habitat Chicago’s future growth, targeting key areas for growth based on metrics and strategy
- Maintain ultimate responsibility for year-over-year increases in all contributed revenue-generating activities, including gifts through individual solicitation, foundation and corporate relations, public funding, and annual fund tactics
- Identify and manage a personal portfolio of 25-30 major gift prospects and donors, including developing and implementing effective cultivation and solicitation plans
- Work with the Board of Directors to maximize their giving potential, and develop targeted strategies to engage their relationships with others as potential new donors.
- Provide leadership and guidance of the development department to achieve annual fundraising goals through effective planning, communications and implementation
- Support the Executive Director in fundraising activities, including identifying and managing strategies and tactics for cultivation, solicitation and stewardship efforts
Key Responsibility: Management (20%)
- The Development Director manages and mentors the 7-member development team, which includes one year-long AmeriCorps member.
- Hire, manage and mentor development staff, prioritizing work and offering direction and support that ensures both effective results and engaged employees
- Manage the following volunteer committees – Resource Leadership, Women Build, and Associate Board (young professionals) — and contributes to the Finance Committee
- Work collaboratively with the leadership team, developing strategies to ensure financial and fundraising goals are met, and offering a development perspective for organization-wide strategic and operational decisions
- Engage with other Habitat organizations as development strategies mature across the entire U.S. organization
Key Responsibility: Marketing & Communications (10%)
The Development Director oversees Habitat Chicago’s marketing and communication efforts, ensuring consistent, clear, and current branding and messaging across all platforms and to all constituencies.
- Provide thought leadership on messaging priorities that drive engagement and advocacy
- Collaborate across teams to plan and provide support for marketing and communication priorities
- Ensure all staff, board, and volunteers are trained on organization messaging and brand standards
Key Responsibility: Planning & Measurement (10%)
The Development Director directs and evaluates the effectiveness of all fundraising programs, utilizing established metrics and reporting tools.
- Collaborate with budget team to develop annual revenue targets and all monthly reporting for contributed revenue
- Direct the preparation of all annual budgets under development functions and monitor on a monthly basis to ensure revenue and expenditures are within budget scope
- Oversee the absolute integrity and timeliness of gift processing, data management and stewardship activities
Key Responsibility: Leadership and Teamwork (10%)
As the Development team’s leader, the director contributes to our organizational health through enthusiastic collaboration, leadership, and personal integrity.
- Maintain a “team first” outlook, supporting the success of the team and the mission in attitude, ideas, and actions; lead by example and with active, creative input for growing and improving the organization
- Participate in organizational investment strategy decisions, helping to define direction and team needs
- Contribute to organization events, helping as necessary with set up/take down, management, networking, various tasks, etc.
- Engage with all members of team, program participants, and core volunteers
Successful Habitat team members share the following characteristics
- Trust – You invest in your fellow team members and you do what you say you will do. You thrive on constructive feedback and have a high level of integrity.
- Commitment – You have a “go above and beyond” attitude; nobody here works just for a paycheck.
- Engagement – You embrace bringing people to the Habitat mission.
- Innovation – You are a creative problem solver that works across teams.
- Curiosity – You express curiosity and reserve judgment.
- Achievement – You love results and hate excuses. You will help Habitat Chicago grow to be a leading Habitat organization.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES
Required
- A goal-oriented personality who is resilient and creative when faced with shifting challenges and opportunities.
- Demonstrable experience growing successful fundraising efforts through individual, corporate, foundation and annual fund tactics; knowledge and confidence to implement new or develop existing strategies for growth that keeps pace with affiliate goals
- Successful, verifiable major gifts results
- Experience creating and implementing goal-oriented communication strategies
- Knowledge and ability to maintain gift processing and accounting standards and hold team members to those standards
- Exceptional work ethic and track record of personal initiative and achievement
- Outstanding interpersonal and communications skills characterized by the ability to listen, speak, and write well
- Demonstrated ability to learn quickly the internal and external work of Habitat Chicago so as to represent the mission accurately and persuasively to volunteers, donors and prospects
- Demonstrated skill and knowledge of, or ability to learn quickly, the technology tools including Salesforce Customer Relationship Management System and associated applications; Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; Drupal Content Management System; project management systems
- Strong leadership qualities, including the ability both to delegate and to execute, thereby leading by word and by example
- Demonstrated ability to prioritize and emphasize collaborative efforts and team goals that motivate team members and help them achieve better results
- Ability to manage confidential information with discretion and tact
- Current authorization to work permanently in the United States
- Valid driver’s license
Preferred
- Knowledge of standard concepts, practices, and procedures for grant writing (public and private) and management
- Knowledge and experience with marketing and awareness-raising strategies
EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE
- Bachelor’s degree required; Masters preferred
- Personal volunteer experience
- A minimum of 8 years of work experience in nonprofit management, development, alumni relations, marketing, public relations, or similar work required; at least 3 years in a leadership position
- Experience with fundraising, contact management or other database software preferred
- Experience planning and executing events preferred
How To Apply
Please submit compelling cover letter and resume to helen.quach@habitatchicago.org with “Development Director – Your Name” in the subject line by 1/29/2021. Successful applicants will be contacted for interviews