ROLE TITLE: Managing Director, New Donor Strategy

POSITION REPORTS TO: Madeline Medina, Vice President, Field Fundraising

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Priority deadline is November 13, 2024 at 11:59pm ET

LOCATION: California (Los Angeles or Bay Area)

WHAT YOU’LL DO

The Managing Director, New Donor Strategy plays a critical role in enabling Teach For America’s sustainable impact throughout California. The Managing Director will set the vision and direction for ambitious strategies to cultivate new supporters across all private funding streams, aiming to raise $3-4M from this emerging portfolio over the next two years. The Managing Director works with leaders across TFA’s Northern and Southern CA regions as well as our national development operations teams to identify and cultivate pockets of potential, both individually and at scale. The Managing Director is a relationship builder, front-line fundraiser, and savvy strategist, meeting directly with prospective supporters to compel their investment in TFA’s work, as well as strategically positioning others within the field fundraising team to drive new revenue. The position requires an entrepreneurial spirit, cross-functional collaboration, and ability to take big ideas through to execution. They are also expected to align their work to TFA’s strategic direction and priorities, and demonstrate a strong orientation to TFA's core values and mission.

The successful candidate will possess the relational, communication, project management, and qualitative and quantitative analytical skills needed to lead strategy and manage workflows across a complex ecosystem. The Managing Director will play an important role in leading collaborative work and developing effective processes for engaging with colleagues across multiple fundraising markets to fulfill TFA’s annual and long-term development objectives.

WHAT YOU’LL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR

Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

Fundraising and Portfolio Management (75%):

• Cultivate, solicit, and steward new supporters across individual giving, corporate, and foundation streams in Northern and Southern CA

• Serve as a strategist and central project manager of donors in the portfolio as well as new donor strategy broadly, in partnership with field fundraisers and regional Executive Directors

• Set vision and direction for campaigns, cultivation materials, and best practices to cultivate new private dollars, and partner with the VP, Field Fundraising to put these into practice for your own portfolio as well as peer portfolios (individual, foundation, and corporate)

• Develop long term cultivation plans for new supporters, with the aim of moving them up the giving pyramid (and potentially into field fundraising portfolios)

• Work in partnership with the Prospect Strategy and Research team to leverage qualitative and quantitative data in generating prospective supporter profiles to ensure that Teach For America’s supporter base is ever-expanding and increasingly diverse

• Foster strong relationships with and serve as a trusted advisor to field fundraisers and Executive Directors, aligned with Teach For America’s core values, to maximize our collective effort

Team Management, Coaching, & Collaboration (10%):

• Coach and develop direct reports in cultivating and stewarding their respective donor assignments, including; providing direct support in prospect research, donor outreach, meeting prep and facilitation, proposal and report writing, budget management, and grant management

• Build, develop, and retain a strong team by fostering engagement and professional development

Team and Cross-Team Vision, Strategy, & Operations (15%)

• Conduct portfolio analyses around forecasting, and scenario planning to ensure that the team is effectively and efficiently progressing towards its annual goals, with a focus on new money strategies

• Advise on the CA field team’s donor facing special projects such as the case for support and aligned sub-campaigns that can appeal to a wide range of private donors

• Contribute to cross-team projects and working groups that advance team strategy, operations, and/or culture

• Contribute to timely and important organization committees and initiatives, as needed.

A WEEK IN THE LIFE

Over the course of any week, the Managing Director, New Donor Strategy will spend time on strategic planning, donor engagement and cultivation, and close collaboration with internal stakeholders in regional markets as well as national development teams. Throughout the week, you’ll focus on cultivating and stewarding relationships with new donors, preparing detailed research and prep, and continually iterating the execution of your cultivation plans to secure new funding in the short and long term. You’ll also identify and pursue scalable opportunities to attract and retain new supporters through campaigns, collateral, and best practices to be shared among your peers. Your work will blend relationship building with strategic execution, ensuring that donors are effectively cultivated and contribute to Teach For America’s mission of educational equity.

YOUR EXPERIENCE

Your areas of knowledge and expertise that matter most for this role (minimum qualifications):

• Relationship Building and Management

  • Highly skilled relationship builder, particularly with external prospects and donors

  • Build and execute comprehensive relationship management plans across a portfolio of donors

  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills

  • Confidently telling the story of Tech For America and our impact

• Fundraising and Development

  • Specialize in best practices of development and fundraising

  • Track record of successfully navigating complex philanthropic landscapes to reach revenue goals, with notable results in driving new revenue

  • Experience stewarding a diverse portfolio of donors/funders from various funding streams

  • Leverage historical local development trends in order to set strategy and/or adjust course as necessary

• Portfolio Management

  • Set vision and direction for a specific portfolio of local donors and independently execute on that strategy in service of maximizing revenue to Teach For America as an enterprise

  • Monitor progress against the portfolio to ensure continuous donor stewardship

Prior experience

• Required: At least 7+ years of related experience in development and fundraising context

• Required: Track record of meeting and exceeding ambitious goals as a donor portfolio manager

• Preferred: Teach For America development experience

Work Demands

• Occasional weekend or evening work hours required.

• Must be able to travel within the state of CA to engage with local donors

YOUR FUTURE TEAM

The Revenue and Development team at Teach For America inspires donors and champions to contribute to shaping the future of our country by investing in Teach For America’s work with students nationally and regionally. We aim to source investments that fuel our work and impact with a revenue growth trajectory to raise $300 million annually. This role will be an essential part of the Field Fundraising arm of the Revenue and Development team, maximizing the contributions of local donors across multiple regions of the country.

YOUR COMPENSATION

The applicable salary range for each U.S.-based role is based on where the employee works and is aligned to one of 3 tiers according to a cost of labor index in that geographic area. Starting pay for the successful applicant will depend on a variety of job-related factors, which may include education, training, experience, location, business needs, or market demands. New hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint depending on qualifications, internal equity, and the budgeted amount for the role. The expected salary ranges for this role are set forth below. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Tier C: $106,200-141,900

You can view which tier applies to where you plan to work here. If your location is not listed, please click here for additional total rewards information.