Sr. Director of Development

About the Dunwoody Nature Center:  We are a private non-profit 501c3 organization that operates within a 22-acre public park through a long term lease with the City of Dunwoody.  The staff of seven full time employees work closely with a volunteer Board of Directors to safeguard to the organization’s mission of inspiring the love of nature and cultivating environmental understanding and stewardship by: conserving and enhancing Dunwoody Park; educating children, families, and adults of all ages about the natural world and our place in it; and motivating environmental awareness and responsible action.  The Dunwoody Nature Center is an equal opportunity employer.

Position Summary:  The Director of Development is responsible for planning, organizing, and directing all aspects of fundraising; managing the rental programs; and planning and executing all special development events and community programing.  The Director will oversee and manage one Associate Director.

The fundraising efforts will seek contributions from individuals, corporations, governments and foundations.  The Director will cultivate support from a broad community of constituents, seek major gifts for capital campaigns and coordinate planning for all fundraising events. The Director will work closely with the Executive Director and the Board of Directors to ensure the organization has a development plan that allows the organization to fulfill its mission.

The rental business allows the community to experience nature through the beauty of the center’s facilities and earns money that is returned to fund mission critical efforts.  The Director will oversee all aspects of the business including marketing, positioning and operations.  The work will require development and implementation of an annual business plan, coordination of vendors and event contractors and critical analysis to ensure income is maximized without impeding educational programming.

Beyond fundraising, event programming will encompass the planning, coordination and execution for community events as well as the development of new outreach efforts to attract new constituents to the center.

Principal Job Responsibilities:

• Develop an annual development plan with metrics for each giving category and implement tactics to meet or exceed them
• Grow new individual giving and corporate sponsorship programs by identifying, cultivating and soliciting major contributions from both existing and new donors
• Establish a consistent grant seeking program that will involve research, proposal writing and implementation of reporting requirements
• Meet prospective donors and supporters on a consistent basis to establish effective communications with them
• Coordinate all communications and collateral material required to support fundraising efforts
• Make public appearances to share information with the community
• Oversee fundraising database and tracking systems
• Assist with the successful launch of the second phase of an ongoing capital campaign
• Attend all Board of Directors meetings and act as the principal staff liaison to the Development Committee
• Oversee all activities to promote revenue generating use of venue spaces, show facilities to potential clients, track payments, maintain rental agreements, ensure customer satisfaction and measure post rental satisfaction
• Maintain knowledge of the rental facility market to ensure competitive pricing strategies
• Create an authorized vendor/caterer list to help clients hire teams committed to maintaining our facilities and providing sustainable services where feasible
• Make recommendations for improvement of events/services to internal and external parties, and implement process improvements as appropriate
• Develop, propose and execute innovative and creative ideas for new adult events and programs and oversee project management for those events from concept to launch
• Collaborate with the Marketing Director to execute all marketing and advertising plans associated with development and event planning and with the Program Managers on all educational activities and events

Qualifications:

• Must embrace the mission of the Dunwoody Nature Center to inspire a love of nature and cultivate greater environmental understanding and stewardship
• Bachelor’s degree or higher
• Demonstrated strong interpersonal and writing skills
• Demonstrated experience in fundraising and management of all aspects of fundraising programs
• Desire to get out of the office and build external relationships
• Ability to plan, organize and execute events effectively
• Proficient use of Microsoft Office with expert ability at creating Excel models and PowerPoint presentations
• Experience with non-profit donor management software programs desired
• Demonstrate professional conduct at all times

Reports to: Executive Director

Work Schedule: Full time, nights and weekends as needed

Compensation: The Dunwoody Nature Centers offers competitive compensation commiserate with experience and other qualifications.  Benefits include funding of a healthcare reimbursement account but not a medical insurance plan.