Director of Development

About Reimagine
Reimagine’s mission is to support all people in transforming adversity, loss, serious illness, and death into opportunities for personal and collective growth. Our programs are based on the science of “Post-Traumatic Growth” (PTG), which has shown that, out of adversity or trauma, humans have the capacity to flourish. We work toward our mission creatively: by creating global virtual experiences, city-based arts and culture festivals, and a technology platform for group-based learning journeys, all of which help participants face the hardest parts of life together. These experiences result in increased personal strength, improved relationships, heightened appreciation and gratitude, new life possibilities, and a deeper sense of purpose and community.  In sum, Reimagine is leading a cultural shift in our approach to life, death, and one another. As an organization, we work to center and spread the principles of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) in everything we do.

Origins
Reimagine was initially started in 2016 as part of an OpenIDEO project examining the intersection of art, meaning, and end of life (IDEO is a design company that creates positive impact through design). In 2018, its inaugural year as a separate non-profit organization, Reimagine partnered with the cities of New York and San Francisco to each host a large-scale “Reimagine End of Life Week,” featuring over 500 events and touching upwards of 50 million people through features in media outlets such as The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Fast Company, which selected Reimagine as part of their 2019 World-Changing Ideas Awards.

Current Trajectory

Since then, and through the pandemic, Reimagine has stepped up to support a world in pain. By bringing together the medical, religious, art, and justice communities, we have created thousands of experiences that help people from all backgrounds deal with issues surrounding grief, caregiving, loss, fear, isolation, racism, and serious illness.

As we move toward a post-COVID world, and with an emerging worldwide audience, Reimagine is looking to expand its supportive programs and services.  Our 3-year goals include: 

Deepening our existing virtual programs for specific underrepresented communities;

• Expanding our on-the-ground presence and festivals to 5 major U.S. markets;
• Fully launching our Journeys of Transformation cohort model to help people (and organizations) successfully process life’s most challenging experiences together;
• Providing new online tools and resources that bring people together to flourish as they navigate loss, death, and adversity
• Growing the staff capacity to scale these exciting initiatives while increasing our annual budget to ~$2.25 million

Learn more about Reimagine at letsreimagine.org.

The Reimagine Development Director Opportunity

In partnership with the Founding Executive Director (ED) and Board Chair, the Director of Development is a key and exciting role at Reimagine central to ensuring that we can grow our sustainability, network of supporters, and impact. 

Critical Tasks and Responsibilities

• Develop and execute Reimagine’s annual philanthropic strategy and detailed fundraising plan to meet an annual budget of between $1.75 - $2.25 million
• Secure financial support from individuals, foundations and corporations, developing and managing your own portfolio of relationships while stewarding the cultivation process for other key relationship managers across the organization (the board chair, executive director, etc)
• Manage and expand Reimagine’s use of Salesforce and oversee staff responsible for data entry and gift processing
• Create and execute a strategy for a sustained base of annual individual donors
• Oversee the planning of special donor events, potentially including donor briefings, galas, and board friend-raisers
• Develop and track proposals and reports for all foundation and corporate fundraising
• Oversee the creation, management, and sharing of materials, presentations, and tools for the major gifts program;
• Serve as the staff liaison to the Board Governance Committee and the Board Resource & Development Committee

Required Competencies and Qualifications

• At least 5-10 years professional experience in a development role at mission-driven organizations or non-profits; or equivalent experience in sales management or business development
• Demonstrated success in all facets of major gifts fundraising and/or sales’ processes, including prospect identification, relationship building, and solicitation, with relevant experience in such fields as non-profit management, financial advising, sales, marketing, or startup management.
• Record of securing donations or investments at the $100K+ level;
• Experience growing a donor or sales base and increasing revenue;
• Prior experience working with Board members to facilitate participation in fundraising and other development-related activities;
• Superior verbal and written communication skills, as well as experience making individual and group presentations;
• Proficiency with Salesforce or another equivalent donor database, as well as Classy;
• Ease of use of workplace apps including Slack, Google apps, and similar tools;
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent; advanced degree or certification, such as a CFRE, MA, or MBA is preferred.

The Ideal Candidate
 

You are a compassionate, driven, strategic, and meticulous leader and doer, with experience working in non-profit resource development and/or with deep sales management experience. You are enthusiastic about working in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment with a high-powered board and a lean staff of 7-10. You are deeply aligned with our mission, and can work effectively with multiple types of stakeholders, including communities of color and LGBTQI+ communities.  You recognize the importance of stewardship and relationship building, and are a fundraiser who has found a kinship in sales language and approaches. You are eager to build meaningful connections, and love to make “the ask” because you know that philanthropy is about gifting someone the chance to make meaningful impact in the world. You might have started in a corporate sales or business development setting, but you certainly have a belief that sales-based practices, grounded in authenticity, knowledge, and heart, work well in fundraising.

Ideally, you…

• Embody curiosity, composure, humility, and a growth mindset, so you can thrive and grow amidst a fast-moving, ambitious organization that is working to transform how the world relates to challenging topics;
• Believe in a team and data-driven approach. You are facile with details, budgets, and metrics, and are willing to regularly bring in other team members to discuss approaches or perspectives. You are comfortable coaching others in best practices;
• Are strategic with a bent toward action. While managing the process for each prospect or opportunity--from initial preparation and outreach to closing a gift--you are excited by the opportunity to develop the strategy but simultaneously always be moving the work forward;
• Have strong intercultural communication skills, and can code-switch in/out of extreme contexts (from urban hospice facilities to the country club, and everywhere in between);
• Have a “roll up your sleeves” attitude. You thrive in small teams and are used to doing your own administrative tasks;
• Are a systems thinker. You enjoy improving upon existing processes so they’ll serve the organization in the long haul. You consider how to feed two birds with one scone. You know and can fluidly leverage the full value of a database like Salesforce to keep track of key information and ultimately serve Reimagine supporters well;
• Speak and write in a way that inspires people. From emails to grant proposals, you have an ability to eloquently and passionately describe Reimagine and convey its values around living a life that matters;
• Share a firm belief in the importance of Reimagine’s mission and its commitment to the principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Location & Travel

This position can be largely remote. The candidate can work out of any location, home office or co-working space. Some travel may be required to meet with prospective donors around the U.S. and for local Festivals. 

Salary: Competitive for mission-driven work

Please send cover letter and resume to hr@letsreimagine.org

Per guidance on avoiding bias, it's best to lead with the responsibilities, then requirements and characteristics