Development Director

Position Summary

The Development Director leads Age Central's fundraising and revenue-development strategy to strengthen the organization's long-term sustainability and expand services for older adults and caregivers. Approximately 90 percent of this role is dedicated to fund development, including individual giving, major gifts, donor cultivation and stewardship, fundraising campaigns, sponsorships, strategic grant oversight, and donor data management.

The remaining time supports external communications, advocacy, and relationship-building when those activities advance development goals. This position supervises the Grants Manager and provides strategic direction, coordination, and accountability while respecting the Grants Manager's subject-matter expertise and day-to-day ownership of grant work.

Primary Responsibilities

Development Strategy and Revenue Growth Approximately 30 percent

• Create and execute a comprehensive annual development plan with goals, strategies, timelines, responsibilities, and measurable revenue targets.
• Build a diversified contributed-revenue portfolio that includes annual giving, major gifts, sponsorships, grants, planned giving opportunities, and special campaigns.
• Identify new funding opportunities and convert organizational relationships into sustainable financial support.
• Prepare development forecasts, monitor progress against goals, and provide regular reports to the Executive Director and Board of Directors.
• Develop the systems, policies, and procedures needed for an effective and accountable development program.

Individual Giving and Major Gifts Approximately 25 percent

• Build and manage a qualified donor pipeline through prospect identification, research, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Personally schedule and conduct donor and prospect meetings and make direct asks for financial support.
• Implement moves management strategies for annual, mid-level, major, and prospective donors.
• Create individualized cultivation and stewardship plans that deepen donor engagement and increase retention and giving.
• Partner with the Executive Director and Board members on introductions, donor visits, solicitations, and stewardship.

Fundraising Campaigns and Donor Stewardship Approximately 15 percent

• Plan and execute annual appeals, digital campaigns, donor acquisition and renewal efforts, and other fundraising initiatives.
• Develop donor-centered cases for support, proposals, solicitation materials, acknowledgment communications, and impact updates.
• Establish a consistent stewardship program that ensures timely acknowledgment, meaningful recognition, and regular reporting on donor impact.
• Evaluate campaign performance and use results to improve donor acquisition, retention, and lifetime value.

Corporate Sponsorships and Strategic Funding Partnerships Approximately 10 percent

• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward corporate, foundation, civic, and other funding partners.
• Develop sponsorship packages and partnership proposals aligned with Age Central's mission and funding priorities.
• Negotiate and fulfill sponsorship benefits and maintain relationships that support recurring investment.

Grant Leadership and Accountability Approximately 5 percent

• Supervise the Grants Manager by establishing clear priorities, deliverables, timelines, and accountability measures while allowing appropriate independence and professional judgment.
• Coordinate the grant portfolio with the broader development plan so grant activity, individual giving, sponsorships, and organizational priorities support a unified revenue strategy.
• Conduct regular progress reviews and help resolve barriers, clarify organizational priorities, and ensure leadership receives timely information about submissions, awards, compliance obligations, and reporting deadlines.
• Support funder cultivation, site visits, presentations, and stewardship as appropriate without duplicating the Grants Manager's grant research, writing, or day-to-day portfolio management.

Development Operations and CRM Management Approximately 5 percent

• Oversee the donor CRM and ensure accurate, timely records of prospects, gifts, pledges, contacts, next steps, and stewardship activities.
• Establish gift-processing, acknowledgment, reporting, portfolio-management, and data-quality practices.
• Use donor data and performance metrics to guide strategy and improve fundraising results.

Communications External Relations and Advocacy Approximately 10 percent

• Represent Age Central with donors, funders, business leaders, public officials, and selected community partners when engagement supports fundraising or strategic priorities.
• Guide development-related messaging and collaborate with staff on donor communications, impact stories, presentations, and limited promotional content.
• Support advocacy and public-policy relationship-building as directed by the Executive Director, particularly where it strengthens visibility, partnerships, or funding.
• Maintain a working understanding of Age Central's programs, the Area Agency on Aging role, and the needs of older adults and caregivers.

Performance Expectations

• Meet or exceed annual contributed-revenue goals and agreed-upon activity targets.
• Maintain an active, well-documented prospect portfolio and a healthy pipeline across each stage of cultivation.
• Increase donor retention, recurring support, major-gift activity, sponsorship revenue, and qualified prospects overtime.
• Provide clear, timely reporting on revenue, pipeline movement, campaign performance, and next steps.
• Demonstrate strong judgment, confidentiality, follow-through, and accountability in all donor and funder relationships.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in nonprofit management, business, communications, public administration, marketing, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• At least five years of successful nonprofit fundraising experience in Central Illinois, including direct responsibility for cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding donors and funding partners.
• Demonstrated success cultivating and soliciting individual donors, developing funding partnerships, and generating contributed revenue.
• A strong working knowledge of the Central Illinois philanthropic landscape and established relationships with donors, foundations, corporate partners, civic leaders, or other regional funding stakeholders.
• Experience managing a donor portfolio, moves management process, fundraising campaigns, and a donor CRM.
• Experience supervising or providing strategic oversight to experienced professionals through clear expectations, accountability measures, and respectful collaboration.
• Strong written, verbal, presentation, relationship-management, and solicitation skills.
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and drive initiatives from strategy through completion.
• Ability to attend donor and community meetings or events outside regular office hours as needed and travel throughout Age Central's service area.

Preferred

• Documented experience securing major gifts, corporate sponsorships, foundation support, or planned gifts.
• Experience building or significantly expanding a development program and its supporting systems.
• Experience partnering with an executive director and board members and overseeing an experienced grants professional as part of an integrated fundraising strategy.
• Knowledge of aging services, Area Agencies on Aging, government-funded programs, or community-based nonprofit services.

Pay: $70,000.00 - $80,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person