Director of Development

The Society of the Cincinnati and its educational division, the American Revolution Institute, invites applications and nominations for the position of Director of Development as the leader of its fundraising team.

The Society of the Cincinnati was founded in 1783 by the officers of the Continental Army and Navy and their French counterparts. It is America’s oldest patriotic organization and is comprised of some 4,500 members worldwide. A 501 (c) 3 charity, it has an educational mission that is fulfilled through its division known as the American Revolution Institute. The Society and its Institute’s mission is to promote knowledge and appreciation for the timeless achievements of American independence. The Institute supports advanced scholarship, conducts public programs, collects historic objects, manuscripts, and documents, and makes resources available to teachers, students, scholars, and lifelong learners.

Major Responsibilities

This position will play a crucial role in fundraising for the Society of the Cincinnati and its American Revolution Institute, serving as its chief development officer helping grow resources from annual giving, special project funding, grant management, major giving, planned giving, capital and/or direct mail campaigns, and the Associate membership initiatives.

The Society is seeking a seasoned advancement professional who will be directly responsible for successfully creating, leading, and implementing a comprehensive and integrated fundraising strategy for the organization. This will include developing new relationships, while maintaining existing relationships with individual members and institutional supporters or prospects to build the organization's visibility, impact, and financial resources. This individual will be responsible for raising private and public sector funds to support the Society’s educational initiatives while leading the development and implementation of organization-wide strategic priorities to increase the fundraising capacity.

The incumbent will also have hands-on responsibility for development services and operations, as well as for proposal and grant creation, management of funding and pipeline tracking, as well as regular reporting as to grant and donor management. This position supervises the administration of gift processing and acknowledgements, data management, prospect research, and pipeline/moves management for the Society of the Cincinnati and the American Revolution Institute.

This position reports to the Executive Director of the Society of the Cincinnati, Inc., who is the chief executive officer. The incumbent will be responsible for the oversight of two staff members, a senior manager of development operations and a development assistant.

Duties

Revenue Generation

  • Lead the efforts for the Society’s annual giving to raise $1.4 million annually—with plans to grow by 4-6% annually in the next three to five years.
  • Identify and implement new revenue streams, with a focus on increasing sustainable unrestricted, private revenue.
  • Lead the growth of planned giving with a new and energized framework for individual giving with estate planning, sustainers, and bequests.
  • Work closely with the Executive Director to develop and implement a grant writing discipline so that growing cultivation may be invested with external or independent grant makers who can be actively approached for funding, especially related to various educational programs of the Institute.
  • Evaluate and drive the use of new technology funding vehicles including social media and eGiving, expanding on work already commenced to this end.
  • Work closely with the Executive Director to plan a fundraising campaign that will support both the existing and new educational programs while also featuring an equal emphasis on the current maintenance and long-range endowment of Anderson House as an investment in historic preservation.

Board and Senior Staff Leadership

  • Work closely with senior staff, Executive Committee, and Development Committee to lead the creation and implementation of development and fundraising strategy. Attend board meetings and board committee meetings and report on development activities as needed, in coordination with the Executive Director.
  • Serve as an ambassador and spokesperson for the organization and articulate our mission to external constituents.
  • Together with the Executive Director, educate and train board members and senior staff in donor cultivation and professional fundraising techniques.
  • Work with the Executive Director to ensure board members are engaged and energized by their association with our organization.
  • Work with the Executive Director and the senior staff to deepen the marketing and branding of the Society and its Institute.
  • When appropriate, personally plan and conduct major gift solicitations.
  • Oversee special events related to development as to leading and planning, while critically evaluating return on investments.
  • Support the Executive Director in fostering a growing environment of cohesiveness, collaboration, and pro-action.

Administrative and Internal Management

  • Prepare and administer an annual budget for all development expenditures.
  • Manage the day-to-day operations of the Development Office.
  • Prepare reports of development activities and donor and prospect pipelines, along with member engagement events and annual routines.
  • Support and collaborate closely with the Executive Director’s cultivation, stewardship, and relationship management of donors and prospects.
  • Supervise and evaluate performance and activities of staff and volunteers.
  • Prepare a monthly report of development activities which in turn supports four annual reports of development efforts and accomplishments for the Society’s board and executive committee meetings.
  • Represent the Development Office at the Executive Director’s senior staff meeting; works closely with the staff of other departments, especially museum, library, education, finance, and communications.
  • Serve as the staff liaison for various Society committees, including but not limited to the committees for Development, Annual Giving, Member Engagement, and Campaign.

Departmental Leadership and Inter-Departmental Collaboration

  • Provide leadership, motivation, and staff service to maximize the success of the Society’s fundraising culture.
  • Play a leadership role through managing, coaching, and mentoring of development staff, helping advance a culture of accountability, collaboration, and teamwork among the development staff.
  • Work closely with all staff colleagues, especially with educational programming professionals, to ensure growing identification and cultivation of Society members and outside individuals or institutions who value our organizational mission and will consider supporting our work. Work closely with leadership from across the organization to develop strategic funding priorities, and to transform strategic ideas into fundable proposals.
  • Play a leadership role throughout the entire staff, helping foster an increasing conscience across the professional staff for donor/member relations, member/customer service, prospect identification, and creative collaboration among staff and member volunteers that fosters a growing culture of philanthropy benefiting the Society and its Institute.

Qualifications and Education Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree required with master’s degree preferred.
  • A minimum ten years of prior development and fundraising professional experience. Preference given to those who have worked with either an early American historic site or historically oriented mission.
  • A well-rounded command is essential for the fundraising disciplines of annual giving, planned giving, major giving, grant writing, capital campaigns, direct mail campaigns, and moves management within donor populations.
  • Ability to exercise confidentiality, discretion, diplomacy, and good judgment.
  • Excellent relationship management and communication skills, both oral and written, as well as excellent approachability/social skills required.
  • Excellent organization skills, close attention to detail, and responsive, prompt follow-up required.
  • Strong knowledge and aptitude with computer systems and donor databases, with a preference for the Raisers Edge database.
  • Must exhibit flexibility, teamwork, reliability, and multitasking in a fast-paced environment.
  • Appreciation for the mission of the Society and its Institute as well as appreciation for early American history.
  • Knowledge and/or fluency of other languages (especially French) is a plus.

Compensation and How to Apply

This is a full-time professional position based at Anderson House, the Washington, D.C., National Historic Landmark headquarters of the Society of the Cincinnati and the home of its American Revolution Institute. Occasional remote work is a possibility, but this is not a remote position. Commensurate with similar senior fundraising positions, this job will involve a degree of evening and weekend hours in support of major Society or Institute events, as well as donor cultivation and stewardship travel around and outside the Washington metropolitan area.

This position will carry a salary commensurate with education, experience, and qualifications. Our competitive benefits program includes paid annual and sick leave, health insurance, 401(k) plan participation, and a monthly commuting stipend.

To apply, send a resume and cover letter (including mention of where you learned about this opening) to Andy Morse, Executive Director of the Society of the Cincinnati, at headquarters@societyofthecincinnati.org.

Posted March 31, 2023.