About The Advent School
The Advent School, located in the Beacon Hill section of Boston, Massachusetts, serves 200 students in pre-Kindergarten through Sixth Grade. A mission-focused school founded in the principles of social justice, Advent has served the students and families of Boston since 1961. Through its Reggio Emilia-inspired curriculum, Advent’s faculty deliver authentic, rigorous, and experiential learning opportunities that encourage students to “learn with passion, act with courage, and change the world.”
Annual philanthropic support from the Advent community comes from parents, trustees, alumni, and friends, enabling the School to deliver its mission. Advent is currently planning for a potential capital campaign. The Director of Development role is a new position created to support the strategic planning and success of the campaign and the School’s annual giving program.
About the Position
Reporting to the Head of School and working closely with the Director of Advancement, Board of Trustees, and a campaign consultant, the Director of Development will plan and execute critical activities related to the upcoming campaign. The Director of Development will manage the daily operations of the campaign and is tasked with identifying, qualifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major prospects and donors.
Key Responsibilities
- Manage a comprehensive fundraising campaign
- Campaign planning in collaboration with a fundraising consultant, Head of School, and related stakeholders; develop and execute a campaign calendar to meet key milestones
- Implement recommendations from a feasibility study
- Manage the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship process and portfolio for Head of School
- Provide oversight, guidance, and management of campaign committee and volunteers as appropriate, based on the phase of the campaign
- Manage donor acknowledgment, recognition, and stewardship program
- Coordinate and advise on cultivation and recognition events in collaboration with the Director of Advancement
- Manage campaign pipeline movement, gift proposals, campaign policy development, and goal setting
- Oversee prospect research, preparing profiles and briefing memos
- Ensure that data related to prospects and donors is recorded and tracked in files and database; manage campaign record-keeping, evaluate progress toward goals and benchmarks, prepare reports on fundraising and present to senior staff and volunteers; recommend revisions to fundraising plan, as needed, to meet goals
- Data analysis, including preparing monthly and quarterly reports for internal and external use
- Creation of campaign-related materials in collaboration with marketing staff
Key Qualifications
- Minimum of three to five years of professional fundraising experience with a track record of success, with specific experience in capital campaigns, individual giving and/or major gifts, and organizing campaign data to measure progress toward benchmarks
- Excellent interpersonal, analytical, time management, and organizational skills; capable of working effectively with members of the board, other volunteers, donors, and prospective supporters, staff, and consultants
- Energetic, self-motivated, flexible, and adaptable, able to multitask and work independently in a small, hands-on work environment
- Experience with database management (Raiser’s Edge preferred), including queries and reporting
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Computer fluency in Microsoft Office, G Suite, web applications, and knowledgeable about the role of technology and electronic communication in fundraising
- Ability to maintain a high level of confidentiality
- Ability to attend occasional evening or weekend events
- Bachelor’s degree required
To apply, submit your resume and cover letter to advancement@adventschool.org. In your cover letter, please discuss your role in a recent fundraising campaign that you worked on and your experience with database management.
