Development Director Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Reading Partners is changing the education landscape. We are a leader in working to solve the literacy crisis in our country by leveraging community volunteers in under-resourced schools. Our diverse and expansive volunteer base provides one-on-one and small group tutoring to students twice weekly, and our program is proven to help children master the reading fundamentals they need to unlock their potential as successful, happy, and confident readers in school and in life. Our people are our heartbeat and our greatest resource; we are all passionately rallied around our mission to help children become lifelong learners by empowering communities to provide individualized instruction that truly works. Join our stellar, committed team leading the charge to deepen our impact and expand our service. Watch this video to learn more about the mission and core tutoring work of Reading Partners.

The high level:

The Development Director (DD) is part of a team of fundraisers and relationship builders, working across regions to support Reading Partners’ strategic plan. The Development Director’s main roles are to create and implement the overarching regional fundraising strategy, lead cultivation and stewardship of many high-level external relationships, and lead, develop, and mobilize local support to achieve ambitious fundraising goals. They will lead fundraising and development efforts for our Minnesota and Los Angeles, California sites. 

The DD will work collaboratively with the Executive Director, Los Angeles, to steward and develop funder relationships in the Los Angeles area, which includes program sites in Pasadena, Mid-City, Downtown, and South Los Angeles. They will help position our Los Angeles region for programmatic expansion and growth throughout the Los Angeles metro area. The DD will also be adept at building and maintaining strong funder connections remotely for our Minnesota region. They will work closely with the Executive Director, Minnesota, to set the region up for strong revenue generation to expand its direct service and statewide Collective Impact work. 

As a trusted advisor and strategic thought partner to the Executive Directors, the Development Director is a senior leader who catalyzes regional growth as a resource mobilizer, fundraising and external relations expert, and savvy people leader and relationship builder. They will help ensure that their regions leverage development resources and maintain synergy with national development campaigns and efforts. They will work as part of a team of three Development Directors, each supporting up to two regions.

With support from the National Development Team and the Vice President of Regions, the Development Director creatively develops, leads, and drives an ambitious fundraising strategy, board management in close partnership with the Executive Directors, and new fundraising generation. They will ensure that regions in their portfolio reach their revenue goals.

Initially, the Development Director will be co-managed by our Minnesota and Los Angeles Executive Directors. They will eventually report directly to a senior-level member of our national development team once they are hired. 

This position is hybrid but requires candidates to reside in Los Angeles, CA. The DD would report into the Los Angeles office 1-2 times per week. This role will entail periodic travel to Twin Cities, Minnesota for fundraising events and activities. 

What you’ll do:

Each year, create, lead, and drive overarching fundraising strategy, operational plans, and all revenue activities to meet or exceed the fundraising goal for the Minnesota and Los Angeles region.

•  Manage a portfolio of existing and new foundation, corporate, and individual relationships to meet annual fundraising goals by the end of the fiscal year. 
  • Maintain, renew, and upgrade current portfolio of donors
  • Own, develop, and implement innovative strategies to increase support from new funding streams.
  •  
  • Identify strategies to generate prospects to support impact goals through 2027.
  • Increase revenue in all streams by 15% and deliver on a comprehensive development plan for FY27 with a revenue goal of $1,977,000 for Minnesota and $1,625,000 for Los Angeles.
  • Provide strategic advice and direction to the Executive Directors to ensure the region’s success against goals and benchmarks
     
• Drive board engagement, external relations, and organizational brand awareness within portfolio
  • Oversee all external communications, ensuring persuasive and compelling messaging, campaigns, and alignment.
  • Develop high-quality, mission-aligned email and social media content to steward donors and grow brand awareness. 
  • Oversee the strategy and support in cultivating and stewarding individual donors.
  • Manage relationships with institutional donors and corporate partners.
  • Steward local fundraising events in partnership with Executive Directors and local team members.
  • Build and support a highly invested board in local regions. 
  • Manage annual Board fundraising planning and goal achievement for each region in the portfolio.
  • Work collaboratively with the Board and partners to expand the supporter network.

• Partner with the National Development Operations team to achieve high levels of data integrity, customer service, and communication
  • Project manage all event and solicitation logistics, including annual fundraising event and annual appeal.
  • Oversee development systems and track progress against goals in Salesforce
  • Produce reports and data to drive streamlined communication. 

Other duties as needed.

How you’ll do it:

Relationship Development: 

• Demonstrate experience in external relations and relationship development. Regularly deliver convincing messaging and tailored experiences. Demonstrate a genuine joy in connecting with donors, and all external stakeholders.
• Internally, establish highly collaborative relationships with all team members. Demonstrate a hunger to learn, grow, support, and add great value. Regularly seek to understand all aspects of our model to convey externally.

Strategic Planning:

• Demonstrate an ability to devise innovative regional strategic fundraising plans, create action steps, and mobilize many stakeholders to achieve fundraising goals. Build sustainable plans to maximize market opportunities, meet goals and significantly grow funding. In addition, leverage systems, people, and resources to drive processes and track progress against goals to report on progress to senior leadership and board. Execute work in a highly organized, analytical, and data-informed manner.

New Revenue Generation:

• Demonstrate a proficient ability to conduct research, to prospect, and to drive ongoing external development efforts. Demonstrate excitement to steward and leverage relationships that result in meeting or exceeding target fundraising goals. Boast an entrepreneurial spirit and actively seek to deepen current donor relationships and forge new ones. 

External Relations and Communication:

• Effectively write high-quality donor communications that demonstrate deep knowledge of our program and promote our mission. Demonstrate the ability to write customized and compelling grant reports, proposals and letters of intent. Through exceptional writing, serve as an ambassador of Reading Partners. 
• Externally, serve as an ambassador of Reading Partners. Quickly establish credibility when promoting Reading Partners to external audiences. Demonstrate a high degree of comfort and poise with donors, corporations, and prospects.
   

Operations Management:

• Demonstrate a proficient ability to conduct research, to prospect, and to drive ongoing development efforts in rapidly growing organizations. 
• Demonstrate a strong detail orientation, accuracy, and ability to develop compelling reports and communications to be used internally and externally. Execute all work in a highly organized, analytical, and data-driven manner. 

People Leadership:

• Positively collaborate with the regional staff team to meet and exceed aggressive fundraising goals. Consistently coach, grow, and create stretch assignments to develop future fundraising leaders from within. 

What we offer: 

Reading Partners’ compensation and benefits programs are designed to attract, motivate, engage, and retain top talent to propel our mission forward. 

Compensation: 

This is a full-time, exempt, and salaried position. The pay range for this position is $98,007 - $122,508 per year. We aim to set salaries based on objective, external, high-quality market data. Our salaries are adjusted for candidates in different geographic regions. We do our very best to ensure that we’re bringing our best offer - therefore we do not engage in salary negotiations.

Our benefits:  We offer a comprehensive benefits program intentionally crafted to support employees and their families with physical, mental, and financial health:

• Health & Insurance Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision insurance with substantial employer contributions toward both employee and family premiums; life and disability insurance at no cost to employees; and a free Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Pre-Tax Medical Support: Significant pre-tax employer funding to help offset employees’ out-of-pocket medical expenses, including providing first-dollar coverage for some plan options.
• Mental Health Support: Spring Health for easy access to therapy, coaching, and wellness resources, including six sessions provided at no cost to employees.
• Inclusive Health Support: Carrot for guidance and support related to hormonal health, fertility, family-building, and gender-affirming services.
• Retirement Benefits: 403(b) retirement plan with immediate eligibility to participate and to receive employer matching contributions.
• Paid Time Off: Flexible Paid Time Off (Unlimited PTO) and Paid Parental Leave for up to 8 weeks for birth and non-birth parents.
• Holidays & Office Closures: 14 paid holidays annually, plus one week of office closure in early July and two weeks in late December.
• Culture & Growth: A dynamic, mission-driven culture with a strong commitment to employee development and career growth.

The other things you need to know:

• This is a hybrid role. Candidates must be based in the Los Angeles area. 
• Travel: This position requires occasional travel to our Twin Cities, Minnesota site, 1-2 times a year to attend funder meetings and/or fundraising events. The position requires local travel in Los Angeles for funder meetings, with occasional event attendance on nights and weekends. 

What’s Next?

If you’re interested in joining our Reading Partners team, please submit the following application materials to our online job posting:

• A cover letter describing your interest in Reading Partners and how your past experience has prepared you for this role. 
• Resume

Reading Partners is an Equal Opportunity Employer

About you!

You’ll be successful in this role if you:

• Have 7+ years of increasing responsibility in a development or related role.
• Have experience fundraising and building funder pipelines across multiple geographies, including major markets on the West Coast and in the Midwest.
• Are achievement-oriented and have a demonstrated track record of achieving significant fundraising goals.
• Track record of building strong and productive relationships with regional/national philanthropic organizations and individual donors from a remote location.
• Have demonstrated experience in planning, leading, and managing development projects to achieve desired outcomes, and tracking and reporting on progress to leaders.
• Are skilled at relationship development within the fundraising community, among peers, and internal/external stakeholders.
• Have a high degree of comfort with Salesforce or other fundraising databases.
• Can demonstrate experience managing virtual and in-person fundraising events. 
• Are an exceptional and persuasive communicator in written and verbal communication.
• Have experience in fundraising marketing and/or campaign communications.
• Hold a Bachelor’s degree and/or equivalent experience.
• Must have access to reliable transportation for local travel in the Los Angeles area.
• Demonstrate a commitment to fostering a dynamic and collaborative work environment.
• Display a deep belief in our mission and root your work in our core values.
• Ability to prove eligibility to work legally in the U.S. and that you are at least 18 years of age.

Bonus Points if you:

• Are an AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, or other national service alum/alumna
• Have experience working in re-launch or growth phases of organizations