NOW HIRING!

Posted:  March 8, 2023

Chosen Family Law Center is seeking a highly-motivated, experienced Development Director who is inspired by the opportunity to build robust financial support through community engagement at the heart of a movement of LGBTQIA and polyamorous people and allies working together to change laws, policies and attitudes. 

The Chosen Family Law Center, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation dedicated to cultivating equitable social and legal recognition of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA) and polyamorous families and individuals, as well as other underserved family forms such as platonic co-parents or multigenerational families; eliminating prejudice and discrimination and defending human, civil, and other rights for these communities; and offering education to lawyers, therapists, and other professionals to enable them to best serve these communities.

This position will directly report to our Executive Director (ED). You will have the opportunity to be part of a passionate, mission-driven, high-performing team that is committed to providing legal services to the low-income LGBTQIA, polyamorous, and immigrant communities in New York, and make an impact nationwide through direct legal services, advocacy, and public education.

Our team is small, highly collaborative, and made up of members of the communities impacted by our work. We prioritize approaching advocacy from a client- and community-led, trauma-informed, and accountability-focused perspective. The ideal candidate will share those values and be excited to collaborate on building the world we want to live in. We also highly value our ability to bring our whole selves into the work and are committed to supporting each other’s holistic well-being, continued professional development, and liberation.

Please visit our list of projects to learn more about our work.

FULL DESCRIPTION

The Director of Development will be responsible for increasing the financial support base of CFLC through individual donors, grants, and fundraisers. The Director of Development will also oversee all public facing communications on behalf of the organization, including social media, major media, and engaging with the public. The Director of Development will work closely with the Executive Director, Director of Operations, and Board of Directors to engage all members of the community.

The Director of Development will be responsible for managing day-to-day operations for development and marketing, and ensure that fundraising goals are aligned with our mission and values. The Director of Development will execute strategies to cultivate donors and contributions to CFLC, while maintaining appropriate systems to fund development including donor management, research and cultivation, gift processing, and recognition. The Director of Development will identify and engage donor prospects, cultivate donor relationships, solicit financial support, and maintain donor relationships. The Director of Development will also be responsible for researching grant opportunities, maintaining a calendar of the relevant grant cycles, and drafting grant proposals.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Execute and grow an innovative individual giving program: Develop, implement, and continually assess plans to achieve fundraising goals. Set strategy for, and coordinate individual giving including online, direct mail, events and major gifts. Develop and implement a planned giving program. Lead the identification, cultivation, and solicitation of individual, foundation, and corporate contributions. Support the Executive Director and key volunteers to engage donors and directly cultivate and solicit key major donor and planned gifts. Produce a financially successful and dynamic annual Benefit Gala.
• Ensure compliance with all relevant fundraising regulations and laws: Maintain accountability standards to donors, and ensure compliance with code of ethical principles and standards of professional conduct for 501c3 fundraising.
• Manage grant research, writing, and compliance: Supervise all grant writing, research, and reporting to funders. Actively seek new funding by identifying and researching foundation and government agency grant prospects. Prepare grant proposals. Maintain a calendar of deadlines for renewing funders and new grant opportunities. Cultivate and strengthen relationships with current and prospective institutional funders. Prepare interim and final narrative and financial reports to current funders in accordance with their guidelines.  Maintain tracking and compliance for any grants received.
• Set strategy and collaborating across CFLC’s team: Work closely with the ED and other CFLC Directors to guide long-range business, personnel, organizational culture, and work planning. Contribute to the development and oversight of organizational budgets. Partner with the ED to set long-term fund development strategy and annual revenue goals.
• Prepare and maintain materials and communications with funders and donors: Maintain a thorough knowledge and understanding of CFLC’s mission and current programs. Track and prepare visual presentations of services provided, demographics of clients and client relationships to present to funders. Write fundraising letters, online fundraising campaigns, social media, and collateral materials. Oversee design production and distribution of all development materials.  
• Lead the engagement of Board and volunteers: Provide strategic counsel, leadership, and learning opportunities to the Board of Directors and serve as the primary liaison between the organization and the Board with respect to development, engaging and assisting them to fulfill their fundraising commitments and deepen their comfort and skills in development practices. Prepare reports for presentation at quarterly meetings of the Board of Directors.
• Coordinate and strengthen a culture of philanthropy throughout the organization: Coordinate development activities with other facets of the organization. Engage and inspiring staff, Board, and other leadership volunteers in their role in fund development. Ensure the highest standards of ethical and administrative systems, practices and culture for philanthropic development functions.
• Ensure effective data tracking and systems: Maintain and evaluate systems to support development operations and inform data-driven planning. Ensure excellent donor and gift record-keeping, processing and acknowledgement. Develop relationship and moves management systems to ensure highly personalized cultivation and stewardship of individual and institutional funders.
• Build external relationships and represent the organization: Develop and maintain close working relationships with the philanthropic community, individual and corporate donors, and serve as a visible spokesperson and advocate for CFLC's mission and programs. Outreach to partner organizations to develop referral relationships and make the LGBTQIA community and legal community aware of CFLC as a referral opportunity to increase our number of clients.
• Program and staff management: Manage the Development Department in a fiscally sound manner. Supervise, motivate, and develop volunteers and contractors; hire and oversee contracts of vendors for direct mail, events planning, and marketing; prepare annual plans, quarterly board reports, budgets, and evaluation of fundraising activities.
• Program development: Prepare the required petition and paperwork for accreditation to offer Continuing Legal Education courses.

REQUIREMENTS

Studies have shown that people who are not cis men and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they have every one of the qualifications described in the job description. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and our hiring processes are centered on assessing candidates based on diverse lived experiences. We would encourage you to apply, even if you don’t believe you meet every one of our qualifications described.

• Proven capability for achieving $300,000+ annual fundraising goals for a small but growing organization
• Minimum of 5-10 years of professional, nonprofit fundraising experience
• A demonstrable professional track record of developing productive working relationships with board members, funders, volunteers, and staff members
• Experience with grant-writing and successful history of securing grants
• Track record of securing major donor gifts 
• Ability to manage a successful annual fund campaign
• Gala and donor event management
• Strong problem solving, research, and analytical skills
• Excellent writing skills, including press releases
• Must be fluent with technology including use of social media, and financial and donor tracking software
• Must be self-motivated, creative, and have great attention to detail
• Must have deep interest in our cause and be culturally-competent with the LGBTQIA+ community, non-nuclear family structures, BIPOC, and immigrants who are our client-base

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The salary for this position is in the range of $60,000-$80,000, commensurate with experience, plus discretionary bonus, with significant room for advancement as the organization grows.

This position is expected to be full time - 35 hours a week - during business hours.  Hybrid remote/in-person in NYC: Our staff currently works remotely most of the time but does have some in-person meetings and events in NYC for which in-person attendance would be required.

We anticipate the interview process will start in April 2023 and the position will remain open until the right candidate is found. Once a candidate is chosen, we will hire this position to start as a 1099 contractor for a 90-day trial period before onboarding as a full employee.  Once hired as an employee you will receive an excellent benefits package including 25 paid vacation days, paid sick leave, paid holidays, and a QSEHRA health reimbursement plan.

TO APPLY

To apply, please send your resume, samples of your relevant work such as websites/campaigns/press releases, and a letter explaining how your experience and interests are a good fit for this organization and its goals, including a statement regarding how you will contribute to the diversity of our organization, with the subject line “Application for Development Director Position” to the Chosen Family Law Center at contact@chosenfamilylawcenter.org.  

No phone calls please.