Senior Development Director

Mission

Education is Freedom (EIF) is a nonprofit organization that offers a comprehensive, local, school-based advisement program designed to improve the college-going orientation within the school districts it serves. EIF’s mission is to transform lives through education.

Leadership

EIF was founded in 2002 by a dynamic board of corporate leaders who envisioned a world where every young person could pursue a college education leading to a productive, self-sustaining career. As business leaders, government officials, and entrepreneurs, EIF’s board was and is committed to helping create an educated workforce that can build effective companies and strong communities in today’s knowledge-based economy.

The Opportunity

Education is Freedom is looking for a strategic and innovative Senior Director of Development strongly committed to the organization’s mission of accelerating economic mobility through robust postsecondary advising and financial support for students living in the 6th largest county in the nation in terms of children living in poverty.

This role provides a highly impactful opportunity to affect and impact regional economic mobility within one of the most populous counties in the nation. Today, Dallas County (which educates 10% of Texas’ students and 1% of the nation’s children) is seeing just 17% of its beginning 8th graders achieve a postsecondary credential by the age of 24. That number declines to only 12% when looking at the 71% of the county’s public-school students who are considered by the federal government to be economically-disadvantaged.

During the 2022-2023 school year, EIF operated a $4.93M budget, 80% of which came through district partner fees to provide college and career advising to students, and served 30 schools across three school districts that collectively educate roughly 4 in 10 students in Dallas County and approximately 4% of the students in the state of Texas.

In the spring of 2023, the nation’s largest educational backbone entity (the Commit Partnership) approached EIF’s board about considering a grander vision for EIF –becoming the County’s centralized college and career “to and through” advisement entity, facilitated by substantially greater philanthropic investment from Commit and others that can be sustained long-term by upwards of $90M of currently unclaimed annual outcomes funding made possible by transformative legislation passed in 2019 known as HB 3. The board agreed to support this vision, with Commit’s CEO joining the EIF board and Bain & Co. engaged to develop a strategic plan for the organization outlining the potential optimal expansion of services, their associated costs, and the corresponding philanthropic requirement needed.

In this newly created role, the Senior Development Director will spearhead the creation and execution of EIF’s year-over-year philanthropic strategy to build a strong funder base sustaining the organization’s programmatic evolution. Initially, the Senior Development Director will build a portfolio of investors to shepherd $2.5-3.5 million of philanthropic capital per year, with the expectation that total needed philanthropic funds grow as EIF expands its student services and partner organizations.

Location

Greater Dallas Area

Reports To

EIF Chief Executive Officer

Primary Roles & Responsibilities

Design and Execute Development Strategy Aligned to Programmatic Vision

• Work with the EIF’s Development Committee and Chief Executive Officer to develop and execute a philanthropic strategy to create a pipeline for prospects from outside of the organization’s existing donor pool.
• Implement fundraising strategies that will sustain and grow EIF’s programs; maintain and deepen relationships with existing donors and cultivate new relationships from both public and private sources.
• Work with program staff routinely to acquire knowledge needed to solicit investments and build investor relationships effectively.

Cultivate and Steward Strong Donor Base through Relationships and Communication

• Create and independently manage a portfolio of major gifts donors, leading the entire giving cycle from outreach to education, cultivation, connecting to a giving pathway and stewardship.
• Meet with existing and prospective institutional funders and individual donors to cultivate engagement and make solicitations.
• Implement investor cultivation and stewardship communications and events when appropriate. identify and cultivate new possible event hosts.
• Collaborate with team members to ensure the timely and accurate completion of routine work such as gift acknowledgements, solicitation and cultivation mailings, event invitations, and investor communications.
• Build a best-in-class donor management platform to facilitate constituent relationship management and maintain strong pulse on progress towards goals.

Build an Effective and Aligned Organization

• Act as a member of EIF’s Senior Leadership Team, supporting the CEO by providing key input into EIF’s annual strategic planning process, including goal setting and budgeting.
• Contributes to cross-organizational decision making and strategy as well as continuous improvement and internal communication.
• Facilitate cross-functional relationships between different departments within the organization.

Mission Driven - Palpable connection to Education is Freedom’s mission to transform lives through education and develop an educated workforce that can build effective companies and strong communities in today’s knowledge-based economy; demonstrated results in creating systemic change via actions, resourcing, etc. is strongly preferred.

Fundraising Aptitude - Aptitude for fundraising; can raise funds from a variety of sources, including individuals, corporations, foundations, government agencies, and more.

Action Oriented – Finds creative and efficient pathways to goals. Operates with a willingness to build systems and processes while pursuing a desired outcome.

Stakeholder Engagement & Management - Brings transferable relationship management experience; able to communicate and work well with Boards, staff, external funders, and more. Able to build relationships quickly by understanding the motivations and strengths of others. Builds strong communication campaigns to keep stakeholders in the know about progress.

Collaborative – Builds strong relationships internally and externally to facilitate connections that maximize resources and collective knowledge within the EIF network. Comfortable using and communicating data to build alignment around a common set of goals.

Job Type: Full-time

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Dependent health insurance coverage
• Employee assistance program
• Flexible schedule
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday
• Weekends as needed

Ability to Relocate:

• Dallas, TX 75247: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Dallas, TX 75247