Director Of Development

About Us

Alexander Twilight Academy (ATA) is a free, longitudinal high school and college access program that provides hard-working, high-potential students from under-resourced backgrounds with the highest-quality educational and life-enriching opportunities. Named after the first Black American to graduate from college in the United States, Alexander Twilight Academy makes a long-term commitment to serve each student and family we admit from middle school through college and beyond. ATA develops leaders who will change the world and empowers the next generation of great thinkers, creators, and changemakers to live meaningful lives of passion and purpose. Through rigorous, year-round academic programming, support, advocacy, enrichment, and mentorship, ATA prepares middle school students to earn admission to and thrive at the nation's top high schools, colleges, and beyond.

Piloted during the summers of 2018 and 2019 and launched, in earnest, during the 2019-2020 school year. ATA has grown by adding a new cohort of rising 6th grade students each year. ATA now serves four cohorts of students in grades 6-9 and in the summer of 2023, ATA’s first cohort graduated from Middle School Academy and transitioned into the high school and college phases of the ATA model. Alexander Twilight Academy is at an incredibly exciting inflection point after placing 100% of our founding cohort of students into the Boston Exam Schools and prestigious independent day and boarding schools with a cumulative total of over $11M of financial aid in hand. ATA is continuing to grow and scale both the middle school model and fully build out the high school and college aspects of the model with robust programming, support systems, career exploration, internship training and placement, and college guidance.

About the Opportunity

We are looking for a founding Director of Development to lead our growing local fundraising efforts. The Director of Development will play an instrumental role in catalyzing this next chapter in ATA’s growth and will be charged with taking our early successes and momentum and building out a professionalized, systematized, and growth-ready development function. This person will integrate best practices from the field, while adapting to our particular context, vision, and strategy. The role will be fully accountable for driving our development campaign and achieving ambitious goals, but will partner closely with our Executive Director, Board, and other staff to execute on that charge. This role will be an individual contributor and predominantly internal-facing in FY24, but has the potential to evolve in its day-to-day activities, external timeshare, and management capacities as our team and goals grow in future years. The Director will report to the Executive Director.

About You: Key Attributes

• You are deeply committed to educational access, equity, social justice, and ATA’s mission and vision
• You are a champion for excellent fundraising and have a clear vision for the role that development efforts, donors, and partnerships can and should play in the work
• You have an uncommon level of personal responsibility with exceptional goal orientation and a proven track record of success
• You are motivated by achieving results through others, have both skill and appetite to manage up and manage laterally, and are equally excited for behind-the-scenes leadership as you are front-line fundraising
• You are a thoughtful relationship builder who both develops rapport easily and fosters long-term connections. You build relationships with ease across a diverse group of constituents
• You are able to integrate bigger picture strategy with tactical implementation (and like doing both). You approach fundraising through an analytical and data-driven lens with a bias towards concrete action
• You are highly organized with exceptional detail orientation and demonstrated ability to manage a high volume of work
• You are a compelling writer, storyteller, and communicator. You are skilled in analyzing, breaking down, and communicating ideas in ways that inspire others to action
• You are unafraid to take proactive steps to make improvements and/or solve problems
• You are a team player and are able to jump into multiple different workstreams to achieve an end goal or mission. You view your work as one vital piece of the entire organization’s success, and recognize that as a young and lean organization, you may jump in to support others’ efforts
• You are excited to build out a new function, and take on ambiguity with entrepreneurial zeal
• You are receptive to feedback and focused on personal growth and development
• You are eager to commit to a new role for multiple years, and see yourself growing with an organization

About the Role

As the founding Director of Development, you will be responsible for managing all components of our growing fundraising efforts, including:

• In close partnership with the Executive Director, set and lead macro-strategies to raise $2.7M in FY24 and increase revenue in subsequent years
• Manage our portfolio of foundation, corporate, and individual funders, by developing donor-specific strategies while supporting our Executive Director for all meeting preparation, outreach, and follow-up
• Grow our pipeline and portfolio of donors, inclusive of identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding donors across streams
• Develop and execute any donor-facing events
• Oversee the full range of activities required to prepare, write, submit, and manage individual grant proposals, while managing a broader calendar and project plan for all grant management
• Evaluate, improve, and create all donor-facing communications, such as pitch decks, reports, written and online appeals, and social media.
• Directly engage, steward, and solicit a discrete set of donors to start, while gradually growing that portfolio (in concert with the Executive Director) in subsequent years
• Support the Executive Director in stewarding the Board’s role in development, including preparation for board meetings, developing collateral to support Board Members’ fundraising efforts, and developing a strategy for the Board’s role in fundraising
• Ensure that all fundraising strategies are developed through a lens that centers and uplifts the voices, backgrounds, and experiences of our students. This includes staying personally proximate to our programming, students, and families
• Build out the administrative infrastructure and codify systems and structures that will create efficiencies in ATA’s development processes
• Participate as a full member of the team, supporting any full-team efforts outside of Development
• Additional projects as needed to support a fast-paced, growing organization

Qualifications

We know that many people are often less likely to apply to a position if they don’t match 100% of the job qualifications. Please don’t let that be the reason you miss out on this opportunity! We encourage you to apply if you can demonstrate many of these skills and competencies, even if not all.

• Bachelor’s Degree required
• Preferably 7-12 years of relevant professional experience driving results-oriented campaigns, likely in development, sales, recruitment or related functions. Previous fundraising experience preferred but not a requirement
• Previous experience in a non-profit, school, or mission-aligned organization a plus
• Fluency with Salesforce or other CRMs highly preferred
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Strong proficiency in MS Excel and Powerpoint
• Alignment with ATA’s mission, values, and the key attributes of the role listed above

The Details

This is a full-time role with expectations and benefits commensurate with all full-time roles at ATA

• Location: Our team works together in our Jamaica Plain office on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, with optional remote days on Wednesdays and Fridays; During the 6-week Summer Leadership Program we are in-person every day
• Hours: We benchmark off of a Monday - Friday, 9am – 5pm schedule, but with variation and role-dependent adjusted schedules for evenings and weekends when we have student-facing programming and development events
• Benefits: We offer a strong benefit package including healthcare, dental, vision, and a 401K option
• Compensation: Salary for this position is competitive with similar non-profit organizations and depends on prior experience.

How to Apply

Please send your resume and cover letter to with subject line “Director of Development”

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: From $125,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Ability to Relocate:

• Jamaica Plain, MA 02130: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Jamaica Plain, MA 02130