Job Description
Director of Development
About Democracy Prep Public Schools
Democracy Prep educates responsible citizen-scholars for success in the college of their choice and for lives of active citizenship. In close partnership with families, we empower young people with the skills and values to flourish as community leaders who will strengthen our American democracy and change the world.
Democracy Prep Public Schools (DPPS) is a tuition-free, high-performing public charter network operating in New York serving more than 3,000 students PreK–12 across 10 campuses. DPPS is executing a five-year Strategic Plan focused on academic excellence, operational sustainability, staff development, and responsible regional growth.
About the Opportunity
The Director of Development owns Democracy Prep’s philanthropic growth strategy and revenue engine. This leader sets the vision, builds the systems, and drives measurable results across individual, foundation, corporate, and institutional giving.
This position operates on our hybrid in-person work model. Reporting to the Chief of Staff and serving the CEO and senior leadership team, the Director leads one of Democracy Prep’s key organizational functions, delivering high-stakes, material impact for the organization.
This role shapes funding strategy in direct alignment with Democracy Prep’s strategic priorities, including academic excellence, operational sustainability, programmatic scaling, and regional growth.
Who You Are
- An education reformer and mission-driven leader with an unwavering commitment to Democracy Prep’s vision of college success and authentic civic engagement for all scholars, particularly those facing significant challenges.
- A self-aware and reflective leader committed to building and sustaining an equitable culture across all aspects of the organization.
- A strategic and entrepreneurial fundraiser with at least 5 years of experience securing major gifts from individuals, corporations, and foundations, ideally with prior experience in education or mission-driven institutions.
- A skilled relationship builder who collaborates effectively across teams, develops long-term internal and external partnerships, and inspires confidence among Board members, donors, and colleagues.
- A compelling communicator with excellent writing and presentation skills, able to synthesize complex information into clear, persuasive messages tailored to multiple audiences.
- A sophisticated development professional with deep knowledge of fundraising programs and strategies, adept at navigating complex institutions, identifying donor alignment, and adapting to rapidly evolving environments.
- A lifelong learner and results-oriented leader who brings creativity, initiative, and rigor to building scalable development programs.
- Educational background: Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree or related advanced study preferred.
What You’ll Do
Multi-Year Development Strategy & Revenue Ownership
- Design and execute a multi-year development strategy aligned to Democracy Prep’s Strategic Plan.
- Own and drive multi‑million dollar fundraising targets, including annual and multi-year goals.
- Build a diversified funding model integrating individual giving, principal gifts, foundations, corporate partnerships, government opportunities, and advocacy initiatives to advance Democracy Prep’s mission and strategic priorities.
- Identify emerging funding opportunities and proactively build high-capacity donor pipelines.
Major & Principal Gifts Leadership
- Personally manage a focused portfolio of at least 25–40+ high-capacity prospects.
- Secure six-figure and select seven-figure gifts in partnership with the CEO.
- Conduct at least 15–20 strategic cultivation and solicitation meetings annually.
- Build multi-year stewardship and engagement plans for top-tier donors.
- Partner with the CEO to source and cultivate Board-aligned prospects with philanthropic capacity.
Foundation & Institutional Partnerships
- Maintain retention of existing foundation partners.
- Secure at least 3–5 new institutional partnerships annually.
- Lead the preparation and submission of a high volume of grant and foundation applications, ensuring quality, timeliness, and alignment with organizational priorities to maximize funding opportunities.
- Increase foundation revenue year-over-year through proactive relationship management.
- Lead strategic grant positioning in partnership with the Senior Leadership Team to maximize network-wide impact.
Corporate & Strategic Partnerships
- Develop and execute a corporate engagement strategy aligned to our operational model and strategic programmatic priorities.
- Secure corporate partners annually.
- Elevate corporate partnerships beyond sponsorship toward sustained philanthropic investment.
Board Engagement & Philanthropic Culture
- Drive a clear Board giving strategy in partnership with the CEO and Board Chair.
- Support progress toward 100% Board giving.
- Lead and oversee the design and execution of key giving campaigns and donor engagement initiatives, including signature events such as Giving Tuesday and major galas, ensuring each effort drives revenue, strengthens donor relationships, and advances Democracy Prep’s philanthropic strategy.
- Activate Board members and development committees to leverage networks and open doors.
- Build a culture of philanthropy across the organization through leadership coaching and strategic alignment.
- Stay abreast of emerging trends and best practices in education and the broader nonprofit sector to inform strategy, identify new opportunities, and ensure the organization remains competitive in philanthropic engagement.
Infrastructure, Systems & Performance Management
- Implement and optimize a donor management system that provides real-time visibility into pipeline health, conversion rates, revenue progress, and donor retention.
- Produce monthly and quarterly dashboards for senior leadership and Board review.
- Build scalable systems that enable long-term revenue growth.
- Collaborate with the Senior Leadership Team and Marketing & Communications to develop the vision, strategy, and supporting materials, such as white papers and organizational assets, for core programs.
Salary range for this role is $140,000 to $155,000 and is commensurate with equivalent experience leading development in the education or another nonprofit space. Democracy Prep staff members are provided with comprehensive benefits and a working environment that includes the necessary technology and resources to succeed. Democracy Prep employees work on a hybrid schedule with three days based in our New York City office and two days at home a week. Some evenings and weekends will be required, including for attendance to board meetings, fundraising events, or other network events.
Democracy Prep is an Equal Opportunity Employer and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, or ancestry, sex, age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, veteran or military status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, familial status, domestic violence victim status, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state or local laws, regulations or ordinances. Our mission is to educate responsible citizen-scholars who will change the world. We strongly believe that by building a DREAM team that represents numerous perspectives, backgrounds, and areas of expertise, we can achieve this goal together. This is a value we highly support and strongly encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply.
