Director of Development 

Founded in 2007, Operation Shower’s mission is to host nation-wide group baby showers for military families to ease the stresses of deployment and separation. 

POSITION SUMMARY:

The ideal Director of Development is a self-starter who will take charge of Operation Shower’s fundraising strategy, who has varied fundraising experience, communicates well, is organized, flexible, adaptable, and excited to grow support for Operation Shower and the military families we serve. This role reports to the Chief Shower Officer, and will work closely and collaboratively with the entire Operation Shower team.

The Director of Development will play a critical role in cultivating, stewarding and soliciting donor support from individual donors, recurring monthly donors, grant funders, foundations and corporations, as well as leading fundraising campaigns and events, including the recruitment and cultivation of sponsors, participants, auction donors, and committee members.

The Director of Development is responsible for maintaining and updating the donor/grant database and donor communications. This position will also work with other Operation Shower team members to coordinate social media/digital marketing around the fundraising strategy. 

Location: The position is located at Operation Shower’s St. Louis, Missouri, office and will be a hybrid of in-person and virtual work, and will require frequent travel.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• In coordination with the Chief Shower Officer and other team members, develop and implement a comprehensive fundraising plan. 
• Identify, research and implement new possible funding opportunities as well as stewardship of new and existing donors to increase overall retention and giving levels.
• Identify, research and cultivate new prospective grant funders, foundation and corporate sponsors
• Draft grant proposals/applications 
• Maintain a grant calendar to ensure all grants and impact reports are submitted on a timely basis.
• Lead monthly recurring donation program, Team Joy!, and coordinate event programming with the Director of Design and Community Engagement.
• Work closely with team members on the Operation Shower annual Charity Golf Tournament, especially the auction and sponsorship components.
• Lead the annual fundraising event in St. Louis
• Supervise the planning and implementation of event logistics and serve as the lead staff on event day.
• Recruit and cultivate sponsors, participants, auction donors, and committee members.
• Implement, track and report sponsor recognition including logo inclusion, event signage, videos, and social media.
• Build relationships and community presence through additional fundraising opportunities including third party events and peer-to-peer fundraising.
• Manage the NEON donor database
• Maintain gift records and reconcile with the accountant or Chief Shower Officer 
• Write thank you letters for certain financial gifts
• Assist with the development of digital messaging & and branding
• Travel to, and perform necessary assigned tasks at, various shower events throughout the country, as necessary. 

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Must be able to organize and implement strategic plans, work independently as well as part of a team, follow through on assignments and prioritize competing tasks.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Proven ability to cultivate relationships and ask for gifts
• Experience and comfort with communications technology and social media
• Experience in fundraising, event management, donor cultivation and relations, and corporate sponsor cultivation are strongly preferred.
• Able to communicate both orally and in writing in a timely and effective manner to multiple constituencies. Strong follow-up and follow-through required.
• Skilled at managing participants in an online fundraising platform; ability to run reports and analyze data to build strategic outreach plans.
• Familiarity with project management systems (Operation Shower uses Basecamp), donor management systems (Operation Shower uses Neon CRM), Google Docs and Sheets, Dropbox, Canva (not required, but helpful).

Operation Shower is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, religion, disability, age, or any other protected status under the law.