About CSS

Center for Supportive Schools (CSS) is a fast-paced, collegial, and team-oriented organization wholly committed to helping schools become places where students want to be. CSS is driven by the vision that one day, all students will thrive in schools that graduate them prepared for the rigors of college and lives filled with meaningful work, active citizenship, and personal fulfillment.

Our work directly addresses student disengagement, a root cause of diminished academic performance, students dropping out of school, and other high-risk student behaviors. Founded in 1979, we are a national organization currently impacting 65,000 students annually and committed to supporting every K-12 school in the country.

We know that we can only be truly mission-oriented by first building a safe, supportive, engaging, and inspiring internal culture. Thus, we focus on creating the conditions for staff to bring the full weight of their brilliance, skills, and past experiences, and to thrive personally. We work to ensure that all staff feel accepted, valued, affirmed, connected, safe to grow, and encouraged to advocate for progress.

For more information, please visitwww.supportiveschools.org.

The Role

The Center for Supportive Schools (CSS) is in search of a senior fundraising leader who will be responsible for developing, managing, and executing enterprise-wide major gifts and advancement strategies that will drive major philanthropic investments to support the mission and long-term sustainability of the organization. In this role, theDirector of Advancement Strategy & Major Giftswill partner closely with the CEO, in ensuring that CSS is positioned as a celebrated organization poised for transformative philanthropic investments.

This colleague will provide leadership for and execution of the major-gift strategy, cultivating high-value donor relationships, and building and providing oversight of a portfolio of prospectsboth individual and institutional, qualified to make gifts of $25,000 and above. With direct support from the Executive Advisor to the Office of the CEO, theDirector of Advancement Strategy & Major Giftswill also partner closely with the Manager of Advancement Operations and Annual Fund(s) to meet and exceed philanthropic revenue targets for CSS.

The ideal candidate is known for their meticulous attention to detail, engaging and inspiring connections with donors and champions, and excellence in execution of initiatives and campaigns. This leader will have demonstrated success in securing major gifts in the nonprofit space, and deep alignment with and connection to education and youth development causes. As a hybrid/remote colleague, there will be some travel required to support the CEO and trustees in specific markets (Atlanta; Boston; Los Angeles; New York City Metropolitan Area; San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area; Washington, DC Metropolitan Area; among others).

Key Job Responsibilities

Major Gifts Strategy & Execution

• Develop and implement a comprehensive major gifts strategy aligned with organizational priorities
• Manage and continuously refine a portfolio of ~75125 qualified major gift prospects with the capacity to give $25,000+
• Conduct regular donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship activities to meet or exceed annual philanthropic revenue targets
• Create individualized cultivation plans and solicitation strategies for top prospects
• Collaborate with executive leadership and trustees to support high-level donor engagement, including, but not limited to the following: network mapping and connections; special events and acknowledgments; fulfillment of incentives at varying giving levels; among others

Advancement Strategy & Leadership

• Provide leadership and expertise in strategic planning initiatives that strengthen long-term fundraising capacity and pipeline development
• Partner with the CEO, Trustees, and program leaders to identify mission-aligned funding opportunities and prepare supporting materials to equip organizational leaders for engagement with potential funders
• Use data-driven insights to shape donor engagement strategies and ensure a healthy pipeline of prospects
• Track giving trends (within the organization, education field, and especially across peer institutions), assess fundraising performance, and adapt…