Director of Development and Fundraising

Job Description

Status: Full-time Exempt Mon-Fri; evenings & weekends as needed for special events and meetings
Reports to: Principal and Board
Hire Date: July 1, 2025 or ASAP

If interested please email a resume and contact Dominic Sepich. (dsepich@kingswoodacademy.org)

Job Summary
The Director of Development and Fundraising is primarily responsible for executing and overseeing a portfolio of individual donors and developing a portfolio of new donors for the general support of the school as well as creating opportunities for scholarship and financial assistance funds that support students at the school. Working closely with the Principal to cultivate donors through annual events, existing school programs and new school initiatives, the primary focus will be to establish a consistent source of financial support for school initiatives. Fundraising efforts will involve small and large-scale special events. The Director of Development will be specifically responsible for donor relations including prospect identification, cultivation, appeals, stewardship, acknowledgement, and tracking of major gift prospects. This position plays a vital role in the ability to advance the school and secure the resources needed to make Kingswood Academy successful and sustainable.

The ideal candidate is a mission- and values-driven, engaging, entrepreneurial and highly motivated fundraiser with superb communications, storytelling, persuasiveness, and organizational skills, high integrity, and work ethic. This individual is a practicing Catholic with a passion for Kingswood Academy's mission who makes a conscious decision to incorporate the Catholic faith into all activities and is inspired to make a difference in the lives of young people; a consummate relationship manager with experience building and managing a philanthropy program; a self-starter with experience proactively identifying, cultivating, and soliciting potential donors and corporate partners, and engaging them in the school's work and impact.

Having acquired a deep understanding of Kingswood Academy, its students, and the commitment of the administration, faculty and volunteer leadership, the successful candidate must be able to inspire and ignite a passion for Kingswood's mission in others by reaching out to various constituencies, sharing stories of Kingswood's outcomes, identifying affinities, and making connections effectively to attract positive attention and grow philanthropic support. The candidate must have a finger on the pulse of the business and philanthropic communities in the Chicagoland area and be able to navigate within this environment.

Responsibilities

Responsible for the management and implementation of strategy to steward and grow major gifts for Kingswood Academy.
Work with the Principal to establish long term goals and objectives, to strategize fundraising efforts.
Prepare monthly reports and analyze progress toward fundraising goals.
Formalize a giving program to ensure the greatest mutual benefit for existing donors and prospective donors.
Cultivate and steward gifts from individuals by maintaining frequent contact with current donors and developing new relationships with prospects.
Create, manage and execute a strategy for a base of existing individual donors.
Work with the Principal on strategic recognition efforts for annual donors and oversee special stewardship projects including: follow up letters after events, holiday card mailings, invitations to special events, personal calls to donors, social media, marketing, etc.
Meet with donor prospects and existing donors to cultivate long-term relationships.
Lead planning and execution of all Major Gift Cultivation Events.

Qualifications
Bachelor's degree required
Minimum 5 years of experience in Development with increasing responsibility and success.
Proven track record of successful fundraising and stakeholder engagement in nonprofit, public, or civic setting.
Experience of having expanded and cultivated existing donor relationships over time.
Strong written, oral, interpersonal, and persuasive presentation skills.
Excellent judgment and creative problem-solving skills; self-reliant and results oriented.
Proven ability to drive fundraising results in a complex, fast-paced, dynamic environment.
Ability to balance and contribute to high-level strategy development and tactical details of implementation.
Mission-orientation with demonstrated experience in expanding donor relationships over time.
Excellent communication skills, both written and oral; ability to engage, collaborate with, and influence and engage internal and external stakeholders; capacity to collaborate across a complex organization structure.
Ability to work closely with people from diverse cultures and economic backgrounds
Familiarity with individual, foundation, and corporate giving in the Chicagoland area.
Self-motivation, accuracy, attention to detail, and ability to manage and meet multiple deadlines.
Experience creating and implementing or overseeing integrated communications plans.

Benefits
Competitive starting salary
Benefits include: Insurance, Flex spending, Dental, Vision
Flexible Scheduling

About the Employer

Kingswood Academy is an independent Catholic school within the Joliet Diocese. The central mission of Kingswood Academy is to aid parents in fulfilling their role as the primary educators of their children by providing for their moral, spiritual, and intellectual formation. In its educational programs, Kingswood Academy strives to provide an environment of academic excellence, good character formation, and respect for the dignity of each person. Kingswood Academy assists parents to cultivate the human virtues and develop a strong moral character in their children so that they become competent, responsible men and women who live by Christian principles. Kingswood Academy adheres to the teachings of the Catholic Church and emphasizes the philosophy of the laity.