Director of Philanthropy Operations
Children’s Law Center
Washington, DC
Anticipated Start Date: October
Description
The Development team builds and sustains the philanthropic partnerships that advance Children’s Law Center’s mission and long-term impact. Through individual, institutional, corporate and community giving, the team connects supporters with opportunities to improve outcomes for children and families across the District. The team is also leading the $15 million Tenacity and Transformation Campaign, a comprehensive effort to strengthen Children’s Law Center’s capacity, reach and lasting impact.
Job Summary
The Director of Philanthropy Operations leads the operational infrastructure that supports Children’s Law Center’s development program, including annual fund execution, event operations, development communications production, gift processing standards, data integrity and reporting.
The Director ensures that fundraising activity is accurately coded, consistently tracked and reported in ways that leadership can use with confidence. This role is grounded in execution excellence. The Director translates fundraising goals into reliable systems, clear workflows and accurate reports; strengthens existing tools and processes; and supervises and develops the philanthropy operations team. Fundraising strategy, frontline solicitation and appeal strategy remain the responsibility of the Chief Development Officer and fundraising team.
Responsibilities
Supervisory Responsibilities
Supervise the Manager of Philanthropy Operations, Development Associate and Development and Executive Support Specialist, including assigning work, ensuring quality and supporting professional development. Provide tools, resources and training so direct reports understand and meet role expectations, supervisory obligations and program requirements.
Provide timely coaching, appreciation, constructive feedback and performance evaluation. Support direct reports’ professional development, growth goals and promotion readiness.
Partner with the Chief Development Officer and HR when progressive discipline, accommodations or deviations from standard performance expectations may be needed. Escalate staff conflicts, requests to modify job functions or potential deviations from organizational policy to the Chief Development Officer and HR as appropriate.
Keep the Chief Development Officer informed about high-performing staff, promotion readiness, performance concerns and team capacity needs. Identify and elevate trends related to morale, culture, workload, program operations and organizational effectiveness. Model and support a positive, accountable and collaborative work culture.
Role Responsibilities
Annual Fund, Events, and Communications Operations (40%)
Execute the operational components of annual fund campaigns, including segmentation, list pulls, mail file preparation, mailhouse and vendor coordination, and results tracking. The fundraising team sets appeal strategy; this role ensures that campaigns run accurately and on schedule.
Coordinate production and scheduling for development communications, including appeals, acknowledgments, newsletters and stewardship touchpoints; manage calendars, workflows and handoffs from draft through delivery. Manage event operations, including registration setup, RSVP tracking, guest lists, vendor coordination and post-event gift entry coordination.
Lead operational planning for new fundraising initiatives by determining how activity will be coded, tracked, reported and maintained.
Systems, Data, and Reporting Oversight (25%)
Oversee DonorPerfect and integrated platforms; govern campaign, solicitation and financial coding frameworks, including the Source Code Map and Gift Coding Decision Tree.
Prepare reports and dashboards that leadership uses to track revenue, pipeline and portfolio activity; translate data into clear insights for the Chief Development Officer and, as needed, the board.
Oversee online giving infrastructure and related automations; manage vendor relationships and evaluate tools, integrations and AI-assisted workflows that expand team capacity.
Data Governance and Documentation (20%)
Set and maintain standards for gift processing, coding integrity and data quality across the development program. Oversee financial reconciliation by designing and enforcing audit practices, coding integrity checks and data maintenance routines; serve as the final reviewer for development data accuracy.
Own the Development Operations Playbook as a living institutional resource; ensure processes are documented, current and transferable. Other duties as assigned.
Requirements
Required Skills
Experience managing annual fund logistics, mail or email production, and event operations, ideally in coordination with vendors and internal teams.
Advanced proficiency with at least one fundraising CRM; DonorPerfect experience is preferred. Demonstrated ability to own a function by setting standards, documenting processes and being accountable for data that others rely on.
Supervisory experience with demonstrated success developing, coaching and holding staff accountable. Sound judgment about when to improve systems and when to protect effective existing processes.
Experience in a nonprofit of comparable scale; legal services, advocacy or human services experience is a plus. Excellent organization, project management and follow-through, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
Ability to use data, judgment and collaboration to evaluate progress, solve problems and support sound decision-making. Experience working with a constituent relationship management database and maintaining accurate, timely records.
Proficiency with Microsoft 365, particularly Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams. Availability for occasional evening and weekend donor events and time-sensitive projects.
Experience Seven or more years of progressive experience in nonprofit development operations, advancement services, or fundraising systems management Experience working with a constituent relationship management database and maintaining accurate, timely records.
Proficiency with Microsoft 365, particularly Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams. Availability for occasional evening and weekend donor events and time-sensitive projects.
Organizational Competencies Cultural Humility - Demonstrates openness to self-reflection and to understanding and respecting different cultural experiences and points of view, recognizing individuals as experts in their own cultures and experiences.
Giving and Receiving Feedback - Engages in self-reflection and gives and receives appreciative, coaching, constructive, interpersonal and evaluative feedback.
Conflict Management - Recognizes conflict, identifies relevant facts and perspectives, develops equitable solutions, and supports implementation and learning.
Salary Range and Employee Benefits
$80,000.00 - $110,000.00
How to Apply for this Job
About the Organization
Children’s Law Center is a mission-driven organization focused on providing high-quality legal services to children and families in DC. As an organization, we envision a world in which all children have a strong foundation of family, health and education and are free from poverty, trauma, racism and other forms of oppression.
Our mission is to do this work together with DC children and families, Children’s Law Center uses the law to solve children’s urgent problems today, improve the systems that will affect their lives tomorrow and strengthen our community so that change endures. A key part of our mission is to challenge and reduce ways in which racism and other biases – structural and interpersonal – prevent each of us, our organization and the systems in which we work from providing children a strong foundation from which to thrive.
Our greatest assets are our people. We recognize that people with diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives fuel our ability to provide the best outcomes for our clients and our community. Staff members at Children’s Law Center advance the organization’s mission through their leadership, result-orientated mindset and commitment to cultural humility. We are looking for individuals who like to be challenged to grow both personally and professionally and value the opportunity to make a difference in their community. Children's Law Center's continued success depends on recruiting and retaining individuals who possess and exemplify these attributes.
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