Senior Director of Development

Jun 26

Anticipated Start Date: September 1, 2026

Description

Not every fundraising job is worth leaving your current one for. This one might be. As Senior Director of Development for All Stars Project of Chicago, you'll join the executive leadership team, lead a thriving fundraising program, cultivate influential corporate and community leaders, and help launch the organization's milestone 20th Anniversary Campaign. This isn't a turnaround. It isn't replacing a broken fundraising program.

It's an opportunity to build upon a successful foundation with an engaged board, loyal supporters, nationally recognized corporate partners, and a leadership team preparing for a milestone chapter in the organization's history. Whether your fundraising experience comes from higher education, healthcare, the arts, museums, community organizations, corporate relations, or traditional nonprofit fundraising, we'd love to hear from accomplished relationship builders who are ready for a larger stage. Sometimes the best career move isn't finding a new job, it's finding the right mission.

Responsibilities

Leadership & Team Management

Serve as a senior leader on the ASP of Chicago team, partnering with the VP/Director, programs, and operation leads to create successful ASP impact in Chicago.
Serve as a senior leader within ASP's national development function. Participate in national meetings, team activities, and strategy development.
Supervise, coach, and develop members of the Chicago development team, including training, conducting performance reviews, goal setting, and creating onboarding and professional development plans.
Support and strengthen fundraising systems, processes, and team effectiveness, ensuring long-term success.

Fundraising Strategy & Revenue Generation

Meet or exceed annual fundraising goals, currently $1.75M annually, with growth anticipated.
Create and execute revenue-generating strategies that benefit young people while deeply engaging teammates, volunteers, philanthropic partners, and supporters.
Lead the strategic planning and coordination of solicitations to execute the All Stars Project of Chicago's 20th Anniversary Campaign, ensuring alignment with broader organizational fundraising priorities and long-term donor development strategies.
Oversee the ASP of Chicago Annual Campaign, including strategy and execution of phone campaigns, direct mail, and email appeals.
Develop cultivation and engagement experiences for supporters in partnership with the national ASP Annual Campaign team.

Major Gifts & Donor Engagement

Manage and grow a portfolio of approximately 75 to 100 individual supporters, primarily at the $2,500 to $50,000 giving level, developing strategies to deepen engagement and increase philanthropic investment over time.
Proactively identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward new and existing individual, corporate, and foundation supporters, focusing on building and expanding $10,000+ levels of support.
Partner with the VP/Director, Chief Development Officer, CEO, and other senior leaders to develop and implement strategies for principal and major gift cultivation and solicitation.

Events & Campaign Leadership

Lead fundraising efforts for two annual Chicago benefits, overseeing campaigns that generate more than $750,000 annually.
Work closely with event honorees and co-chairs to build awareness, enthusiasm, and philanthropic support.
Develop creative engagement opportunities that inspire supporters to become active participants in ASP's work.

Board & Volunteer Leadership

Partner with the Vice President/Director of Chicago and ASP of Chicago Board Chair to support the ongoing development of the Chicago Advisory Board.
Produce and participate in board meetings and coordinate the work of two Board working groups.
Co-lead the Development School for Youth (DSY) Trustees, engaging a dedicated group of corporate leaders as champions, volunteers, and philanthropic partners.

Corporate & Foundation Partnerships

Deepen existing corporate partnerships through stakeholder engagement internally and externally, through collaboration with regional and national development colleagues.
Identify, pursue, and secure new and renewed funding from private foundations.
Build partnerships that increase ASP Chicago's visibility, impact, and sustainability.

Requirements

Seven or more years of direct fundraising experience, including executing personal solicitations of $25,000+.
Hands-on experience leading fundraising galas/benefits involving honorees.
At least two (2) years of experience directly supervising professional staff.
Proven track record of initiating, driving, and successfully completing assigned projects.
Understanding of and experience with the Chicago philanthropic market preferred.
Strong leadership, interpersonal skills, and the ability to interact and communicate professionally with individuals at all levels of the organization.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.
Strong project management skills.
Superb administrative skills, including use of MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, with experience in Raiser's Edge, AirTable, and Constant Contact preferred.
Experience staffing a board and/or board committees and presenting to boards. Highly detail-oriented, organized, and motivated, with experience setting up and overseeing processes and systems for team success.
Flexibility in schedule. Some evenings and Saturdays are required during peak seasons.
Understanding of poverty-related issues and a commitment to creating educational and developmental opportunities for underserved youth in outside-of-school contexts.
Ability to regularly travel locally to events, presentations, and donor meetings.
Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience required.

Salary Range and Employee Benefits

$115,000 to $125,000

How to Apply for this Job

Apply Now

About the Organization

Our bold vision is to be recognized as America’s action and thought leader in Afterschool Development, a new way of engaging poverty.

At the All Stars Project, we champion Afterschool Development. We believe afterschool is the best way to bring young people growing up in poor communities into the mainstream. They start to connect to opportunities, to the world of success, to the business community and all sorts of things that are very far from where they come from, sparking their desire to learn and grow.

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