SEED Schools are catalysts for change in urban education. SEED schools are the nation’s first urban public boarding schools, preparing students from underserved communities for success in college. The success of the SEED model has been showcased on 60 Minutes, the “TODAY” show, TIME, and The Washington Post.  SEED Schools are also featured in the documentary film, Waiting for Superman.

We understand the profound impact a single college graduate can make on an entire family, and we are passionate about making public education work for everyone.  SEED’s innovative model offers a rigorous academic program (for grades 6-12) with a nurturing boarding program within a safe and secure environment 24 hours a day.  As public schools, SEED schools are tuition-free. In every year of our existence, the number of applications to attend SEED schools has exceeded the number of spaces available; to determine enrollment, SEED schools hold an annual lottery.  (To learn more about the lottery, please read Tom Friedman’s column about it in the New York Times.)

The SEED School of Maryland combines a rigorous and engaging academic curriculum with life skills and enrichment activities to provide students with a thoughtfully balanced learning and living experience. Students and their families commit to a seven-year educational program that offers small class sizes, rigorous teaching and high quality learning experiences, mentoring, community service, and extracurricular activities such as sports, music, and arts.  The school builds on the success of The SEED School of Washington, D.C., where 94 percent of graduates have been accepted to four-year colleges and universities.

Located in Baltimore, The SEED School of Maryland currently serves more than 300 students from across the state in grades six through nine and is now accepting applications for its fifth class of incoming sixth graders. At full capacity, the School will serve 400 students in grades six through twelve.  The Maryland General Assembly passed legislation to establish the School, which receives state and local funds.  The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) oversees the School and holds it accountable to state and federal standards for teaching and learning. 

As The SEED School of Maryland’s first full-time Director of Development (this function was previously supported by the SEED Foundation), you will be charged with leading the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the School’s fund development program.   You will be responsible for raising at least $700,000 in unrestricted annual gifts and grants and then growing this total incrementally on an annual basis to support both operational and program needs.  Coming in the door, you will focus your attention on donor cultivation, including an established individual donor base and over 100 corporate, foundation, and individual prospects, and on Board development (there are 23 members of the Board of Trustees, each at varying engagement levels and knowledge about fundraising techniques).  You will analyze current levels of foundation and corporate giving and then implement a plan to support our short and long-term giving needs.  You will focus on identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of individual fundraising prospects and donors.  While having a good understanding of the Baltimore philanthropic community is an asset, your understanding and commitment to SEED’s mission and your ability to connect donors to the mission is essential.

We are a fast-paced, high-energy environment and instill a culture of results-oriented, driven individuals.  We work together closely to achieve our goals.  Your role as Director of Development will take what’s already in place and grow a fundraising function for the School that will lead us to our goals.  You will report to and work closely with the Head of School and develop and implement annual and long-range planning for fundraising for the school.  Our Head of School is an accomplished educator and has ambitious goals for the school, for our students, and for our future, but has limited experience in fundraising. You will be responsible for keeping the Head of School appropriately staffed about what’s possible and about what will require additional planning.  You will also serve as a key member of the School’s Leadership Team, a group of highly engaged and passionate staff who are deeply committed to serving our students and who are also unfamiliar with fundraising.  They will look to you to inform, educate, guide, and coach them on how development can support their programmatic needs and how and where they can support fundraising efforts for the school. 

You will lead and mentor a staff of two, an Associate Director of Development and an Assistant Director of Development Operations (you will hire both as you come in the door).  While you are building the development function for the School, you will have access to the resources of our Development Team at The SEED Foundation’s office in Washington D.C. to support some of the critical background functions.  Ultimately, you will be responsible for identifying your resources and developing the processes that build an overall smooth-functioning fundraising operation.  

This position is just as much managing the process and developing strong relationships as it is prioritizing and managing the pipeline.  Your ability to build networks and work collaboratively will create solid fundraising function with long-term sustainability.

Key Responsibilities of the Director of Development

In this role, you will: 

Leadership and Oversight of Fundraising

• Lead SEED MD’s fund development program.  Serve as a strategic guide to the School’s leadership team and to the Board alike. 
• Provide oversight of all fund development activities, including annual and major giving, corporate relations, foundation relations, donor cultivation and stewardship, data management, and tour program.
• Incrementally grow our individual giving, foundations, and corporate giving programs.
• Supervise and evaluate the performance of two full-time positions.
• Support the Head of School in fundraising activity.  Provide regular updates on the fund development program and secure full participation in all aspects of fundraising activity.
• Create and implement annual and long-range planning processes for fundraising.
• Lead the department’s moves management system. Ensure the effective development, implementation, and tracking of strategies designed to secure vital financial support for the School.
• Serve as a full member of the School’s leadership team. Ensure that its culture and activities fully support fund development work while providing input regarding short- and long-term strategic and operational planning.
• Develop annual budgets and private fundraising projections in cooperation with the Managing Director and Head of School that accommodate the needs of all aspects of the fund development program;
• Assure sound fiscal operation of the development function, including timely, accurate, and comprehensive development of charitable contributions income and expense budgets and reports.
• Establish performance measures that evaluate the effectiveness of the School’s fund development program.
• Lead capital, endowment, and other special fundraising campaigns.
• Work in close partnership with The SEED Foundation’s Director of Development and Marketing and with the Foundation’s development team in areas including, but not limited to, direct mail, database administration, tours and special events, and communications and marketing.
• Establish and ensure compliance with School’s fund development principles, policies, and procedures as well as compliance with relevant regulations, laws, and standards pertaining to fund development and ethical principles of professional conduct for development professionals. 

Board Fundraising Management

• Serve as the School’s fundraising liaison to its Board of Trustees, engaging individuals in critical fundraising work through personal meetings, training workshops, and other tools designed to increase and sustain engagement in fund development.
• Provide support to the Board of Trustees’ Fund Development Committee, assist the committee chairperson, develop agendas for committee meetings, and help committee members fulfill their fundraising responsibilities.
• Communicate effectively and often about fund development with the Board of Trustees through regularly scheduled Board meetings, phone calls, and emails in order to leverage fundraising relationships through their personal and professional networks and identify, cultivate, and solicit charitable contributions to the School.
• Oversee the Board of Trustees’ annual giving campaign.  Support the Chair in solicitation strategies designed to secure 100 percent Board participation in annual giving.
• Help determine accountability measures and metrics for members of the Board of Trustees and other volunteers in fundraising activity and evaluate performance regularly. 

Personal Fundraising Activity

• Maintain a personal portfolio of 50 to 75 individual, corporate, and foundation major prospects and donors for the purpose of solicitation of gifts and grants of $2,500 and above.
• Regularly visit prospects and donors to cultivate and engage them in the life and activities of the School.
• Engage prospects and donors through phone calls, email, letters, and other updates, effectively communicating the School’s case for support and progress.
• Fully participate in the department’s moves management system.  Track development activity through the School’s fundraising database system.
• Intelligently manage ongoing, active, and honest communication that contributes to building a stronger and more loyal donor community.  Utilize fundraising strategies that demonstrate transparency and openness and build trust within the funding community.           

Essential Experience, Skills, and Competencies of the Director of Development 

• Bachelor’s or higher degree from an accredited college or university is required.
• Minimum of seven to ten years of fundraising experience with proven success in leading major fundraising functions.
• Significant experience in individual giving, including campaign and major gift solicitations at the four-, five- and six-figure level.
• Experience in managing Boards and fundraising volunteers.
• Understanding of information management systems and moves management principles. 
• Three or more years of proven supervisory and organizational leadership.  Strong management and leadership skills with experience building high-functioning teams that support professional staff competencies, knowledge, and skills.
• Proven experience in developing a budget and tracking and measuring results.
• Exceptional project management skills, including designing, implementing, and tracking multiple campaigns and programs.
• A working knowledge of Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge for Windows is highly desirable.
• Superior written and verbal communication skills.  Able to write and speak persuasively about the organization to various constituencies.
• Experienced presenter.
• Internet savvy and skilled with computer technology, in order to organize and effectively maintain records and ongoing communication. 
• Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel.
• Willingness and ability to work evenings and weekends when/as necessary.
• Proven experience in broad-based fundraising; experience in both restricted and unrestricted fundraising techniques.  Must have proven experience with annual fund techniques, including donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. 

Attributes of a Successful Director of Development 

• Mission-driven:  You are passionately committed to children and to education.  You care, profoundly, about serving people and possess a personal commitment to the SEED mission and our beliefs. 
• Results-oriented, creative problem solver:  You are a goal-setter with boundless energy who goes “above and beyond” what is expected.  You understand the big picture and can easily translate our objectives into community impact.  You get what matters to the donors and what serves the mission.  You keep an eye on the bigger picture as you navigate and innovate through challenges with a sense of fortitude. 
• Seasoned communicator, collaborative work style:  You have a collaborative and inclusive work style, and you have impeccable judgment regarding how to handle a wide variety of situations.  You also have the confidence to seek and receive advice. You share information and coordinate effectively at all levels throughout the organization.  You work cooperatively, are able to seek out relevant information, decide the appropriate steps, and facilitate to get the desired results.  You are known for your poise, tact, and diplomacy.   
• Supreme relationship builder:  You share your insights, seek out other opinions, and listen to the needs and concerns of others.  You bring out the best in others as you build trust and buy-in from both colleagues and donors alike. 
• Strong project manager:  You are able to juggle multiple tasks, allocate and optimize resources, and manage timelines.  Attention to detail is one of your strengths, and you are meticulous with follow-up.  You skillfully bring order to competing priorities and keep things clear, concise, and running smoothly. 
• Process-oriented:  You thrive on efficiency.  You are always looking for ways to improve, and you implement processes that enhance productivity.
• Accountable:  You are known for how you “get things done.”  You have everyone’s best interests in mind.  You earn trust by your actions and faithfully keep your promises.  You are seen as an “honest broker.”
• Flexible:  You are able to easily shift gears, reprioritize and stay focused on key priorities. 

What’s Attractive to the Right Candidate?    

• You have the opportunity to take an established development function and build and implement a strategy for long-term success.  As the first full-time Development Director, this is yours to build and develop.  Your experience, opinions, and expertise are valued. What you bring to the table is vital to our success.
• The Board welcomes your guidance and leadership; they are eager to help, looking for direction, and passionate about the mission.
• The Head of School is highly motivated, engaged, and passionate about the students and education.  With partnership and planning, there is enormous fundraising potential.
• The mission drives the money – you have the power to put the mission first, attract the dollars and build relationships with those who have a direct interest in the mission.
• SEED Schools have earned an excellent reputation in the Baltimore community.  
• You can take pride in knowing that your efforts will be in service to furthering the educational opportunities of underserved children and their families.  You are creating a better future that will profoundly impact the lives of students and their families, and will have a long-term, generation-altering impact.
• You will be a part of an innovative organization with staff that is extremely focused and intent on creating long-term value.  Your colleagues are professional and committed to their work and respectful and responsive to each other. 

Employee Benefits

SEED offers a comprehensive compensation package that includes four weeks’ vacation, eleven holidays, six sick days, health and dental insurance, FSA reimbursement accounts (health care, dependent care, and transit/parking), life insurance, short-term and long-term disability, and 403(b) plan.

To Apply for the Director of Development

The SEED School of Maryland is committed to the letter and spirit of equality.  It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation and identity, or national and ethnic origin in hiring and employment, nor in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship, and other programs.

The fastest way to apply for this position is to create a profile through the link at the top of this page. 

If you prefer, simply email a Word version of your resume and cover letter to Jennie Kinsfather at resumes@staffingadvisors.com with “SEED-Director of Development/2012-1494” in the subject line of the email.