About us: 

18 Reasons is a nonprofit cooking school on a mission to empower our community with the confidence and creativity needed to buy, cook, and eat good food every day. We offer two food education programs. At our 18th Street Kitchen in San Francisco, we host paid cooking classes with chefs from around the world, and ticket sales help support our free programming for low-income families. Through our Cooking Matters program, we offer grocery donations paired with free cooking and nutrition classes to low-income families throughout the Bay Area. Our vision is to create equity and belonging through the transformative and healing power of home cooking.
 

About you:

The 18 Reasons Director of Development is a hands-on and solution-oriented person who manages all aspects of our fund development and our communications. You are passionate about food, learning, community, and equity, and you love creating systems and growing teams. You are a visionary leader who inspires stakeholders to invest in 18 Reasons’ mission and programs. This role is an opportunity for an experienced development professional to take your skills to the next level while supporting a dynamic community institution entering our 14th year of growth. We take special care to create a working team of positive, flexible, and driven people who are committed to caring for the community. A career at 18 Reasons is an opportunity to learn new skills and play a valuable role in serving the community. 

The Director of Development is the staff member chiefly responsible for contributed revenue (which makes up about 80% of our annual income), including funds raised via donations from individuals, fundraising events, foundation grants, and government grants. Combined, revenue from these sources adds up to about $1.2M per year. 

The Director of Development is a valued member of 18 Reasons’ Leadership Team, which includes all department heads and our Executive Director. As a member of the Leadership Team, the person in this role is responsible for setting and achieving short-term and long-term organizational goals; spearheading strategic communications and fundraising to support the growth of 18 Reasons’ programs; cultivating an organization-wide culture of philanthropy; championing our core values of Food, Heart, Learning, Liberation, and Moxie; and leading the Development Department, which includes a Development and Communications Assistant, a Fundraising Event Coordinator, and the Executive Director (who supports donor cultivation work, grant writing, and Board engagement). 

You will report to the Executive Director and work closely with the Board of Directors, while overseeing all aspects of annual resource development strategic planning and the execution of our development and communications strategies. This is an opportunity for a driven, dedicated, and ambitious development professional to build the capacity of the Development Department and shepherd our development program into its next exciting chapter of innovation, maturity, and community connection.

As our Director of Development, you do not need to be an expert in all areas of development and/or communications before you start, but you must be organized, motivated, and eager to learn. You are meant for this role if you are a lifelong learner with a passion for language and service. 

Ultimately, we are looking for someone who has a talent for communication, a love of building relationships, and who is whole-heartedly enthusiastic about taking our development program to the next level.

• Fundraising:
  • Lead fundraising and communications efforts to drive engagement and investment from stakeholders such as donors, 18th Street Kitchen students and members, foundations, government funders, corporate sponsors, and fundraising event guests, raising upwards of $1.2M annually
  • Oversee all aspects of creating and executing on our annual strategic plan for the department, our Annual Resource Development Plan (from ideation, to implementation, to measuring success and iterating for improvement)
  • Provide assistance and leadership to the Executive Director and Board of Directors to build and maintain long-term relationships with donors and cultivate effective, meaningful relationships with prospects that lead to measurable results
  • Manage our grants calendar and grants database (we use GrantHub), including writing 20% of grant proposals (the rest of grants are written by other development staff)
  • Plan and execute two fundraising events per year in partnership with the Special Events Coordinator, including managing event logistics and event-based fundraising
  • Oversee 18reasons.org website strategy, including using website content, e-newsletters sent out through our website’s mailing list, and data captured by our website’s CRM (we use CiviCRM) to measure and drive engagement and investment from website visitors

• Organizational leadership: 
  • Be an integral member of our Leadership Team, including attending weekly leadership meetings to provide organizational leadership, guide the staff in understanding and implementing a culture of philanthropy, work collaboratively with other department heads to establish and support the strategic direction and organizational culture of 18 Reasons, and help build a collaborative, mission-driven, and effective organization committed to a culture of feedback, accountability, and transparency
  • Facilitate and support the Development Committee and Communications Committee of our Board of Directors, including supporting fundraising and marketing volunteers with training, coaching, and strategic goal-setting and ensuring accountability of committee members for their work
  • Attend Board meetings as a representative of our development program and our donors, in order to support the Board’s fundraising efforts and culture of philanthropy

• Lead and manage accountability for the Development Department: 
  • Supervise and support a full-time Development and Communications Assistant, who is responsible for:
    • Database management
    • General audience communications (such as content creation for our e-newsletters and social media content, and planning and executing our communications calendar)
    • Donor acknowledgements
    • Stewardship and appeal campaigns for non-major donors
    • Some grant writing
    • PR pitches to journalists and media outlets, and 
  • In partnership with the Special Events Coordinator, plan and execute two successful fundraising events per year
  • In partnership with the Executive Director, manage major donor relationships and communications (including individual, corporate, and grantmaking supporters), and oversee an effective grants program

Requirements

• Experience in the nonprofit development field at manager level or above
• Experience managing disparate individuals and/or teams to achieve collective goals
• Experience planning and managing successful fundraising events
• Experience with donor cultivation, stewardship, and appeals
• Technology: experience with database management (we use CiviCRM and Network for Good); proficient with computer applications such as Microsoft Excel and the Google suite and the ability to quickly learn and master new technology and software programs, as needed
• Candidates must be located in or willing to relocate to the Bay Area
• Occasional night and weekend work required

Qualifications

• Passionate about our core values of Food, Heart, Learning, Liberation, and Moxie
• Excellent communication skills and command of English language and grammar (both verbal and written)
• Excellent organizational skills, proven ability to handle and prioritize multiple tasks and to meet deadlines
• Experience with creating and maintaining protocols and systems to support team workflows
• Passionate about managing team members, including creating a culture of professional development, accountability, continuous and open feedback, and celebrating diversity
• Willingness to learn on the job and grow with our organization, including confidently leading the department through times of transition and change and working to identify opportunities for innovation

Physical Requirements

General office duties include: computer work; filing; typing; phone communication; copying; and participating in meetings with donors, funders, and other stakeholders. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable any qualified person to perform essential job duties. 
 

Reports to

This position is supervised by the Executive Director

Supervises

• Full-time Development and Communications Assistant
• Part-time Fundraising Events Coordinator

Classification & Compensation

• This is a full-time, salaried position that pays $75,000-$90,000 DOE
• Benefits include health, vision, and dental insurance; 3% IRA matching; 12 holidays and 20 days of PTO; and a 20% discount at Bi-Rite Market locations

Commitment to Non-discrimination

As part of our dedication to the diversity of our workforce, 18 Reasons is committed to Equal Employment Opportunity without regard for race, ethnicity, gender, protected veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion.