ORGANIZATION SUMMARY

T.R.U.S.T. South LA is a membership based non-profit community land trust focused on: the production and preservation of affordable housing and the stewardship of community-controlled land; building values-driven community development; building awareness and fostering community leadership on issues of housing, transportation, sustainability and recreation; and creating programs, collaborations and initiatives that build community and economic opportunity for low-income residents within and beyond our project boundaries.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

T.R.U.S.T. South LA’s Development Director is a forward-facing and high impact director position, working closely with program and operations staff and reporting directly to the Executive Director. The Development Director will support the mission of T.R.U.S.T. South LA by creating and executively managing philanthropic relationships across major gifts, foundations, corporate partnerships and supervise grants management to ensure timely reporting and fulfillment of deliverables.
The Development Director supports T.R.U.S.T. South LA’s mission and programs by working
directly to maintain and grow engagements with philanthropists, philanthropic organizations,
and strategic partners on diverse opportunities for impact. They will successfully facilitate a
number of complex fundraising projects to secure collaborative philanthropic and sponsored
commitments to help sustain the organization’s $3 million annual operating budget.

Summary:

Core Responsibilities

• Design development strategy for T.R.U.S.T. South LA: Work with the leadership team, including the Board of Directors’s Executive Committee to identify funds needed, preferred funding targets, and approaches.
• Form and manage development team: Work with the Executive Director and senior leadership team to form a development team:
  • Identify staffing needs for land trust campaigns and ongoing development for all programs across T.R.U.S.T. South LA
  • Support the development of programmatic and organizational budgets and development targets
  • Oversee and execute development targets and report to the Executive Director quarterly on development goals and outputs
• Fundraising: Conduct research, prospecting, and application to multiple donor sources
  • Manage land trust campaigns, engaging and overseeing any potential development consultants
  • Oversee ongoing development efforts
• Maintain and grow a robust donor base: Develop and maintain key long-term relationships with donors and prospects, including sustained and new major gift partners
• Fundraising Events Management: The Development Director is responsible for planning, organizing, and overseeing all fundraising events for the organization.
• Key responsibilities include
  • Develop and implement a comprehensive strategy for fundraising events, including setting goals, timelines, and budgets. Ensure each event aligns with the organization’s mission and goals.
  • Lead and manage event committees and volunteer teams, ensuring all members are well-coordinated and motivated. Provide guidance and support to ensure successful event execution.
  • Develop and manage event budgets, ensuring costs are controlled and financial goals are met. Prepare financial reports and analysis post-event to assess success and areas for improvement.
  • Conduct post-event evaluations to gather feedback and measure success. Report on event outcomes to the executive team and board of directors, providing insights and recommendations for future events.

HIGHLY DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Level of Experience: 8 – 10 years of experience in a nonprofit or community minded organization managing and in leadership in fundraising.
• Development/Fundraising: Proven success in development for a community-centered nonprofit, ideally in land trust and environmental arenas. Experience running land trust campaigns and success fundraising from multiple donor channels.
• Project Leadership: Experience in planning, leading, and managing development projects, including coordinating with peers to achieve desired outcomes, and tracking and reporting on progress to senior management /board of directors.
• Entrepreneurial Spirit: Takes initiative and actively seeks to deepen current donor relationships and to forge new ones with the ethos of diversity, equity, inclusion and community-building.
• Communications: Skilled in creating powerful, compelling written and oral communications for philanthropic partnerships. Ability to convey complex ideas through brief, simple materials in collaboration with communications and programmatic staff.
• Experience and credibility when presenting materials to external philanthropic and partnership stakeholders.
• Public Speaking Experience: Compelling and community-centered public speaking skills that resonate with philanthropic partners and community-stakeholders.
• Collaboration: Effective at working with others to reach common goals and objectives, with a mind toward a flexible and strategic development goal to sustain T.R.U.S.T. South LA’s long-term mission.
• Relationship Building: Skilled at establishing and cultivating strong relationships with peers, across different levels of the organization and externally.
• Writing Skills: Excellent written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills
• Mission-Focus: An understanding of TRUST South LA and commitment to the mission of the organization, principles, and social & economic justice.
• Programmatic Passion: Familiarity, interest, and / or expertise with community land trusts and/or community organizing and social justice.
• Self-motivated, ability to work independently with limited supervision, willing to handle concurrent tasks and make appropriate judgments and decisions.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage details and data efficiently and effectively
• Ability to interact with a diverse set of people from various businesses and backgrounds
• Computer proficient, including Microsoft Office 365 and contact management systems and donor relations tools.

SALARY & BENEFITS

The Development Director is a full-time, exempt position with full benefits for employees. Salary ranges from $85k-$95k and is based on qualifications and experience. The position will be extended based on fundraising and operating budget capacity.

CONTACT/ TO APPLY

Please submit a resume and letter of interest to jobs@trustsouthla.org by August 31, 2024, with earlier submissions encouraged. Please add the position title for which you are applying to the ‘subject’ of your email. Applicants selected for an interview will be asked for 3 professional references (one recent past supervisor within the last three years, one past or present employer), one writing sample of not more than 2 pages that speaks to your skills and talents for this position, and to submit answers to a written prompt.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

As an organization committed to community led solutions to housing justice and racial equality, T.R.U.S.T. South LA provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, along with any and all of other characteristics that make us all unique. We help put this commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in practice through professional training, flexible work hours, benefits and support for a healthy work-life-family balance.

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