Development Director

About Us

We are a thriving interdenominational campus ministry serving students across Wisconsin with active chapters in Madison, Oshkosh, and Ripon. With a $700K annual budget and an exceptional 95%+ donor retention rate, we're expanding our development capacity to reach new institutional supporters while stewarding our faithful donor community.

Position Overview

We seek an experienced Development Director to build and expand our institutional fundraising program. This role will focus primarily on cultivating individual donors, families, and church partnerships across Wisconsin while developing sustainable revenue streams for ministry growth.

Target: Generate $85,000 in new donations and pledges within 12 months, building toward $170,000 annually.

Primary Responsibilities

• Cultivate and solicit major gifts from individual donors and families

• Research and pursue grant opportunities and foundation funding

• Develop church partnership strategies including speaking opportunities

• Build prospect pipeline through relationship development and referrals

• Enhance donor stewardship and retention programs

• Create and implement fundraising processes and systems

• Travel regularly across Wisconsin for donor meetings and presentations

• Expand newsletter subscriptions and donor database

• Track and report on development metrics and ROI

Performance Benchmarks

• Year 1: Generate $85,000 in new donations/pledges

◦ Q1: $15,000 | Q2: $35,000 | Q3: $60,000 | Q4: $85,000

• Year 2: $150,000-$170,000 in annual fundraising

Required Qualifications

• 1-5 years of development/fundraising experience with proven results

• Strong track record in individual donor cultivation and major gifts

• Experience with grant writing and foundation relations preferred

• Excellent presentation and public speaking abilities

• Self-starter comfortable building systems and processes

• Theological alignment with our belief statement

• Wisconsin residency required

• Willingness to travel regularly within Wisconsin

Preferred Qualifications

• Higher education or nonprofit development experience

• Faith-based fundraising background

• Experience with donor database management

• Church or ministry speaking experience

• Grant writing certification or training

What We Offer

• Competitive salary: $65,000-$80,000 (based on experience)

• $7,000 annual budget for travel and donor acquisition activities

• Performance based annual contract renewals

• Flexible PTO policy

• Remote work environment

• Opportunity to build a development program from the ground up

Application Process

• Timeline: Applications accepted through May 1st, position filled by May 31st

• Process: Initial interview → Team interview → Board interview → References/

background check

• Employment: 12-month performance-based contract with annual renewal based on KPI achievement