Summary
Description
POSITION
Development Manager (full-time, non-exempt) will provide support in designing and executing strategies to enhance our development efforts as Denver Public Schools Foundation aims to grow its impact. This position will serve as a chief relationship officer for a portfolio of the foundation's primarily corporate donors, strategically building relationships and moving donors along the donor pipeline. They will design and execute strategies for donor recruitment and engagement, support ongoing donor stewardship efforts through events, draft donor briefings, and lead and execute projects and campaigns to drive engagement and fundraising. This position reports to the Vice President of Development and works closely with all Development, Impact & Grantmaking, Marketing & Communications, and DPS Foundation Leadership team members.
WHO ARE WE?
Denver Public Schools Foundation believes our city is strengthened by every student who graduates ready to lead a successful life. As the strategic fundraising partner to DPS, we work alongside district leaders and educators to advocate for the highest impact investments and galvanize the philanthropic and community support necessary to ensure Every Child Thrives. We strive to live by our Pillars and see them as a commitment to ourselves, to DPS, and to the students and families we have promised to serve. For additional information about our organization, please visit www.dpsfoundation.org.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
We are seeking a sharp, community-driven fundraising professional to help fuel our mission and expand our impact in public education. In this role, you won’t just manage relationships—you will cultivate dedicated donors, secure vital resources, and translate community passion into strategic funding opportunities that scale our impact for the students, educators, and families within Denver Public Schools. This position is a perfect fit for a self-starting, highly organized development professional who thrives in a responsive, high impact, collaborative setting and takes immense pride in delivering polished, high-quality work. If you are a quick learner who handles competing priorities, moves prospects seamlessly through the giving pipeline, and manages confidential data with total discretion, we want you on our team.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Fundraising & Stewardship Responsibilities
● Responsible for strengthening and evolving existing funder relationships as well as prospecting and building new long-term partnerships that result in funding for the immediate and long-term goals and priorities of DPS Foundation
● Manage a donor portfolio of approximately 50-75 corporate donors and prospects and build a pipeline for support by identifying, researching, and engaging organizations and individuals in the Denver metro area for unrestricted and restricted revenue for DPS Foundation. Annual portfolio management goals around visits and solicitations will be determined annually and may include number of visits, major gift and leadership annual gift solicitations, dollars raised, etc.
● Lead the solicitation and support for event fundraising for our annual Achieve Gala (1,000+ attendee fundraiser, generating $1 million), and Back to Class Bash (suite of signature engagement events, that include 100+ volunteers doing school-based service projects throughout the summer and our Back to Class Bash 5k)
● Support the execution of event benefit fulfillment for sponsors
● Serve as a community ambassador with time spent in community networking and engaging in professional development opportunities
● Develop, design and execute engagement stewardship for assigned portfolio
● Develop, design and execute stewardship plan to support donor retention
o Participate in regular donor stewardship activities, including directly stewarding donors and prospects with strategic communications and school site visits
● Manage Development Committee (Board Sub-Committee in support of fundraising efforts) including logistics, recruitment and engagement.
QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS
The ideal candidate should possess the following:
● Eagerness to learn and gain experience in a variety of development and fundraising skills, with 3-5 years of experience managing relationships, ideally with corporate partners
● A curious, intuitive, and persistent mindset–taking initiative with incredible follow-through
● Ability to prioritize effectively and ability to organize and manage multiple tasks and projects simultaneously from conception to execution
● Relationship building experience; enjoys connecting authentically with stakeholders and wants to nurture those relationships long-term
● Experience using Microsoft Office Suite and Google platform to accomplish daily tasks, projects, and meetings as well as ability to operate typical office equipment
● A high level of professionalism, integrity/ethics, and confidentiality
● Prior experience supervising direct reports, interns, or volunteers is a plus, as this role has the potential to manage one team member depending on candidate experience.
● Previous experience in a donor database software (such as Raiser’s Edge NXT) preferred, though a willingness to learn and execute is equally important
● Passion for breaking patterns of historic inequalities in education by creating opportunities through philanthropy for our most vulnerable students
● We work in an open-office environment, with occasional weekend and evening hours during events, as needed
● Post-secondary education preferred but professional workplace experience required
WHY WOULD YOU CHOOSE US?
This position is an opportunity to join an exceptional team working toward equity in education. You will join a team of experienced professionals raising $7 million annually in support of Denver Public Schools.
We have a flexible, supportive work environment and strive to work with our Core Values at the forefront of what we do. We value each team member and are excited to hear different perspectives and ideas. We offer a competitive salary range of $75,000 to $85,000 commensurate with experience and qualifications. We offer a generous benefits package including paid time off (PTO), 100% paid health, dental, vision, and life insurance, parking, and a fully-vested matching contribution to a 401(k) retirement plan after meeting eligibility requirements.
HOW TO APPLY TO JOIN THE TEAM
Please send a resume and cover letter telling us about you, why this job would be a good fit for you to jobs@dpsfoundation.org. To ensure your submission is considered, please include Development Manager in the subject line. No telephone inquiries, please. The position is open for immediate hire and will be open until filled. DPS Foundation encourages all qualified candidates to apply. At the Denver Public Schools Foundation, we recognize that systemic barriers often deter qualified candidates, particularly women and BIPOC individuals, from applying if they don't meet every listed qualification. We want to assure all potential applicants that we value diverse perspectives and experiences, and we actively encourage candidates from underrepresented backgrounds to apply. Your unique skills, perspectives, and lived experiences are assets that enrich our organization and contribute to our mission of equity in education. Don't hesitate to apply, even if you don't meet every requirement listed. Your application will be considered with care and attention to the value you bring to our team.
COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING
In alignment with our Pillars, DPS Foundation is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Our human capital is the most valuable asset we have. The collective sum of the individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness, innovation, self- expression, unique capabilities, and talent our team members invest in their work represents a significant part of not only our culture, but our reputation and organization’s achievement as well. We embrace and encourage differences in age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other characteristics that make individuals unique. DPS Foundation encourages all qualified candidates to apply. All employment is decided on the basis of job related factors such as qualifications, merit, and business need.
