Director of Strategic Development

About The Oxford School

The Oxford School is an independent school that focuses on strong academic programming within a nurturing environment. It is something most parents wish for their children – a good education with opportunities to excel and reach their full potential in an encouraging setting. TOS was founded by Sandra Hurley to do just that. TOS believes that academic knowledge and skills are important for everyone to develop, and that children can and will succeed with support and guidance.

We believe that children thrive in an environment that provides personalized attention and an enriched approach to learning. Class sizes are small to provide the opportunity for individualized, enhanced learning. Students benefit from high academic standards, and opportunities to act as role models in their own school community as well as in the larger Oxford community. Through a variety of programs and activities students are encouraged to develop self-confidence and respect for themselves, their peers, their teachers and their community. As well, TOS offers parents the opportunity to involve themselves in their children’s education in a meaningful way, while extending the safe, nurturing home environment to the academic community.

Responsibilities

The Director of Strategic Development is an individual that specializes in fundraising as well as grant proposals. We’re seeking an experienced professional to join our team in the full-time, permanent position of community development.

Reporting directly to the Head of School, while providing reports to the board of directors, this position is responsible for building, maintaining and enhancing a foundation-wide, comprehensive stewardship program that appropriately and consistently promotes engagement, recognition and retention of donors and stakeholders at every level.

Purpose:

This position is required to

• Lead efforts to secure principal giving and is responsible for the full scope of activities related to donor relations, including stewardship and recognition.
• Lead efforts to support the Development and Alumni Engagement teams.
• Lead efforts to promote and secure philanthropic support from alumni, donors, parents, and friends.

Key Responsibilities

• Establishes short-term and long-range goals for funding sources under Head of Schhol and Board of director guidance, with responsibility for growing giving and donations through a variety of channels including community giving, monthly giving, corporate giving, foundation support, planned giving, and major/leadership giving
• Works in collaboration with the parent council to establish goals, boundaries, and expectations
• Grant proposal planning, writing, submitting, and reporting
• Oversees, develops and cultivates a pipeline of major gift donors and prospects, including individuals, corporations, and foundations.
• Works to secure multi-year gifts that allow for future planning and support sustainability
• Strategically engages and supports volunteers, board members and internal leadership to cultivate prospects, solicit and close gifts
• Develops, implements, and maintains a forward-thinking donor stewardship and recognition program that cultivates loyalty and growth from all philanthropic sources, along with the development of a prospect acquisition strategy
• Develops legacy giving plans and strategies and promote legacy giving inside and outside the community
• Provides leadership over the planning and execution of fundraising events, ensuring each event is executed with excellence and results are evaluated and reviewed for continuous improvement in subsequent years
• Meets regularly with supporters, donors, prospects, partners, etc.
• Prepares and negotiates gift agreements and proposals and brings solicitations to closure
• Prepares, sends acknowledgements follow ups from post donations
• Embrace and consistently enact organizational values of respect, caring, integrity and partnership, supported by being authentic and accountable to yourself and our team

Education:

• College Diploma in fundraising, business, finance, commerce, public relations, business administration, or similar fields or an equivalent of two years recent experience
• Knowledge and awareness of current and future trends related to donor stewardship, policies and protocols and fundraising professional standards and ethics is required.

Experience:

• At least two years of recent work experience in professional fundraising field including donor or stakeholder relationships.
• Proven track record of successful donor relations including the implementation of recognition opportunities and direct stewardship of major gifts and annual and planned giving donors.
• Membership in AFP or CAGP an asset

Skills:

• Ability to communicate effectively (verbal and written) in a concise, creative, and persuasive manner. Interpersonal skills to interact with a variety of individuals at many different levels.
• Excellent project coordination, prioritization and time-management skills are required to oversee multiple on-going projects simultaneously and meet immovable deadlines. Ability to plan and budget strategically.
• Able to organize, motivate, and work constructively with staff, students, and volunteers. Ability to coordinate groups of people to work towards a common goal.
• Ability to provide team leadership and diplomacy to influence desired outcomes.
• Ability to write and edit effectively in the English language, proficiency in grammar, spelling and content verification. An eye for detail is essential.
• Ability to write fundraising proposals and to develop operational plans .
• Able to maintain confidentiality.
• Demonstrated ability to work with volunteers and organizational leadership and to provide definitive donor relations advice.
• Strong analytical, research, interpretative and evaluation skills.
• A strong commitment to customer service, and building and maintaining donor relationships to inspire confidence from donors.
• Self-motivated, detail-oriented, and organized with the proven ability to work independently and project manage workload in a fast-paced interruptive environment
• Strong ability to make highly effective formal and informal presentations to diverse groups, large and small.
• Proven planning and organization skills with the ability to translate plans into measurable actions that efficiently and effectively meet or exceed goals
• Demonstrated relationship-centric approach, and creativity
• Demonstrates the ability to draft and support others in the drafting of donor relations reports,endowment reports and other written documentation as required.
• Communication skills to translate information into easily understood terms, summarize information, and provide a rationale for action
• Strong commitment to personal development and continuing education to enhance knowledge of stewardship and fundraising trends, best practices and new technologies
• Willing to work flexible hours, evenings and weekends, and travel occasionally as needed
• Able to work independently and as part of a team.
• Competency with MS Office Suite (including PowerPoint basic, Excel intermediate and WordAdvanced), fundraising and prospect management databases and Internet skills.

We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those chosen for an interview will be contacted.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: From $55,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Dental care
• Extended health care

Flexible Language Requirement:

• French not required

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Woodstock, ON: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)

Education:

• Bachelor's Degree (preferred)

Work Location: In person