The Legal Aid Society has an opening for a Director of Fundraising Operations. The Director of Fundraising Operations is the Development team’s operational leader, playing a pivotal role in developing and implementing strategies that support the achievement of ambitious annual revenue goals and the launch The Legal Aid Society’s 150th anniversary multi-year fundraising campaign.

Reporting to the Chief Development Officer (CDO), the Director of Fundraising Operations will oversee the teams focused on database management, gift processing and acknowledgements, as well as donor communications and on-line fundraising. The Director will manage 2 direct reports and a team of 5 staff in total, ensuring synergy with other Development teams, and with colleagues in the Communications Department.  In addition to this essential work, the Director of Fundraising Operations will be expected to improve efficiencies in tracking and reporting, enhance marketing collateral, and develop systems to support prospect development and moves management of annual fund and campaign prospects. The Director will understand the needs and interests of donors, think strategically, make recommendations and offer creative solutions, and manage systems to grow our base of support and improve the Legal Aid donor experience. This role is an exciting opportunity for a leader that is prepared to excel and advance professionally in a fast-paced environment that is growing and evolving in real-time.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

Annual Development Plan and Campaign Preparation  

• With the CDO, provide dynamic and effective thought leadership for the Development Team as it expands efforts to increase and diversify annual financial revenue and prepare for the 150th anniversary campaign in 2026

• Collaborate closely with the CDO, the Director of Major Gifts and Donor Engagement and the Director of Institutional Giving to develop and execute successful annual and campaign fundraising activities

• Project manage the annual drafting and execution of the Development plan, facilitating each development area’s ability to set and track progress to goals, and to calendarize tactics, deadlines and milestones

• Develop processes and procedures and other necessary structures to support team supervisors to help staff monitor progress towards goals and meet financial and engagement targets

• Schedule, plan and facilitate regular Development Team meetings to review current state, identify needs to close out current priorities, prepare for upcoming focus areas and note revisions to the plan for subsequent years

• Act as liaison with other Legal Aid Departments to streamline intra-organization communication and workflow
• Inspire, motivate and challenge Development staff through ongoing mentorship and training

Fundraising Operations and Database  

• Collaborate with Development’s Operations Team members and relevant department staff to strengthen policies and procedures, especially regarding portfolio development and moves management ahead of launching a fundraising campaign

• Lead revenue reporting for LAS Leadership, Board of Directors, and Development Committee, collaborating with the CDO, Development’s Operations Manager, and Finance Team

• Create a routine for proactively expanding the major gifts and gift planning pipeline through systematizing wealth screening to help identify donors with the capacity and inclination to make larger gifts. Ensure wealth screening results are visible in the database and that colleagues creating donor profiles have the tools they need to evaluate capacity and linkage to the organization

• Guide Development’s Operations Team as well as other Development Team members through a transition to adopting the NXT web view of Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge as the database view is retired by the vendor over the next year

• Partner with the Finance Team and vendor partners to assess the organization’s needs for accounting software and a donor database. Ready the Development Team for a possible database conversion in the next fiscal year

• Support the CDO in fostering an environment that supports new ideas and innovative approaches to donor relationship management and campaign development, maintaining a top-level view of concurrent initiatives and staff bandwidth

• Share knowledge, time and expertise to assist Development Team members and document best practices for database use, communication systems, and content development
• Create audit reports to routinely ensure that data entry best practices are being followed and provide reminders and training to the team if issues are frequently occurring

Donor Communications and Digital Fundraising  

• Guide Legal Aid’s growth of individual giving from a two-tiered mailing approach (low-dollar donors and high-dollar donors) to a three-tiered approach (low-dollar donors, mid-level donors, and assigned major donors/campaign prospects)

• Ensure the success of a low-dollar fundraising program by setting and tracking progress quarterly targets and adapting the annual plan as needed to reach fiscal year goals.

• Oversee the Manager of Development Communications, guiding as they work to segment emails to different audiences and work on acquisition campaigns in collaboration with the Communications team and Legal Aid Vendors

• Guide direct reports to ensure to close coordination between the Development Operations Team and the Development Communications Team in the production of print and digital solicitations for donors under $1,000

• Collaborate with the Major Gifts and Donor Engagement Team on the production and timing of emails and print marketing to donors of $1,000 – $2,499

• With the Major Gifts and Donor Engagement Team, ensure that opportunities to promote Legacy Society giving are proactively considered

• With the Communications team and various vendors, implement strategies and tactics to widen the pipeline of new donor acquisitions

• Collaborate with Communications Teams on digital marketing opportunities around the organization’s 150th anniversary celebration
• Work with the donor-facing Development Teams on the creation of materials for the 150th fundraising campaign

Team Development and Supervision  

• Schedule employee hours, assign work, approve time off and remote work schedule requests following the guidance of LAS policy and procedures

• Manage and coordinate staffing changes, i.e. processing separations, requesting new job postings, hires, coordination of leaves and accommodations

• Attend management meetings, participate in management training, and utilize current employment policies, practices and guidance as provided by management and Human Resources

• Conduct management and supervision practices that affirmatively support equity and inclusion in the workplace

• Supervise direct reports in setting performance standards, provide routine feedback as well as coaching/counseling, and issue disciplinary action as needed

• Identify and provide training and development opportunities and ensure mandatory trainings are completed
• Identify, delegate, and document work responsibilities, roles, and procedures to meet the mission of the department

Professional Development and other duties as assigned  

• Participate in continuous professional development

• Continuously learn about forms of bias in the workplace and demonstrate affirmative behaviors that support an inclusive work environment

• Other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS

Required qualifications:  

• Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible fundraising experience

Preferred qualifications:   

• Knowledge of Donor Databases/CRM systems required, knowledge of Blackbaud products a plus

Position Based Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 

• Passion for justice and the mission of The Legal Aid Society

• Proven ability to navigate large, complex organizations with competing interests and limited resources

• Ability to establish, maintain, grow, and inspire donors, prospects, volunteers, staff, and others towards the accomplishment of fundraising goals.

• Strong working knowledge of fundraising databases, preferably Raisers’ Edge NXT

• Excellent diplomacy, communication, presentation, analytic, strategic planning and problem-solving skills

• Ability to work independently while also collaborating in a team environment

• Results-oriented with the ability to complete work in a timely manner while managing multiple projects simultaneously and working under deadline pressures

• Experience with revenue budgeting and forecasting
• Exceptional work ethic, professionalism, independent judgment, confidentiality

Supervision Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Successful experience managing others, and a strong ability to orient, train, mentor, and motivate staff who support development goals

• Ability to schedule, assign, and manage work and resolve problems as needed

• Ability to manage the work including assessment of work process and outcomes, gathering relevant information about the work, recommending alternatives, or elevating issues as needed

• Ability to clearly identify roles, and responsibilities, delegate tasks, and hold people accountable

• Ability to create and implement effective communication plans

• Ability to provide meaningful performance feedback for professional development including having difficult conversations and resolving sensitive employee issues
• Pursue continuous learning on forms of systemic oppression of marginalized identities and establish team norms and management practices using an equity mindset informed by inclusive practices

Organizational Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Commitment to The Legal Aid Society’s mission to secure equal justice before the law for all New Yorkers

• Interpersonal and communication skills that enable healthy and productive working relationships

• Ability to perform duties with the highest regard for confidentiality, integrity, and respect
• Commitment to Legal Aids mission and values

Physical, environment, travel, and other duties required: 

• Mostly sedentary, significant time using a computer and monitor; communicating and meeting using video

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

Please submit these documents as a single combined PDF when you apply via the LAS (Legal Aid Society) Recruitment Portal.

• Resume
• Cover Letter

SALARY TRANSPARENCY

The posting reflects the range of potential salaries for the role. The specific salary offers will be dependent on candidate qualifications, including collectively bargained salary steps for unionized roles.

Salary Range/ Salary: $135,000 – $148,000

SALARY AND BENEFITS


The leadership of The Legal Aid Society believes in attracting and retaining exceptional talent committed to serving our clients. We offer a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability, and life insurance, and more. Salaries for our unionized jobs are governed by our Collective Bargaining Agreement. Please visit our Careers page for additional information. Salary and benefits information will be available to applicants, when and if, an offer is made.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION


The leadership of The Legal Aid Society is committed to a work culture of zealous advocacy, respect, diversity and inclusion, client-oriented defense, access to justice and excellent representation. We are dedicated to building a strong professional relationship with each of our clients, to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us.

HOW TO APPLY

All applications must be completed online. We do not accept paper submissions. Please visit our Careers Page to review all current job postings, and instructions on the application process. For technical difficulties or questions regarding this posting, please email jo**************@le*******.org.

As an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer, The Legal Aid Society prohibits discriminatory employment actions against and treatment of its employees and applicants for employment based on actual or perceived race or color, size (including bone structure, body size, height, shape, and weight), religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity (one’s internal deeply-held sense of one’s gender which may be the same or different from one’s sex assigned at birth); gender expression (the representation of gender as expressed through, for example, one’s name, choice of pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, or body characteristics; gender expression may not conform to traditional gender-based stereotypes assigned to specific gender identities), disability, marital status, relationship and family structure (including domestic partnerships, polyamorous families and individuals, chosen family, platonic co-parents, and multigenerational families), genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or pre-employment conviction record, credit history, unemployment status, caregiver status, salary history, or any other characteristic protected by law.