Director of Development

The Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational research institute based in Half Moon Bay, California, seeks a full-time Director of Development. The position reports directly to the President and will work closely with the senior management team on development needs for ISKME’s research, innovation, and field-building efforts. We’re looking for a seasoned professional with direct experience in some or all of the following: successful fundraising with national and Bay Area private foundations, corporations, and private donors; business development for technology related start-ups with social-oriented missions; familiarity with fields of academia, education, education technology, open education resources, open source, library and information science.

ISKME (www.iskme.org), founded in 2002, provides thought leadership, scholarly and applied research, and innovative applications for helping the field of education build capacity for knowledge use and continuous improvement in research, evaluation and practice. For example, through its initiatives in Open Educational Resources (OER), ISKME supports knowledge sharing and access to teaching and learning materials, strategies, and curricula online. These initiatives also include research and field building efforts, as well as OER Commons (www.oercommons.org), the first comprehensive online network that aggregates OER within a social networking environment for the purpose of stimulating engagement of diverse teachers and learners in accessing and using OER worldwide. As part of this growth, ISKME is seeking to grow and diversify its funding stream. The Director of Development will lead fundraising efforts associated with this growth.

The Director for Development will be a critical member of ISKME’s management team. The candidate must have the ability to represent ISKME to a variety of constituencies, and must significantly enhance support for ISKME among public sector funders, venture capitalists, foundations, think tanks, high net-worth individuals and businesses. They must have the drive, maturity, entrepreneurial spirit and communications skills required to take on the task of securing the financial health of ISKME over the short and long term future, and must gain the respect of a broad constituency.

Essential Duties

The Director of Development will be responsible for strategizing and proposing new fund-raising events, campaigns, and research opportunities that engage and excite ISKME’s community of supporters and entice new supporters. They will work closely with other ISKME staff in the writing and preparation of fundraising materials, including donor campaigns, grant proposals, and other proposals. Emphasis will be centered on major gifts, event-driven donations (through dinners, speeches, symposia, special events and other activities), planned giving; encouraging moderately sized annual gifts from individual donors, regular giving from businesses, and support from governmental and non-governmental institutions.

Skills and Knowledge

• Proven experience in fund-raising with Bay Area and national foundations, corporations, and private donors.
  
• Proven experience in working with Board members and other fundraising volunteers to advance development program.
• Proven experience in interacting effectively with a wide variety of stakeholders, including corporate executives, program officers, and board members.
• Strong organizational and interpersonal skills.
• Proven ability to independently initiate, organize and follow through with multiple program plans.
• Excellent oral, written and presentation skills.
• Prior management experience leading a large campaign or similar project management skills.
• Proven ability to build relationships and influence people not in a direct reporting relationship; strong collaboration skills.
• Strong computer proficiency required, including social networking, multiple operating systems, donor databases, etc.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required; Advanced degree preferred. 

• Five to ten years of fundraising or related experience required, including major gift fundraising experience.

Compensation is commensurate with experience in scale with a small non-profit, with incentive-plan for reaching fund-raising goals.

ISKME is an EEO employer. 

Send cover letter and resumes to:  info@iskme.org.