Director of Development and Communications

Description: South Suburban PADS is looking for a compassionate leader who wants to prevent and end homelessness in the south suburbs of Chicago. The Director of Development and Communications will be responsible for leading the private fundraising and communications efforts of South Suburban PADS. This is an in-person role but allows some at-home and scheduling flexibility.

Duties & Responsibilities:

· Provide strategic leadership for South Suburban PADS and participate in senior leadership and Board meetings.

· Research corporate, foundation, and community-based funding opportunities and requests for proposals (RFPs).

· Write proposals, letters of interest/inquiry, concept papers, and related materials for grant proposal submissions.

· Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward individual, corporate, and foundation prospects and donors. Facilitate and support the involvement of the Executive Director, Board Members or other supporters in the cultivation process.

· Oversee the implementation of a planned-giving strategy involving regular communications and engagement events.

· Oversee ongoing communication and engagement with elected officials throughout the south suburbs.

· Help plan and supervise fundraising events. Solicit sponsors and donations to support events for programs and activities in the region. Recruit and manage an event committee for the annual Pathways Home event.

· Help plan and coordinate media and government relations events. Prepare occasional press releases and media statements. When needed, prepare and coach the Executive Director, Board Members, program participants or others to answer media questions.

· Supervise multiple individual mail and email appeal campaigns per year.

· Ensure required follow-up on grant proposals including reporting, award documentation, acknowledgments, and other correspondence.

· Prepare thank-you letter templates. Supervise the Administrative Assistant in gift acknowledgement, recording gifts in database, and saving records and materials in the database.

· Supervise the work of the Development Associate to create annual reports, flyers, event programs, other marketing materials, website updates and social media communications.

· Supervise the Development Associate to maintain the website and regularly post news and opportunities on Facebook

· Other duties as assigned.

Education

· 4-Year College Degree in English, journalism, communications, public relations, marketing, non-profit management or related field strongly preferred.

Experience

· 5-10 years of fundraising, public relations and/or communications experience

· Minimum of 2 years of prior grant writing experience

· Minimum of 2 years of supervisory experience

Skills

· Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

· Strong organizational and time-management abilities with attention to detail.

· High proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams); Customer Relation Databases (preferably Network for Good) and Zoom.

Personal Attributes

· Ability to handle confidential information with discretion and professionalism.

· Self-starter with a proactive mindset and ability to work independently and collaboratively.

Physical Demands

· Ability to lift and move 50 lbs.

· While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear, sit, use hands, reach with hands and arms, stand, walk, and use stairs.

Work Environment

· Primarily office-based with potential for limited hybrid flexibility.

· May require occasional local travel and evening/weekend work for board meetings or events.

Compensation & Benefits

· Salary range $95,000 - $115,000

· Benefits package includes health, dental, vision, STD, LTD, life insurance, 403(b), paid time off, holidays, Employee Assistance Program, and professional development opportunities.

South Suburban PADS is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization with a mission to prevent and end homelessness in the south suburbs of Chicago. Over the past 35 years, we have provided 730,540 nights of shelter and 2.1 million meals to enable 20,659 people to overcome homelessness. In addition, SSPADS provides affordable housing opportunities to over 400 people per year. SSPADS is the proud recipient of a 2024 Award from MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving Open Call, 2019 Good Neighbor Award from the National Association of REALTORS, and the 2018 Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Award. More at sspads.org

Equal Opportunity: SSPADS adheres to the employment policy of providing equal opportunities to all job applicants and employees regardless of ethnicity, race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, disability, or sexual orientation.

Pay: $95,000.00 - $115,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 403(b)
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person