Director of Development

Role Overview:

• The role will focus on philanthropy (including institutional and individual fundraising) and corporate sponsorships. Inner Spark has a track record of securing institutional funding from local foundations in the Los Angeles area to support its school-based programming. The organization also has a growing number of individual donors, including gifts above $10,000. After an organizational rebrand and a programmatic shift in strategy, between 2025 and 2026, Inner Spark is now poised to secure funding from new partners—both place-based and national—as well as individual donors. This is particularly critical as Inner Spark builds a growing body of evidence that supports its Listen, Learn, Adapt, and Share framework for school transformation.

• The Director of Development will join an organization growing its revenue across three channels: individual giving, institutional giving, and corporate sponsorships. The organization is not starting from scratch, and there is existing momentum. The fundamentals are in place, but it requires the right design, coordination, and processes to make it a disciplined fundraising operation. The right person for this role is not someone who wants to execute a known playbook, but rather someone who is energized by building one.

What you'll do:

• Individual Giving 30% OF SCOPE

Manage a portfolio of individual donors who have demonstrated capacity between $1,000 and $10,000, while the Executive Director focuses on major gifts above $10,000

Design and support the implementation of a major gifts strategy, including cultivation events, one-to-one relationship management, and a disciplined moves management process, alongside the Executive Director, ensuring their time is deployed effectively to meet organizational goals

Supervise the fractional marketing team that will communicate with individual donors under $1,000, and lead the strategy and execution of all Annual Fund campaigns

• Institutional Giving 35% OF SCOPE

Manage the institutional portfolio at a strategic level, including key funder relationships, portfolio prioritization, and FY grant targets

Partner with the Executive Director and Senior Development Manager (to be hired in Fiscal Year 2028), who will own day-to-day grant writing, reporting, and deadline management

Make decisions about which funders and opportunities are worth Inner Spark's time, based on alignment, capacity, and strategic fit

Write and edit grant applications and proposals that are developed in partnership with the Executive Director. Coordinate and manage grant budgets with the bookkeeper and finance support team

• Corporate Partnerships 10% OF SCOPE

We have a nascent corporate partnership program. Ideally, the director would come on board and determine if this is an area for growth for us.

• Team and Operations 15% OF SCOPE

Build a development function that is repeatable, documented, and does not depend on any one person to run

Own the development operating system in Notion, including pipeline tracking, workflow documentation, and team accountability structures

Establish and maintain a recurring coordination routine with the Chief Program and Learning Officer to ensure grant reporting and storytelling are never a scramble

• Board and External Relations 10% OF SCOPE

Staff the board development committee and actively deploy board members in donor introductions and cultivation events

Represent Inner Spark in funder spaces, at national convenings, and in the Los Angeles education ecosystem

Our ideal candidate will have:

• 7 or more years of nonprofit fundraising experience with demonstrated growth in responsibility A track record of identifying new donors, cultivating relationships, and making the ask solo and in partnership with other team members (both individuals and institutional funders)
• Experience managing or mentoring development staff and executive leaders Familiarity with the Los Angeles and national education funder landscape
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to translate complex program work into compelling funder narratives
• Proficiency in Notion or comparable project management tools

It's a bonus if you have:

• Familiarity with Funraise and HubSpot is a plus but not required

Pay Scale:

• $110k-115k