Director of Development

This position description has been abbreviated to comply with this platform's length limitations. For the complete job prospectus, please visit our website at www.coopercoleman.com/current-searches.

About The Karsh Family Social Service Center

The Karsh Family Social Service Center is located in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles and provides critical social services to individuals and families across the region, with a particular focus on vulnerable and underserved communities.

Guided by Jewish values and a commitment to dignity and inclusion, the Karsh Center connects individuals and families with essential resources including food assistance, legal services, health care, and community support. Through direct services and collaboration with trusted community partners, the Center works to strengthen stability, health, and opportunity for its neighbors.

The Karsh Center is a 501(c)(3) non-religious organization that serves as both a service provider and a community hub, bringing together volunteers, partner organizations, and local leaders to respond to evolving community needs. In the past year alone, the Center distributed more than 10,000 meals and provided legal assistance to hundreds of families.

In spring 2024, the Karsh Tikkun Olam Social Service Center (“Karsh West”) at Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s Resnick Family Campus in Brentwood opened as an extension of the Karsh Center on the Westside. Karsh West does not currently provide direct client-facing on-site services but serves as a hub for volunteers and tikkun olam (repair the world), connecting a network of collaborators, organizations, and communities on the Westside and at the Karsh Center in Koreatown.

Mission

Guided by Jewish values, the Karsh Family Social Service Center improves the lives of the underserved by providing critical and accessible social services through direct service or collaboration with other providers, while also integrating significant volunteer opportunities to create a uniquely powerful way to help repair the world.

Vision

The Karsh Center believes that, by assessing community need, collaborating with other mission-aligned service providers, providing direct services, promoting volunteerism, and analyzing results against our goals, they will systematically create and support a safety net for individuals and families who are often marginalized in society, so that they may stand with dignity and build a future in which they grow and thrive.

Position Summary

The Director of Development serves as the senior fundraising leader for the Karsh Family Social Service Center and is responsible for designing and executing the organization’s overall development strategy.

Working in close partnership with the Executive Director and volunteer leadership, the Director of Development leads all philanthropic efforts supporting the Center’s $3.6 million operating budget and annual fundraising goal of approximately $1.9 million. The role oversees individual giving, institutional fundraising, events, and development communications while managing a small development team and engaging closely with volunteer leadership, including the Development Committee and Associate Board.

The Director of Development will play a central role in deepening relationships with donors, foundations, and community partners while strengthening a culture of philanthropy across the organization. This leader will translate the impact of the Karsh Center’s work into compelling opportunities for philanthropic partnership and ensure that fundraising strategies align with the Center’s mission and long-term priorities.

Because many of the Karsh Center’s philanthropic relationships are rooted in the Jewish community, experience working within Jewish nonprofit or communal organizations and raising funds in Jewish philanthropic networks will be important to the successful candidate’s onboarding and long-term success in the role.

Essential Job Functions

Individual Giving

• Identify, cultivate, and solicit major gift prospects and donors.
• Design and manage annual giving campaigns and appeals.
• Develop and coordinate stewardship strategies that deepen engagement and increase donor retention.

Institutional Giving

• Lead strategy for foundation, corporate, and institutional funding.
• Oversee the preparation of grant proposals and reports.
• Build relationships with institutional funders and coordinate site visits.

Event Management

• Lead strategy and execution for fundraising and stewardship events.
• Recruit and manage event committees and volunteer leadership.

Communications

• Partner with leadership to ensure compelling donor communications that highlight program outcomes and community impact.

Administration + Management

• Create and execute the annual development strategy in alignment with the Karsh Center’s fundraising goals.
• Supervise a full-time Development Associate, a part-time Grants Manager, and development interns as appropriate.
• Manage and support the Development Committee and co-lead Karsh Center’s Associate Board.
• Monitor fundraising progress and prepare financial and narrative reports for leadership and volunteer stakeholders.
• Oversee the tracking and documentation of all gifts in Raiser’s Edge.
• Coordinate with the Wilshire Boulevard Temple Advancement Committee regarding fundraising initiatives and donor engagement strategies involving Temple members.

Qualifications

Required Skills + Abilities

• Bachelor’s Degree required.
• At least five to seven years of progressive fundraising experience, including experience with major gifts and annual campaigns.
• Knowledge of communications and fundraising best practices.
• Excellent computer skills, including knowledge of Raiser's Edge, Excel, and electronic communications (email, listserv, e-newsletters, MailChimp etc.).
• Excellent emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills, and written and verbal communication skills.
• Management and supervisory experience.
• Experience working with volunteer leadership, especially Boards of Trustees.
• Experience working in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment with an ability to handle multiple concurrent assignments and meet deadlines.

Preferred Skills + Abilities

• Event coordinating experience.
• Exposure to the Jewish non-profit community.
• Knowledge of the workings of other social service providers.
• Familiarity with the grant process: research, drafting, submission, and reporting.
• Experience with WordPress, Double the Donation, GiveSmart, and Hatch AI.

Reporting Relationships

The Development Director serves as a member of the leadership team and reports to the Executive Director. This role supervises a full-time Development Associate and a part-time Grants Manager, as well as occasional development interns.

Location

This position is based in Los Angeles, CA, and offers a hybrid schedule. The successful candidate must live within a reasonable driving distance of the office located at 3750 West 6th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90020.

Compensation + Benefits

The salary range for this position is $130,000-$140,000. The Karsh Center offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes:

• Medical/Rx, dental, and vision benefits
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Life and disability
• 403 (b) Retirement Savings Plan
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and more…

Complete details on the benefits package will be provided to candidates upon request.

The Karsh Center actively reflects diversity, equity, access, and inclusion in its organizational governance, volunteer structure, clientele, and staffing, valuing all backgrounds, roles, voices, and contributions. That includes a continuous internal dialogue and understanding among leadership and staff for what equity work means in the context of the Karsh Center and the community in which we work.

As a reflection of Cooper Coleman’s commitment to equity and equal pay for all, we require that salary ranges or salary starting points be published for every search we conduct. The practice of not posting salaries perpetuates the gender and racial wage gap and discriminates against women, people of color, and other historically excluded populations by causing individuals to negotiate from a disadvantaged starting point.

Submission Instructions (read carefully)

Cooper Coleman is leading this search on behalf of the Karsh Center. To apply, please visit this link(www.coopercoleman.com/current-searches). ALL expressions of interest should be made through the online application.

A cover letter is not required with your initial application but is welcomed to help us understand your fitness for and interest in this role during our initial evaluation. Candidates invited for interviews will be asked to provide a thoughtful letter of interest indicating their specific qualifications for the opportunity, desire to join the Karsh Center, and connection to its mission.

Cooper Coleman LLC is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified candidates and will refer candidates without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation or identity, age, ability, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis.

Background Checks + Credentials Verification

Before sending your resume for this position, please read it over for accuracy. Cooper Coleman verifies its candidates' employment and academic credentials at the time of offer, and our clients frequently conduct background checks before finalizing an offer.