Director of Development

Director of Development

USA, Santa Barbara, CA - Onsite

Preferred Start Date: Mid-October 2026, ideally by October 19, 2026

Why This Work Matters

Public education is strongest when schools and communities are connected. The Santa Barbara Education Foundation (SBEF) helps turn community generosity, partnerships, and ideas into meaningful opportunities for students and educators throughout the Santa Barbara Unified School District.

The Director of Development plays a critical role in expanding the philanthropic investment that makes that work possible. By building long-term relationships with individuals, foundations, businesses, and community partners, this position helps create sustainable support for students and educators and strengthens SBEF’s long-term impact in Santa Barbara.

About Us

The Santa Barbara Education Foundation strengthens public education by connecting community resources with the needs and opportunities of students and educators throughout the Santa Barbara Unified School District. Through philanthropic investment, partnerships, programs, grants, and community engagement, SBEF helps create opportunities for students and educators that extend beyond what public funding alone can provide.

SBEF is entering an important period of organizational growth and is focused on strengthening its fundraising capacity, measuring impact, developing sustainable community partnerships, and expanding philanthropic investment in Santa Barbara’s public schools.

About the Position

SBEF is seeking a strategic, relationship-driven Director of Development to lead and grow the Foundation’s fundraising and donor engagement efforts. The Director will build and manage a comprehensive, year-round development program designed to increase philanthropic investment in Santa Barbara’s public schools and strengthen long-term relationships with individuals, foundations, businesses, and community partners.

This is an opportunity to help shape the next chapter of SBEF’s growth by moving beyond primarily event- and campaign-driven fundraising toward a disciplined development program built around donor identification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, retention, and increased giving. The ideal candidate is both strategic and hands-on, energized by building relationships and creating systems that support sustainable fundraising growth.

This is a full-time, exempt position reporting to the Executive Director. The position is based onsite at SBEF’s office in the heart of Santa Barbara, with regular in-person work required for engagement with donors, community partners, Board members, and SBEF events.

What You’ll Do (Duties & Responsibilities)

Development Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and implement SBEF’s annual fundraising and development plan in partnership with the Executive Director.
• Establish annual fundraising goals, revenue targets, development budget priorities, strategies, timelines, and performance measures.
• Build a diversified fundraising program that includes individual giving, major gifts, corporate partnerships, foundation and institutional grants, annual giving, sponsorships, planned and legacy giving, and multi-year commitments.
• Develop a multi-year donor pipeline to strengthen the Foundation’s long-term financial sustainability.
• Identify opportunities to increase unrestricted and flexible philanthropic support.
  Regularly evaluate fundraising performance and adjust strategies based on results.
• Provide development reports and dashboards for the Executive Director and Board of Directors.
• Provide regular revenue forecasts and manage the development budget in partnership with the Executive Director, with financial data and controls supported by finance and accounting resources.

Major Gifts & Individual Giving

• Build and manage a qualified portfolio of prospective and existing major donors, generally including gifts of $10,000 or more, with clear relationship ownership and next-step strategies.
  
• Develop individualized cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies for priority donors and prospects.
  Conduct donor meetings and participate in solicitations with the Executive Director, Board members, and other organizational leaders as appropriate.
  
• Research and identify prospective donors with an interest in public education, youth, literacy, arts, educational equity, and other SBEF priorities.
  
• Develop strategies to move donors toward increased and multi-year giving.
  
• Create meaningful opportunities for donors to understand and experience SBEF’s impact.
  
• Develop strong donor stewardship and recognition practices.
  
• Strengthen donor retention and re-engage lapsed donors.
  
• Develop and implement a planned and legacy giving strategy appropriate to SBEF’s donor base, including identification, cultivation, stewardship, and long-term relationship building.

Institutional & Foundation Giving

• Develop and manage a pipeline of foundation and institutional funding opportunities.
  
• Research prospective grantmakers and assess alignment with SBEF priorities.
  
• Manage grant calendars, proposals, letters of inquiry, reporting requirements, and deadlines.
  
• Collaborate with the Executive Director and Programs Manager to develop compelling proposals supported by strong program data and outcomes.
  
• Maintain relationships with foundation representatives and institutional funders.

Corporate Partnerships & Sponsorships

• Develop a comprehensive corporate engagement strategy.
  Identify and cultivate relationships with Santa Barbara-area businesses and corporate partners.
  Develop sponsorship opportunities that align corporate investment with SBEF’s mission and programs.
  Create opportunities for businesses to engage through philanthropy, sponsorship, employee involvement, and other partnerships.
  Steward corporate partners throughout the year rather than limiting relationships to individual events.

Donor Engagement & Events

• Develop donor cultivation and engagement opportunities throughout the year.
  Lead the fundraising strategy for SBEF signature events and campaigns.
  Own the fundraising purpose, revenue goals, donor strategy, and sponsorship strategy for fundraising events; partner with the Events & Marketing Manager on event project management and logistics, promotion, collateral, external communications, and sponsorship fulfillment.
  Ensure events support SBEF’s broader donor acquisition and cultivation strategy.
  Develop strong post-event follow-up processes designed to convert attendees and prospects into ongoing supporters.
  Evaluate events based on donor acquisition, engagement, retention, and long-term fundraising value in addition to immediate revenue.

Donor Communications & Storytelling

• Partner with the Executive Director, Programs Manager, and Events & Marketing Manager to translate SBEF’s work into compelling donor-centered stories of impact.
  
• Own the fundraising case for support, donor audience and segmentation strategy, solicitation strategy, and fundraising message priorities; partner with the Events & Marketing Manager on creative development, production, channel execution, and brand consistency.
  
• Ensure fundraising messages clearly connect philanthropic investment with student and educator impact.
  
• Support the development of SBEF’s annual impact reporting and donor communications.
  
• Help maintain consistent messaging across fundraising and community engagement efforts.

Development Operations

• Own DonorPerfect/CRM governance, including data standards, coding structure, portfolio and pipeline requirements, donor segmentation, reporting expectations, and data integrity.
  
• Establish and oversee consistent processes for gift acknowledgment, donor recognition, prospect tracking, stewardship, and reporting, with transactional support assigned to administrative resources as capacity allows.
  
• Ensure appropriate donor-data confidentiality, access standards, and quality controls; establish clear ownership for routine entry, cleanup, and maintenance.
  
• Track fundraising activity and performance against established goals.
  
• Develop systems to track the donor pipeline from identification through solicitation and stewardship.
  
• Coordinate cross-functionally on gift processing, reconciliation, restrictions, designation, and financial reporting, while retaining Development accountability for donor intent and CRM records.
  
• Ensure compliance with applicable charitable solicitation requirements and SBEF gift acceptance policies.

Board Engagement & Development Capacity

• Partner with the Executive Director to meaningfully engage the Board of Directors in fundraising.
  
• Help Board members identify ways they can contribute to donor cultivation, introductions, stewardship, and community engagement.
  
• Provide Board members with appropriate tools, messaging, and preparation for donor outreach.
  
• Support the Development Committee or other fundraising-related Board committees as appropriate.
  
• Lead and coordinate development contractors, consultants, grant-writing resources, volunteers, and future Development staff as SBEF’s fundraising capacity grows.

What You’ll Need (Job Requirements)

Skills

• Strong fundraising strategy and development-planning skills, including goal setting, pipeline development, revenue forecasting, budgeting, and performance measurement.
  
• Demonstrated major-gift cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and relationship-management skills with individual donors and prospects.
  
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, including the ability to develop compelling donor communications, cases for support, proposals, and grant materials.
  
• Strong relationship-building skills with executive leadership, Board members, donors, institutional funders, corporate partners, educators, community leaders, and volunteers.
  
• Strong project-management and organizational skills, with the discipline to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, donor relationships, and development initiatives effectively.
  
• Experience establishing and managing donor database/CRM standards, pipeline practices, reporting, segmentation, and data integrity.

Abilities

• Builds and grows a comprehensive, year-round development program while balancing long-term strategy with hands-on execution.
  
• Cultivates trusted donor relationships and conducts donor meetings and solicitations with confidence, professionalism, and sound judgment.
  
• Moves multiple fundraising priorities forward independently while maintaining strong organization, initiative, adaptability, and follow-through.
  
• Analyzes fundraising performance, donor pipelines, and revenue trends and translates insights into practical strategies and next steps.
  
• Collaborates effectively across functions and with the Executive Director, Board members, donors, Programs,
• Events & Marketing, Operations, finance resources, and external partners.
  
• Exercises strong judgment, discretion, and confidentiality when handling donor information, gift matters, organizational priorities, and sensitive relationships.
  
• Leads and coordinates contractors, consultants, grant-writing resources, volunteers, and future Development staff as organizational capacity grows.
  
• Maintains regular onsite presence in Santa Barbara, participates in donor and community meetings, and supports occasional evening and weekend events and cultivation activities.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and professional experience.
  
• Ten (10) or more years of progressively responsible nonprofit development, fundraising, advancement, or related experience.
  
• Demonstrated success cultivating and soliciting individual donors.
  
• Experience with major gifts, institutional giving, corporate partnerships, sponsorships, or annual giving.
  
• Experience within education, youth-serving organizations, foundations, or the Santa Barbara philanthropic community is highly desirable.
  
• Familiarity with the Santa Barbara community and a demonstrated interest in contributing to its educational and civic well-being is highly desirable.
  
• Experience leading staff, contractors, consultants, volunteers, or cross-functional fundraising initiatives is highly desirable.

Benefits

SBEF values the time, contributions, and well-being of our employees. SBEF offers a benefits package that includes accrued vacation and sick time, paid holidays, medical, dental, and vision insurance, and participation in a 403(b) retirement plan.

SBEF is committed to fostering a collaborative and supportive work environment where employees are encouraged to contribute their ideas, perspectives, and expertise while working together to strengthen opportunities for students and educators throughout the Santa Barbara community.

Compensation Transparency

SBEF is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices and transparency throughout the hiring process. The anticipated annual salary range for this position is $110,000 and $125,000. Actual compensation will be determined based on relevant experience, skills, qualifications, and other job-related factors, while considering internal equity. SBEF welcomes conversations about compensation during the interview process so candidates have a clear understanding of the compensation associated with the role.

Employment Eligibility & Background Check

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. SBEF is unable to provide employment-based visa sponsorship for this position now or in the future.

This position is subject to a California Department of Justice/FBI Live Scan background check following a conditional offer of employment. SBEF considers criminal history and makes employment decisions in accordance with applicable law, including the California Fair Chance Act where applicable.

Equal Employment Opportunity & Reasonable Accommodation

The Santa Barbara Education Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes and encourages diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or creed, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, pregnancy or related medical condition, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, reproductive health decision-making, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

SBEF is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants and employees with disabilities and to accommodating sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, and observances as required by law. Applicants who require a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process may contact jobs@santabarbaraeducation.org and provide their contact information and the nature of the accommodation requested.

We kindly request that third-party recruiters or agencies refrain from contacting us regarding this position.