Senior Director, Development

About APA

APA runs a community for the CEOs and executive teams of the leading nonprofits in the US ( see members ). APA’s work focuses on three interconnected issue areas that shape opportunity and mobility for the next generation: aligning K12 education and youth development, reimagining postsecondary to workforce pathways, and increasing civic and democratic engagement. Our community currently includes 190 member organizations and 975 executive leaders. These organizations serve 34M young people annually and control $2B in annual spending. The average member organization is spending 80-100 hours in Alliance programming each year. APA provides the infrastructure and stewardship necessary for our member organizations to increase their impact and grow their reach , to effectively navigate new dynamics that arise in the field, and to launch collective action initiatives that address field-wide challenges too complex for any single organization to take on alone.

The Opportunity

The Senior Director of Development is a member of America’s Promise Alliance’s External Affairs team responsible for the end-to-end management and growth of a portfolio of national philanthropic funders and prospects. Reporting to the Vice President of External Affairs, the Senior Director ensures that priority funding relationships and opportunities move forward with strong preparation, clear next steps, high-quality materials, disciplined follow-through, and consistent stewardship.

The role is designed for an experienced institutional fundraising professional who has managed a large national portfolio and has a demonstrated track record of building funding pipelines around new or emerging ideas. As APA launches its new strategic plan and expands its Collective Action work, the Senior Director will help translate organizational priorities into fundable opportunities, identify and cultivate aligned prospects, and manage opportunities from early research and positioning through proposal development, funding, stewardship, reporting, and renewal.

This is not primarily a frontline fundraising role. APA’s CEO, Vice President of External Affairs, and other senior leaders will often serve as the primary relationship holders for national funders. The Senior Director serves as the internal development lead behind those relationships—bringing strong fundraising judgment, anticipating what is needed next, equipping senior leaders for funder conversations, and independently driving the execution required to move the portfolio forward.

Key Responsibilities

Portfolio Management

Manage a portfolio of current and prospective institutional funders, ensuring each relationship has a clear strategy, next steps, timeline, and path toward cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, or renewal.

Conduct ongoing prospect research and qualification to identify new funding opportunities aligned with APA’s strategic priorities and emerging bodies of work.

Build and maintain strong funder pipelines, including identifying gaps, recommending new prospects, and helping expand APA’s base of philanthropic support.

Prepare high-quality meeting briefs and other materials that equip the CEO, Vice President of External Affairs, and other senior leaders for effective funder conversations.

Translate funder conversations and relationship activity into clear follow-up, next steps, and portfolio actions.

High-Quality Fundraising Deliverables, Cultivation, and Stewardship

Lead the development of high-quality proposals, concept papers, reports, renewal requests, stewardship materials, and other funder-facing deliverables.

Translate APA’s strategy, programs, and emerging ideas into clear, compelling fundraising narratives and cases for support.

Coordinate across program , finance, research, communications, and other teams to gather the information and inputs needed to produce strong funder materials.

Support donor cultivation and stewardship by developing tailored materials, follow-up communications, updates, and other touchpoints that strengthen relationships over time.

Manage proposal and reporting processes from initial planning through submission, including timelines, internal review, budget coordination, and quality control.

Ensure funder commitments, reporting requirements, and stewardship expectations are met consistently and on time.

Development Operations and Systems

Maintain accurate and current portfolio information in Salesforce and other development systems, including funder records, opportunities, activities, next steps, and relationship history.

Help strengthen and maintain development processes, tools, and workflows that support consistent portfolio management, moves management, and team execution.

Track deadlines, commitments, and future actions across assigned funders and prospects, ensuring nothing is lost between meetings or workstreams.

Support portfolio reviews by maintaining clear visibility into pipeline activity, prospect movement, renewals, and other key indicators.

Help identify opportunities to improve how the Development team works, including systems, documentation, handoffs, and cross-functional coordination.

Contribute to a culture of strong project management, accountability, and follow-through across the Development function.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a seasoned institutional fundraising professional who combines strong fundraising judgment with exceptional portfolio management, writing, and cross-functional execution. They are comfortable operating behind senior relationship holders, can build funding markets around emerging ideas, and bring enough experience and judgment to manage a high-volume national portfolio with limited day-to-day direction.

Institutional Fundraising Judgment – Understands how national philanthropy works, recognizes what will move a relationship forward, and can distinguish activity from meaningful progress.

Portfolio Management – Brings structure to a large and complex portfolio, prioritizes effectively, manages toward goals, and keeps multiple opportunities moving without requiring day-to-day project management.

Innovation and Prospect Development – Can build a funder market around an emerging idea, identify where there is real strategic alignment, and develop a credible path from prospect to investment.

Writing and Synthesis – Turns complex or incomplete information into clear, persuasive, accurate funder materials and executive briefs.

Executive Enablement and Managing Up – Anticipates what senior leaders need, surfaces decisions early, and provides clear recommendations rather than simply reporting tasks or problems.

Operational Excellence – Creates strong systems, meets deadlines, maintains accurate information, and follows through consistently across proposals, reports, meetings, and stewardship.

Cross-Organizational Collaboration – Builds productive relationships across teams, secures needed inputs, navigates competing priorities, and keeps work moving without unnecessary escalation.

Adaptability and Judgment – Works effectively in a growing organization where priorities and opportunities evolve quickly; exercises sound judgment in ambiguous situations.

Commitment to APA’s Mission – Deep belief in strengthening youth-serving organizations and advancing opportunity and mobility for young people; able to represent APA’s work with authenticity and clarity.

Qualifications

Eight or more years of experience in nonprofit development, institutional philanthropy, foundation relations, or a related field, including significant responsibility for complex national funder portfolios.

Demonstrated track record of managing a substantial portfolio of national foundations, corporations, or other institutional funders and prospects, including complex six- and seven-figure opportunities.

Demonstrated experience building and growing funding portfolios around new programs