Director of Development at Prep Public Schools in Chattanooga, TN

Director of Development

Location: Chattanooga, Tennessee

Position: Director of Development

Salary: Commensurate with Ability

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer

The Director of Development is responsible for leading the day to day fundraising work of Chattanooga Preparatory School and building a sustainable development program that supports the school’s mission and strategic priorities. Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, the Director of Development serves as the primary owner of Chattanooga Prep’s fundraising systems, donor pipeline, stewardship efforts, grant strategy, and development operations.

This is a hands-on position without direct reports. The Director must be equally comfortable developing strategy and executing the daily work required to achieve results, including researching prospects, scheduling donor meetings, preparing proposals, maintaining donor records, following up with prospects, managing grants, coordinating stewardship, and making direct tasks.

The Director works in close partnership with the CEO, Grant Writer and Director of Marketing and Communications through the Development Team. The CEO will remain actively engaged in major donor relationships, community partnerships, and significant solicitations. The Director of Development is responsible for ensuring that those efforts are organized, prepared, tracked, followed through, and converted into long term relationships and financial support.

Success in this role will be measured not simply by activity, but by dollars raised, donor retention, new donor acquisition, growth of the donor pipeline, quality of stewardship, grant performance, and progress toward Chattanooga Prep’s annual fundraising goals.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Fundraising & Revenue Generation. Develop and execute an annual fundraising plan aligned with Chattanooga Prep’s strategic priorities and revenue goals across annual giving, major gifts, corporate support, foundations, campaigns, and other philanthropic opportunities.
• Prospecting & Pipeline Development. Continuously identify and qualify new prospects. Build a robust pipeline rather than relying solely on the CEO, board, existing donors, or inbound opportunities.
• Donor Cultivation & Solicitation. Personally cultivate, solicit, and steward donors through face to face meetings, calls, proposals, tours, events, and other strategic touchpoints. Be comfortable making direct financial asks.
• Portfolio Management. Own a portfolio of current and prospective donors with clear strategies, next steps, ask amounts, timelines, and documented follow up.
• CEO Partnership. Prepare the CEO for major donor meetings and solicitations, including research, strategy, briefing materials, proposals, and follow up. Convert CEO relationships and introductions into organized fundraising opportunities.
• Board Engagement. Partner with the CEO and Development Committee to engage board members in introductions, cultivation, stewardship, and fundraising activity.
• Grants. Work closely with the Grant Writer to maintain a strong grant calendar and pipeline, identify opportunities, ensure timely submissions, and connect grant strategy to institutional priorities.
• Stewardship. Build a thoughtful donor stewardship system that demonstrates impact, strengthens relationships, improves retention, and creates opportunities for increased giving.
• Development Operations. Maintain accurate donor records, pipeline reports, gift processing and acknowledgment systems, forecasts, and development dashboards.
• Development Communications. Partner with Marketing and Communications to ensure donor communications, cases for support, proposals, impact stories, campaigns, and events advance fundraising objectives.
• Events. Use fundraising and cultivation events as tools for relationship building and revenue generation, with clear goals, prospect strategies, follow up plans, and return on effort.
• Budget & Reporting. Assist the CEO with the development budget and provide regular reporting on fundraising performance, pipeline health, donor activity, forecasts, and progress toward goals.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

• Consistently meets or exceeds annual fundraising goals and clearly demonstrates the revenue personally influenced or secured.
• Builds and actively manages a healthy pipeline of individual, corporate, foundation, and community prospects.
• Creates a disciplined rhythm of prospecting, donor meetings, asks, follow up, stewardship, and next steps.
• Expands Chattanooga Prep’s donor base by identifying and cultivating new relationships, not simply maintaining existing ones.
• Prepares the CEO and board members for high value donor conversations and ensures every meaningful opportunity has a clear next action.
• Maintains accurate development data, forecasts, donor notes, gift acknowledgments, and reporting so the organization always knows where the fundraising pipeline stands.

KEY COMPETENCIES

• A self starter who sees an opportunity and acts without waiting to be told what to do.
• A proven fundraiser with a documented record of securing philanthropic support and meeting meaningful revenue goals.
• A relationship builder who enjoys meeting people, opening doors, telling a compelling story, and asking for support.
• A closer who follows through. Strong ideas and relationships matter, but this role requires converting opportunities into commitments.
• Highly organized and disciplined about pipeline management, deadlines, follow up, donor records, and next steps.
• Comfortable working in an entrepreneurial environment where priorities move quickly and the Director must balance strategy with hands-on execution.
• A persuasive writer and communicator who can translate Chattanooga Prep’s mission, outcomes, and needs into a compelling case for support.
• Collaborative and humble. Able to work closely with the CEO, board, Grant Writer, Marketing and Communications, school leaders, and external partners.
• Ethical, discreet, dependable, and committed to excellent stewardship of donor relationships and resources.
• Passionate about Chattanooga Prep’s mission and the opportunity to expand resources and opportunities for students.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• At least five years of progressively responsible experience in fundraising, development, major gifts, business development, sales, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated success personally cultivating, soliciting, and securing financial commitments. Candidates should be prepared to discuss fundraising goals, results, and their specific role in achieving them.
• Experience building and managing a prospect or donor pipeline and using a CRM or comparable system to track activity and results.
• Strong written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability and willingness to attend occasional evening and weekend donor, community, and school events.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience fundraising for education, youth development, charter schools, or mission driven organizations.
• Existing relationships within the Chattanooga philanthropic, corporate, or civic community.
• Experience with major gifts, corporate partnerships, campaigns, grants, planned giving, or board driven fundraising.
• Knowledge of charter school funding and the education landscape is helpful, but not required.

EMPLOYMENT

The Director of Development is a full time position eligible for 401(k), paid time off, and insurance benefits in accordance with Chattanooga Prep policy. Compensation will be commensurate with demonstrated experience and fundraising success.