Position: Advancement Director
Supervisor: Chief Advancement Officer
FLSA Status: Full time, exempt
Location: Hybrid (Must be in Twin Cities area)
Department: Advancement
Salary: $80,000 - $90,000 per year
WomenVenture is seeking an Advancement Director to drive their overall fundraising strategy, including overseeing grants, proposals, and donor engagement to secure resources that support annual and long-term goals.
Organization Summary:
WomenVenture (WV) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to empower women to achieve their economic goals by building profitable and sustainable businesses that transform communities. We execute on this mission through providing clients with access to business capital, coaching, and community. Our core values are to make meaningful change, to engage with empathy, and to persist boldly, and we seek candidates who exemplify these characteristics.
Position Summary:
The Advancement Director supports WomenVenture's mission by leading strategies that build meaningful relationships, strengthen philanthropic partnerships, and drive sustainable revenue growth. This individual plays a key role in advancing fundraising, grant strategy, community engagement, communications, marketing, and external visibility efforts.
This is a frontline fundraising position responsible for developing and implementing donor engagement strategies across all giving levels, with a strong emphasis on growing WV's individual giving program through increased donor acquisition, retention, and revenue generation. The Advancement Director will cultivate and steward relationships with donors and funders while helping shape long-term advancement strategy in partnership with the Chief Advancement Officer and organizational leadership.
This role also provides direct supervision and leadership to the Grants Writer and Data & Reporting Specialist.
Core Duties:
Strategic Planning
- Lead WV's advancement strategy in close collaboration with the Chief Advancement Officer, helping shape long-term organizational impact
- Set ambitious, data-informed revenue goals across individual, foundation, corporate, and government funding streams
- Develop and execute a strategic growth plan for WV's individual giving program with measurable goals tied to donor acquisition, retention, revenue growth, and pipeline development
- Monitor fundraising performance, analyze trends, and recommend strategy adjustments to strengthen revenue growth
- Identify and evaluate new funding opportunities for alignment with mission and program priorities
- Support capital campaign planning and execution, including materials development, coordination, and donor engagement strategy
Fundraising & Resource Development
- Lead strategies to grow individual giving revenue through donor cultivation, stewardship, solicitation, and engagement efforts across annual, major, and emerging donor segments
- Build and manage a robust donor pipeline with clear moves-management strategies designed to increase donor engagement, retention, and giving levels over time
- Identify opportunities to deepen donor relationships and convert supporters into long-term philanthropic partners
- Oversee the full lifecycle of grants, including prospect research, proposal development, submission, and reporting compliance
- Cultivate and steward relationships with funders, donors, community partners, and institutional supporters
- Provide strategic guidance on donor segmentation, pipeline development, and retention strategies
- Ensure accountability to deadlines, documentation requirements, and reporting standards through streamlined internal systems
- Maintain accurate donor and funder records and support reconciliation with finance teams
Marketing & Communications
- Partner with Marketing & Communications to develop compelling donor-facing materials, including impact stories, case statements, newsletters, and stewardship content
- Review and refine institutional narratives, proposals, budgets, and supporting materials to ensure clarity, consistency, and quality
- Support staff in effectively communicating program outcomes, organizational priorities, and community impact in external-facing materials
- Strengthen storytelling approaches that elevate WV's visibility and donor engagement
Events & External Engagement
- Collaborate on the design and execution of annual appeals, donor campaigns, membership activities, and fundraising events
- Represent WomenVenture at events, philanthropic convenings, and partner meetings to strengthen visibility and relationships
- Support donor engagement strategy across in-person and virtual engagement opportunities
Team Management
- Engage in talent acquisition, development, and retention of staff, and cultivate a mission-focused environment of creativity, innovation, agility, and equitable opportunity
- Provide leadership to the team through communication, performance management, coaching, staff development and recognition
Operations & Systems
- Strengthen systems for tracking proposals, reporting deadlines, and funder communications
- Develop and refine policies related to ethical fundraising, donor stewardship, and data privacy
- Ensure data integrity across donor and grant management systems
- Support cross-functional coordination to improve efficiency and alignment between advancement and finance functions
Capacity Building & Training
- Train staff and board members in effective donor engagement and philanthropic messaging
- Provide guidance on fundraising best practices and alignment with organizational strategy
- Strengthen internal understanding of fundraising goals, systems, and reporting expectations
Other Duties
- Other duties, tasks, and responsibilities that may be assigned at any time
Required Skills & Experience:
- 3+ years of experience in fundraising, development, donor engagement, and philanthropic relationship management.
- 1+ years of experience leading or supervising staff, consultants, or cross-functional project teams.
- Hands-on experience with grant writing and reporting, annual appeals, fundraising campaigns, and donor or membership events.
- Deep understanding of the funding landscape across the Twin Cities, Greater Minnesota, and statewide, with the ability to identify opportunities aligned with WomenVenture's mission and programs.
- Experience designing, implementing, managing, and evaluating projects and fundraising initiatives.
- Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to build relationships and collaborate effectively across diverse audiences and organizational levels.
- Demonstrated ability to set goals, establish processes, manage competing priorities, and successfully balance multiple projects and deadlines.
- Bachelor's degree in a related field or an equivalent combination of education, professional experience, and lived experience.
- Commitment to gender equity, cultural competency, and the ability to work effectively across diverse perspectives and communities.
- Excellent customer service skills with a collaborative, relationship-centered approach.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, CRM systems, and the ability to quickly learn new software platforms.
- Familiarity with the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) is a plus but not required.
- Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends to support events and organizational priorities.
Application Procedure
Interested candidates should submit their applications using the link provided and will be contacted via email for the next steps.
Benefits
WomenVenture takes great pride in providing exceptional benefits to our staff. Employees are eligible for 18 paid holidays and 18 PTO days starting their first year. The WomenVenture office is also closed annually between the holidays of Christmas Day and New Years Day. Staff have this paid time off work, and it is not counted towards staff's PTO. WomenVenture offers medical, dental, vision, short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance. WomenVenture offers a paid paternity leave, health savings account, flexible spending account, pre-tax transportation, and an employee assistance program. Employees can also participate in a retirement plan with an employer match.
Work Environment/Physical Demands
While performing the duties of this position, the employee is frequently required to sit for extended periods and may be required to stand for an extended period. The employee may occasionally move items weighing up to 25 pounds. Reasonable accommodation will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position.
This position description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this position. It is not intended to be an entire list of all activities, tasks, and skills required of people in the position.
WomenVenture is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
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