Director, Business Development

, MD, United States

DonorsChoose makes it easy for anyone to help a teacher in need, moving us closer to a nation where students in every community have the tools and experiences they need for a great education.

Since 2000, more than 5 million people and partners have contributed $1 billion to support 2 million teacher requests for classroom resources and experiences. Projects range from art supplies to build the set for a school musical, to books and puzzles that affirm students’ identities, to bird seed for an at-home science project. We proudly serve all US public schools, public charter schools, and Head Start centers, and we combat systemic inequity by driving a majority of donations to schools that have been historically underfunded due to economic and racial inequity.

DonorsChoose has been recognized as a best place to work by GOOD Magazine and the Nonprofit Times, while Fast Company named DonorsChoose one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World —the first time a charity has made this list. Our dedicated team works from across the United States bring classroom dreams to life.

About the Team

As part of the Community Growth & Impact Team, the Corporate & Foundation Partnerships team raises funds for teachers and students by designing and executing philanthropic partnerships with corporations and foundations, and renewing and growing those partnerships over time. Typically we aim to raise $60M annually through creative, collaborative partnerships with our institutional donors. $10M of that funding comes from Business Development work: pursuing corporations and foundations to partner with us for the first time. ( More about our partnerships .)

About the Role

The Business Development Director is a key “pitch quarterback” on our team. The Director will be responsible for:

Contributing to our revenue goal by fundraising from corporate prospects

Lead calls with companies with $250K+ giving potential, with a goal of forming sustainable six and seven figure partnerships

Work toward a team revenue goal of raising $10M in new partnerships, contributing $4M+ from your own portfolio

Learn and iterate on our sponsorship benefits and partnership options, and leverage our data to craft bespoke and impactful pitches

Smoothly transition won accounts to other team members to be executed upon and renewed

Helping to shape our fundraising strategy and practices

Represent DonorsChoose at key events with prospects from across the country, i.e. Engage for Good, Social Innovation Summit, etc.

Engage in our team’s work to share sales best practices and to constantly improve our craft, including regularly reviewing your own calls in order to spot areas for growth,as well as to share your learnings across the team

Work with our Revenue Operations team to convert their lead generation work, and to improve upon our outbound lead sourcing process

Act as an expert in your prospect vertical, learning your industries and focus areas backwards and forwards to add value for prospects and to find new ways of alignment with DonorsChoose

Being a core contributor to a small-but-mighty team

Grow into managing 1-2 direct reports who also focus on business development for DonorsChoose

Support teammates when needed, and identify other opportunities to contribute to the team and organizational culture

Play a key role in our evolution to more directly address racial inequity in education through our partnerships

About You

You’re committed to our mission to support public school teachers and students, and energized by sharing that passion with others. You’re passionate about equity, and able to speak knowledgeably and persuasively about racial equity.

You have at least eight years of experience, including at least five years in a direct fundraising, business development, or sales role.

You have done some outbound business development: sourcing new partnerships or sales.

You’re comfortable with public speaking and with networking and building relationships.

You have directly managed or mentored other development or sales team members.

You think like an owner: you’re wildly strategic and are constantly aiming to improve your craft, and to win new partnerships.

You’re deeply curious: you want to know what drives people and organizations, and you ask great questions.

You’re extremely efficient and organized. People are always complimenting your to-do lists, and how you manage to fit so much into the day.

You thrive on winning others over, and on finding the “yes’ wherever you can.

You’re a team player. It’s more important to you that someone gets the win, than that you personally get the credit.

Compensation and Benefits

Our compensation philosophy ensures that we are both externally competitive with tech-forward nonprofits of a similar size and internally fair in our pay practices. The following ranges represent the target offer range given the scope and experience expectations for this role.

The hiring salary range for this role is $110,000 - $118,000

We have a hiring salary range of $120,000- $128,000 for specific higher cost of labor locations, which include New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

Once employees are hired, the salary range for their role increases to ensure that employees are able to receive performance-based raises and grow in their role. We are open to a variety of experiences, and recognize that the person we hire may be less experienced or more senior than this job description as posted. If that’s the case, an updated salary range will be shared with candidates if they move forward in our hiring process.

In addition, we offer full-time staff 25 paid vacation days per year and 11 paid holidays, a rich employer-paid individual and family health plan, a matching 401(k) plan (up to 5% of base salary), annual professional development stipend, and casual and flexible work environment. To learn more about what it is like to work for DonorsChoose, visit our careers page .

Hybrid Workplace and Other Details

In this role, you’ll have the option to work a flexible hybrid schedule in our NYC office, or to work fully remotely from CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, ME, MA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, OR, PA, RI, TX, VA, WA, or WI.

Candidates who are not in the NYC area should expect to travel to our NYC office on an as-needed basis. This role also involves travel for prospect meetings and conferences and events as needed. All work-related travel expenses will be covered by the organization. Applicants can expect to travel 4-8 times per year.

DonorsChoose participates in E-Verify. We will provide the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with information from each new employee’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization.

To Apply

Please submit your resume and answer the application questions online. Since we’re trying to get to know you through our hiring process, we ask that you please refrain from using AI writing tools to craft your response to our application questions. A cover letter is optional and may be addressed to Ali Rosen, Vice President of Business Development

A Final Note

The DonorsChoose team works toward a nation where students in every community have the resources needed for an excellent education. To do this we hire and support a diverse team of the best and the brightest talent available.

We are an organization increasingly representative of the varied races and ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations, religious and political beliefs, and abilities that comprise our nation. DonorsChoose focuses on attracting, retaining, and advancing diverse talent because it makes us more effective, high-performing, creative, and resilient. If you are passionate about our mission, highly skilled in your field, and looking for a place where you can bring all of yourself to work, we want you.

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