Overview and History: Temple Emanu-El , one of the largest reform synagogues in NJ was founded in 1950 and currently serves more than 950 members and families. TEE is committed to ensuring the vitality and continuity of our Jewish heritage. We emphasize Jewish worship, tradition, education, youth development, and social justice. We strive to be a caring community, one which answers the spiritual and social needs of our diverse and growing population.
What You’ll Do At a time of exciting growth, Temple Emanu-El seeks a Director of Development to lead the planning, development, and implementation of the Temple’s Annual Fund, a variety of giving programs and events, as well as strengthening systems and processes for donor stewardship, operations and management. Collaborating across clergy, staff, and lay leaders, this position will be part of the staff leadership team.
This Position is a match for you if: You resonate with Temple Emanu El’s mission and values. You are motivated and inspired to be part of a warm, vibrant, and diverse Jewish community and close-knit, hard-working professional team. You thrive in a fast-moving environment that values learning, relationships, collaboration, and joy. You are a versatile, relationship-driven, and energetic philanthropy professional, with experience in individual giving, major gifts and capital campaigns. You enjoy both the operational and donor-facing aspects of development, and are knowledgeable about fundraising systems, processes, and best practices. You bring your authentic self to your work and are equally comfortable working with the staff team, board and lay leaders.
Key Responsibilities: Design a comprehensive plan to meet the needs of TEE's goals and leverage multiple giving vehicles to broaden and deepen donor reach and engagement. Create and manage an annual calendar of philanthropy activities, inclusive of team meetings, board meetings, campaign milestones, and other deadlines. Plan and implement the Annual Fund campaign, including direct solicitations, recruitment of volunteers and engagement of multiple Temple constituencies. Develop and implement effective fundraising campaigns, programs, and initiatives to secure financial support from local businesses, foundations and institutions, and other donors utilizing various fundraising techniques including major gifts, planned giving, grant writing, and special events. Oversee the grant-seeking activities, including prospect research, proposal writing, and grant reporting Oversee and manage smooth development operations and donor management. Build meaningful individual relationships with members. Leverage data and institutional knowledge to build a robust pipeline and develop donor-specific strategies for outreach and cultivation. Craft compelling donor-facing communications, including authoring correspondence on behalf of others. In partnership with the Communications Manager, instill messaging that highlights the giving opportunities and impact stories into Temple communications. Provide thought partnership and direction to the senior clergy, senior leadership, and key lay leaders to ensure efficiency of their time spent on fundraising and position them to cultivate, solicit, and steward relationships with donors. Work collaboratively across finance, communications, events, and other staff. Partner with controller to ensure accurate and timely gift processing and track revenue. Work with the Senior Rabbi, Executive Director and other members of the team on other projects as needed.
What Skills You Will Bring:
Experience designing and leading successful membership fundraising initiatives
Demonstrated success designing and building sponsorship, campaign, giving programs, and partnerships from local businesses and organizations
Experience successfully drafting and earning grants for recurring and special programs
Familiarity with Jewish communal fundraising highly preferred
Comfortable working both independently and as part of a team
Excellent donor relations and customer service skills
Demonstrated interpersonal, communication and writing skills
Flexibility in working occasional nights and weekend hours
Superior writing skills with the ability to appeal to an audience’s interests and priorities
Experience crafting appeal letters, stewardship communications, event collateral, and other donor-facing materials
Ability to articulate the importance of an organization’s work in a concise and compelling manner
Tech-savvy and organized project manager. (Shulcloud experience is a plus)
Work Location & Hours: This position works onsite at Temple Emanu-El in Westfield, NJ. Hours are typically 9am-5pm, with some evening, weekend, and holiday responsibilities.
Additional Benefits: The salary range for this position is $110,000 - $120,000, along with a generous benefits package that includes medical insurance, 4 weeks paid time off. For those interested, employees receive a free membership to the synagogue. Employees with early childhood and/or school-aged children receive a discount off school tuition.
To Apply: Email: 1) a cover letter of no more than 500 words that explains why Temple Emanu-El excites you and why the Director of Development role is a fit for you and 2) your resume.