Director of Development & Communications

Organization

The mission of the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County is to fight social injustice through civil legal advocacy for people living in poverty. We believe every person should have the basic necessities of life, including safe affordable housing, access to health care, economic security, secure immigration status, an appropriate education, and freedom from violence and abuse.

LASSMC is an integral part of San Mateo County’s safety net and has a history of successfully collaborating with community agencies, local governments, health care providers and pro bono attorneys to provide coordinated services to low-income residents.

Position

The Director of Development & Communications (DDC) is a member of the leadership team and reports to the Executive Director. With the support of the Executive Director, Board of Directors, Director of Operations, and Director of External Relations, the DDC establishes the strategic direction for all fundraising and marketing/communications initiatives.

The DDC directs the individual giving campaigns, including the Annual Campaign and major gifts, and oversees the planning and execution of two annual events led by the Director of External Relations. The DDC coordinates with the Director of Operations, who is primarily responsible for foundation and government grants and contracts.

The DDC also implements the marketing and communications strategies for Legal Aid that support annual fundraising and raise brand awareness, tailoring communications for segmented target audiences across both traditional and innovative online platforms. 

Responsibilities

• With support from the Executive Director, Director of External Relations, and Director of Operations, creates and implements annual fundraising and marketing/communications plan including measurable outcomes for individual giving, major gifts, grants and contracts, and events.
• Reports to Executive Director and Board on progress toward outcomes.
• Develops and implements identification, cultivation, and stewardship strategies for prospects and donors at various giving levels.
• Designs and executes year-end fundraising campaign.
• With support from the Executive Director and Board, develops and implements major gifts campaign, including identifying and researching giving capacity among current and prospective donors, creating solicitation strategies tying donor interests to programs and funding priorities, cultivating donors and prospects through ongoing personal communication and correspondence, creating proposals to present to major donor prospects, and stewarding major donors through recognition in printed materials, appreciation events, and other activities as appropriate.
• Supports Board of Directors in implementing peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns.
• Coordinates with Director of Operations regarding communications with foundation and government funders.
• Oversees Director of External Relations in planning and implementation of two annual events.
• Supervises Development Assistant.
• Ensures that donors receive interest-specific and appropriate organizational and program updates, responses to queries, and gift acknowledgements.
• Oversees the maintenance of donor database to ensure accurate recording of donors, contributions, and engagements, and generates reports and analysis.
• Crafts high quality, relevant and appropriate communications with donors, including general brochure and annual Impact Report as well as traditional and non-traditional online platforms.
• Leads the strategy for and implementation of marketing initiatives including email appeals, year-end letter, website, and social media.

• Increases fundraising results through branded communications to targeted audiences.
• Identifies, establishes, and maintains collaborative and mutually beneficial relationships with personnel in key media outlets.
• Analyzes metrics to ensure continuing effectiveness of communications strategies through all channels.

Compensation and Benefits

• $85,000-$98,000 DOE
• Will consider part-time for the right candidate
• Excellent benefits

LASSMC is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to hiring a diverse staff. People of color, immigrants, persons with disabilities, older adults and members of the LGBT community are encouraged to apply.