Director of Special Events and Donor Engagement

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a multi-year strategy to grow StreetWise Partners' fundraising event portfolio over the next 1 - 3 years.
• Build upon the strong foundation of StreetWise Partners' existing events by introducing innovative fundraising, sponsorship, engagement, and stewardship strategies.
• Identify and implement strategies to increase sponsorship revenue, attendee acquisition, donor retention, and onsite fundraising performance.
• Personally cultivate, solicit, and steward sponsors in partnership with the development team, committees and Board.
• Develop stewardship strategies that convert event attendees, sponsors, and committee members into long-term donors and champions.
• Analyze event performance data and fundraising metrics to maximize return on investment and inform future growth.
• Research and implement emerging fundraising trends, technologies, and event experiences.
• Assess opportunities for new fundraising events and potential expansion into Washington, DC.
• Develop and manage annual event budgets while identifying opportunities to improve net revenue.
• Build systems and processes that support scalable event growth and reduce operational risk.
• Recruit, onboard, develop, and lead event committees that serve as ambassadors for StreetWise Partners.
• Inspire and equip committee members to activate their personal and professional networks to secure sponsorships, ticket sales, auction donations, and new supporters.
• Partner with board members and volunteers to identify prospective sponsors, corporate partners, donors, committee members, honorees, and attendees.
• Develop year-round engagement strategies that strengthen volunteer retention and cultivate future fundraising leaders.
• Serve as a visible ambassador for StreetWise Partners at committee meetings, networking events, donor gatherings, and fundraising events.
• Collaborate closely with Corporate Engagement, Individual Giving, Development Operations, Marketing, Programs, and Executive Leadership to maximize fundraising opportunities generated through events.
• Collaborate closely with Corporate Engagement and Individual Giving to convert event participants into deeper year-round supporters while identifying opportunities to engage existing corporate partners and donors as event sponsors, attendees, committee members, and honorees.
• Ensure event storytelling, sponsorship messaging, and donor communications reflect StreetWise Partners mission and strategic priorities.
• Identify opportunities to deepen engagement by moving event participants into volunteering, mentoring, corporate partnerships, major giving, and other forms of support.
• Supervise the part-time Contract Event Manager, providing strategic direction, project oversight, and professional support while delegating responsibility for event logistics, vendor coordination, and onsite execution.
• Provide day-to-day direction and oversight to the Development Assistant on event-related priorities through a dotted-line reporting relationship, in partnership with the Chief Development Officer.

Requirements

• Commitment to StreetWise Partners' mission of advancing economic mobility and opportunity.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Strong attention to detail, organizational skills, and follow-through.
• Ability to analyze performance metrics and translate data into actionable growth strategies.
• Proven experience securing and stewarding corporate sponsors.
• Willingness to work occasional evenings and weekends as required by event schedules.

Nice to have

• 7 - 10 years of progressively responsible experience in fundraising events, nonprofit development, sponsorship sales, or related fields.
• Demonstrated success managing and growing revenue-generating fundraising events.
• Demonstrated success recruiting, motivating, and managing volunteers, committees, and fundraising ambassadors.
• Experience partnering with executive leadership and board members to achieve fundraising goals.
• Experience managing event budgets and measuring fundraising performance against revenue goals.
• Experience with CRM and event management systems (Salesforce preferred) and a strong aptitude for learning and leveraging new technologies to improve fundraising operations.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package including 100% health care coverage for individuals.
• 4 weeks of paid vacation and a paid week off at the end of the year.
• Flexible work hours, select summer Fridays off, and a hybrid work schedule.