THE AFF NETWORK

Director of Development

Competitive Enterprise Institute | Posted on November 26, 2007

The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a Washington, D.C. classical liberal think tank and advocacy organization seeks a Director of Development. We want a creative thinker who can work hard, bring in donors at all levels, and works well with our organizational culture.

The Director Development plays a prominent role in our organization. We have no significant endowment, and, by policy, do not do contract work. As a result, the Development Department provides nearly all our yearly budget ($4 million last year).

Quite simply, we’d like to increase our budget and we need somebody who can lead that growth. The Director of Development should take a strategic and tactical leadership role designing, implementing and managing all CEI’s fund raising activities. CEI has a vigorous fund raising program that includes a new, but highly successful direct mail campaign, a lavish annual dinner, a donor club, regular donor retreats, and extensive communication with individual supporters. CEI needs a leader in all these areas.

The Director works with small staff and will likely hire additional support staff in the near future. The position also maintains relationships with a handful of development-related vendors. The Director will report to the president and vice president as well as work closely with the board of directors to develop and meet fund raising goals.

On a day-to-day basis, the Director of will work closely with CEI analysts and staff in all departments to identify opportunities for funding, write funding proposals, coordinate travel, and help oversee certain CEI’s external affairs activities with communications and events staffers.

Ideal candidates should be comfortable and conversant with CEI’s classical liberal ideology. We maintain a serious but casual working environment. In part because we loathe government bureaucracy, we try to avoid it within our organization as well. There’s a minimum of internal paperwork and, in general, you’ll be able to speak with just about anybody in the organization simply by dropping by his or her office.

Pay and benefits are competitive with that offered at other Washington policy groups. Top performers can and do receive meaningful financial rewards.

An ideal candidate will have at least five years of progressively increasing responsibility in non-profit fund raising, some record of leadership, excellent communications skills, at least a bachelor’s degree, an appreciation for classical liberal ideas and a record of solid results.

Above all, we’re looking to hire a great person with significant skills that takes an entrepreneurial approach to advancing CEI’s development goals.

If you are interested, please send a resume and cover letter to: Megan McLaughlin at jobs@cei.org