Director of Development

Join Our Mission to Transform Lives!

At Rosecrance, we’ve been leading the way in behavioral health services for over a century. Our team empowers individuals and families to overcome substance use and mental health challenges through compassionate care and evidence-based therapies. If you’re ready to make a meaningful impact, we’re ready to welcome you! We are looking for dedicated individuals to join our team and help deliver on our mission of hope and recovery.

Position Purpose:

We are seeking a dynamic team player to join us in our mission at Rosecrance Behavioral Health. As a vital member of our team, you will collaborate closely with the Executive Director, alongside other staff leaders and dedicated community volunteers. Together, we aim to surpass our fundraising objectives to support both the unrestricted and restricted needs of our organization.

This role will place a significant emphasis on cultivating major gifts and orchestrating successful special events. Your efforts will play a pivotal role in sustaining our mission and ensuring the continued success of our initiatives with a regional focus spanning Northern Illinois (excluding Chicagoland) and Champaign County.

Qualifications/Education Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Minimum five to seven years of progressively responsible fund development experience with a focus on major gifts
• Demonstrated track record of successfully cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding high-level donors and prospects
• Additional experience in the development and execution of special events
• Demonstrated interpersonal and communication skills—both oral and written
• Outstanding relationship management skills.
• Ability to identify funding opportunities and match them with donor and prospect interests.
• Ability to articulate the case for private support so that individuals understand the vision and strategy of Rosecrance and choose to invest in the mission
• History of independently writing successful grant and major gift proposals
• Comprehensive knowledge of fundraising best practices
• Campaign experience and/or CFRE a plus
• Ability to work independently and with limited supervision, in addition to being a “team player”
• Proficient with the Microsoft Office Suite. Experience with CRM (e.g., Raiser’s Edge, Salesforce)
• Belief in the mission and vision of Rosecrance
• Reliable transportation for regular travel

Essential Responsibilities:

Fundraising Responsibilities

1. Serve as a strategic thought partner with the Executive Director to incorporate major gift, special events, and grant seeking and cause marketing strategies into the Foundation fund development plan.
2. Pursue data-driven strategy for individual giving growth (major, planned, special event) in the assigned region.
3. Manage a portfolio of donor prospects, focused primarily on major gift prospects of 5 and 6-figure potential (but also including leadership annual giving, corporate, and foundation prospects) to qualify, cultivate, solicit, and close gifts.
4. Plan and execute annual springtime fundraising benefit in Rockford, IL (~700 guests).
5. Recruit and facilitate fundraising and networking activities of the developing young professionals board, the President’s Leadership Council.
6. In partnership with Executive Director, identify and leverage opportunities to engage Board members and other volunteers to consider significant personal gifts and open doors to new donors.
7. Develop and maintain close collaborative partnerships within Rosecrance operating units (e.g., Executive Office, Communications, Brand Strategy, Business Development, Finance and Human Resources) to gain a strong understanding of programs and initiatives to identify and define opportunities for private support.
8. Plan and implement cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of donors/prospects (including participating in strategic phone calls and F2F meetings, creating proposals, hosting site visits, writing thank you letters, hosting events, etc.)
9. In partnership with the Executive Director and Rosecrance operating units, develop strategies to increase constituent pipelines. Constituents include Board, staff, clients, parents/family members, alumni, donors, corporations, foundations and more.
10. Regularly maintain CRM database, including constituent data, meeting notes, proposals, contracts and gift information.
11. Assist with other fundraising projects and activities as needed.

Leadership and Management Responsibilities