Director of Advancement

The Dallas Children's Advocacy Center is seeking an experienced Director of Advancement for the Advancement Department. 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

The Director of Advancement leads Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center’s (DCAC) comprehensive fundraising strategy, with primary responsibility for converting engaged individuals and organizations into donors, deepening existing relationships, and driving sustained revenue growth.

This role owns the full donor lifecycle beyond initial engagement including qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship across all revenue streams: major gifts, annual giving, corporate partnerships, foundations, and event funding.

Working in close partnership with the Director of Engagement, this leader ensures a seamless transition from engagement to investment, while also independently prospecting, cultivating, and securing new and expanded philanthropic support, including major gifts, annual foundations and grants, federal grants, corporate partnerships, planned giving, and signature fundraising events to increase revenue impact.

Number of Staff Supervising, and positions:

• Development Officer
• Grants Administrator, Foundations
• Grants Administrator, Federal

ABOUT DCAC: The mission of the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center is to improve the lives of abused children in Dallas County and to provide national leadership on child abuse issues. DCAC is a non-profit organization and the only agency of its kind in Dallas County, working in agreement with public and private agencies to investigate, prosecute, and provide healing services for child abuse 
cases in Dallas County. We reduce the victimization of the child, remove barriers to investigation and treatment, and enhance criminal prosecution with our distinctive multidisciplinary and united approach to these complex and severe cases, all at no cost to our clients. Each year, DCAC serves over 13,000 children and their non-offending family members. 

We are a national and international leader in the Children's Advocacy Center movement, recognized 
for our expertise in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of child abuse cases; cutting edge clinical services and programs for the victims and their non-offending family members; and our community and professional training programs.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

 

Fundraising strategy & revenue leadership:

• Develop and execute a comprehensive fundraising strategy aligned with revenue goals
• Own performance across all revenue streams: individual giving, corporate partnerships, foundations, federal grants, and event funding
• Establish clear revenue targets and pipeline goals across the development team
• Partner with the CAO to forecast revenue and monitor performance against goals

 

Donor pipeline management & conversion:

• Lead strategy to convert engaged audiences into qualified donors in partnership with engagement team
• Define qualification criteria and ensure disciplined movement through the donor pipeline
• Oversee moves management processes to ensure consistent donor progression
• Ensure seamless handoff and follow-up from engagement-generated prospects

 

Major gifts & portfolio management:

• Manage a personal portfolio of high-capacity donors and prospects ($25,000+)
• Conduct regular donor meetings, solicitations, and stewardship touchpoints
• Secure multi-year and transformational gifts
• Build and execute individualized cultivation and solicitation strategies

 

Corporate & institutional giving

• Lead strategy for corporate partnerships and sponsorships (event-based and year-round)
• Secure high-value corporate investments aligned with set priorities
• Oversee foundation and federal grant strategy to ensure consistent funding growth
• Partner with board members and leadership to expand corporate and institutional relationships

 

Event revenue strategy (not logistics)

• Own revenue strategy for all fundraising events in partnership with engagement team
• Set and achieve sponsorship, underwriting, and fundraising goals
• Support recruitment and management of event chairs and fundraising committees
• Ensure events drive both immediate revenue and long-term donor engagement

 

Annual giving & donor growth

• Oversee annual giving strategy in coordination with engagement-led campaigns
• Ensure conversion of campaign participants into retained donors
• Develop strategies to increase donor retention, upgrade, and lifetime value

 

Team leadership & performance management

• Set clear revenue goals and performance expectations for all direct reports
• Drive accountability through metrics, reporting, and regular performance reviews
• Build a high-performing, donor-focused culture within the development team
• Provide coaching, mentorship, and professional development

 

Cross-functional collaboration

• Partner closely with Director of Engagement to align pipeline strategy and audience flow
• Collaborate with program staff to strengthen donor messaging and case for support
• Support marketing and communications efforts with donor-centric insights and needs
• Engage board members in cultivation, solicitation, and corporate introductions

 

Other Duties:  

• Attend and participate in agency staff meetings, special events, etc.
• Attend and participate in department and direct supervisory meetings.
• Attend DCAC events as well as third-party events, which may occur in the evening and some weekends.
• Maintain professional development in fundraising field and completes agency compliance training.
• Other duties as assigned.  

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

Education and experience: bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or equivalent experience required and a minimum of six years related experience such as fundraising, sales, strategic development required, with a minimum of two years of supervision/leadership experience. Experience, interest and a proven track record with major gift fundraising.

Required Software: Advanced knowledge of MS Office Suite, including MS Windows, Word, Excel, and Outlook. Proficiency in Raiser’s Edge.

Required License(s) or Certifications:  

• Clear and valid Texas Driver’s License
• CFRE preferred but not required.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:  

• Extensive knowledge of fundraising strategies and principles.
• Excellent management and supervisory skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.

• Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Skilled at being creative, resourceful, detail-oriented, flexible, possessing a positive attitude, tact, good judgment, cultural sensitivity, and working well as a team member with staff, community professionals, and volunteers.
• Ability to bring others together to try and reconcile differences and uses logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
• Ability to encourage and promote a work environment and community where everyone, regardless of background, belief, gender, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or disability, feels welcome, included and supported.
• Ability to establish and maintain professionally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks and a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
• Excellent presentation and communication skills, both written and verbal
• Demonstrated ability to work with all levels of employees, board members, partners, and community.

KEY SUCCESS METRICS

Revenue & Growth

• Total private revenue achievement against goal
• Year-over-year growth across major gifts, corporate, and annual giving
• Event revenue performance (sponsorship and net revenue

Pipeline & Conversion

• Conversion rate from engaged prospect to donor
• Number of qualified prospects entering donor pipeline
• Speed and progression of prospects through moves management stages

Major Gifts & Portfolio Performance

• Number and value of major gifts secured ($25K+)
• Portfolio growth and movement (new, upgraded, retained donors)
• Multi-year and leadership-level commitments secured

Donor Retention & Expansion

• Donor retention rate
• Donor upgrade rate (year-over-year giving increases)
• Growth in recurring and mid-level giving

Corporate & Institutional Growth

• Number and value of corporate partnerships secured
• Foundation and Federal revenue growth
• Board-driven introductions converted to funding relationships

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

Work Location: Most work will be performed in the office. Remote work permitted up to two days per week after 90 days of employment and with Chief approval.

Mental and Physical Abilities: Duties are usually performed seated with occasional periods of standing or walking. Limited physical effort is required associated with lifting and carrying objects (less than 25 lbs). 

Working Conditions: Work may be performed but is not limited to an office environment. There will be some events that require support and attendance in the evening and/or on a weekend offsite.

Essential Functions: This job description should not be interpreted as all-inclusive.  It is intended to identify the essential functions and requirements of this position.  The incumbents may be requested to perform job-related responsibilities and tasks other than those stated in this job description.

Core Values:

Must demonstrate/live our organization’s core values

• We are child-centered, family-focused, and community-driven.
• We act with dignity and compassion in all that we do.
• We recognize our staff as our greatest asset.
• We operate as a seamless team

DCAC is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we believe in an inclusive culture. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

BENEFITS:
▪ 100% Paid Employee Health Insurance-PPO
▪ 100% Paid Employee Dental Insurance
▪ 100% Paid Short Term Disability
▪ 100% Paid Long Term Disability
▪ 100% Paid Basic Term Life and AD&D Benefits (one times your annual earnings up to $50,000)
▪ Vision Insurance through Superior Vision
▪ Pet Insurance through Nationwide
▪ Legal Services through Freshbenies
▪ Flexible Spending Account
▪ Dependent Spending Account
▪ Six (6) weeks' of paid Parental Leave
▪ Employee Assistance Plan (EAP)
▪ Health Advocate
▪ WellVia Teladoc Program
▪ 403b Retirement and Contribution Plan with up to a 4% employer contribution
▪ Supplemental Insurance: Accident Insurance, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Critical Illness 
Insurance
▪ Bilingual Stipend (English/Spanish) of $2,700 annually
▪ Cell Phone Stipend
▪ 10 Paid Holidays
▪ 2 Floating Holidays
▪ 14 Wellness Days
▪ 10 Vacation Days
▪ DCAC participates in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)