Director of Fundraising Events

JOB PURPOSE   

Responsible for developing and managing fundraising strategies and campaigns, seeking out new avenues for fundraising, and building relationships with donors and volunteers. Implement donor stewardship programs to identify, develop, retain, and nurture a portfolio of individual and institutional donors. Partnering with volunteer leadership to create and grow volunteer committees to support the revenue goals. Efficiently and proactively generate year-over-year net revenue growth, creating volunteer and donor strategic engagement opportunities.

Job Summary

The Director of Fundraising Events is responsible for leading, planning, and executing a comprehensive portfolio of fundraising events designed to advance the mission of AFTD and achieve ambitious revenue goals. This leader oversees strategy, logistics, sponsorships, and participant engagement for major fundraising events, ensuring a high-quality experience that drives donor acquisition, retention, and growth. The Director manages a team of staff and volunteers and works closely with senior leadership to align events with the organization’s overall development strategy.

FUNCTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Essential Job Functions

Strategic Leadership:

• Develop and execute a multi-year fundraising events strategy aligned with organizational revenue goals.
• Set annual event revenue targets and track performance against goals.
• Evaluate event performance, donor acquisition, and ROI to continuously improve outcomes.

Event Planning & Execution:

• Develop and execute a multi-year fundraising events strategy aligned with organizational revenue goals.
• Set annual event revenue targets and track performance against goals.
• Evaluate event performance, donor acquisition, and ROI to continuously improve outcomes

Revenue Generation:

• Create and grow a portfolio of Special Event and Grassroots Events activities that meet or exceed annual revenue targets and achieve predictable and reliable revenue growth.
• Develop and execute the delivery of a new nationwide Walk campaign. The program will include multiple revenue streams, (i.e., walker revenue, sponsorship (national and local), point of sale promotions, portion of the proceeds, round up, team development), and create opportunities for volunteer engagement and leadership to create a community-based partnership in the delivery of the Walk campaign.
• Develop and execute sponsorship strategies to secure corporate and community partners.
• Work with the development team to integrate event participants into broader fundraising programs (major gifts, annual giving, planned giving).
• Cultivate donor, sponsor, and volunteer relationships to maximize revenue and long-term engagement.
• Create and manage event budgets, ensuring cost efficiency and strong ROI.

Team Leadership:

• Supervise, mentor, and evaluate a team of event staff, interns, and volunteers.
• Recruit and manage volunteer leadership committees to drive event success.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and innovation.

Marketing & Communications:

• Partner with marketing and communications teams to ensure consistent branding, messaging, and promotion of events.
• Oversee creation of event materials, digital campaigns, and fundraising toolkits for participants.
• Serve as spokesperson for events, representing the organization at public and donor-facing functions.
• Creates collaborative coordination between Director of Events and staff to plan events and communications to increase donor engagement.
• Uses technology to manage and monitor donor information and produce data-driven measurement and reporting of progress of fundraising goals. Using that data for decisions utilizing both internal and external metrics to support the development of annual growth strategies focused on supporting year-over-year growth.
• Annually assessing each campaign to ensure maximal revenue attainment and volunteer engagement

Other Job Functions

• As led by the Development Director, steward major and mega donor relationships using opportunities created by AFTD events.
• Conscientiously follows company policies and practices and takes care of organizational property.
• Travels for targeted local and national donor visits and organizational meetings and events as needed.
• Other special projects and duties as assigned.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

This position has supervisory responsibilities for the following roles:

• Events Manager

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES

 Education

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required, relevant advanced degree or equivalent experience preferred.

Experience         

• 5 years of experience in Non-Profit special events, fundraising or related roles
• 2 years of experience managing a team that successfully achieves both financial and strategic goals
• Proven track record in executing successful large-scale fundraising events

Special

Knowledge/Skills

• Strong project management and organizational leadership skills
• Experience in executing a walk or other national signature event
• Experience in recruiting, training, and growing volunteer leadership to support departmental goals. 
• Ability to motivate and inspire diverse groups of people