Director of Donor Relations

Zepf Center has been serving Lucas County for nearly 50 years. We are the leading provider of behavioral health and substance use disorder services in Northwest Ohio. Services include adult and child psychiatric, substance use disorder services, case management, residential, Crisis Care, and therapy programs, as well as career development and wellness services. Zepf Center provides a full continuum of care, which includes a trauma-informed environment, for both patients and staff.
The purpose of this position is to implement a newly-designed and comprehensive fund development strategy with initial emphasis on building out the annual fund and creating a donor stewardship and cultivation process. The successful candidate will be responsible for fostering and strengthening Zepf Center’s relationships with individual donors, corporations, foundations, and other sources.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Fund Development
  • Creates a solid infrastructure to support this strategy, to include a gift processing and acknowledgement system, donor database and software, website enhancements, etc.
  • Provides leadership, oversight, coordination, and cost-effective day-to-day operations of development and fundraising.
  • Ensures philanthropy and fund development are carried out in keeping with the organization’s values, mission, vision, and plans.
  • Leads all donor cultivation, solicitation, and recognition efforts, including prospect list creation, submission of monthly activity reports and updates related to major donor strategies.
  • Manages and coordinates meetings between the CEO, board members and potential donors.
  • Develops and implements major, capital and/or endowment campaigns with approval from the board and executive director.
  • Develops systems to train the board and encourage involvement in annual fund solicitation, personal giving, and donor recognition.
  • In concert with communications leadership and overall strategies, creates an external communications plan and fundraising materials, including a formal case for support. Creates a more effective and efficient system for sharing information such as impacts and financial/outcome data.
  • Develops and builds healthy and productive relationships with all internal & external stakeholders and departments including staff, board members and volunteers. Works with leadership to grow an internal culture and commitment to philanthropy. External stakeholders includes clients, community partners and donors; the successful candidate ensures donors are not being over-solicited and communications with are consistent.
  • Cultivates, solicits, and provides stewardship for a portfolio of major gift prospects and provide leadership to major gift officers and other development managers.
  • Provides oversight and develops new initiatives representing Zepf Center with community-based committees and initiatives, business and industry organizations and facilitates internal and external communication.
  • Authors department communications including newsletters, solicitations, and acknowledgements.

Position Competencies:

  • Possesses strong leadership skills.
  • Demonstrates a high-level professional demeanor.
  • Skilled in effective communication: communicates effectively and demonstrates sensitively with consumers, staff, other agencies, partners, and the public; demonstrable experience in effective communication and presentation skills, with the ability to recruit and work with top-level corporate and community leaders and to lead and motivate staff teams.
  • Possesses the skills to be detail and deadline-oriented with demonstrated organizational skills.
  • Demonstrates ability to monitor and understand budgets.
  • Possesses the ability to work independently.
  • Possesses resourceful attributes and is initiative-driven.
  • Able to inspire confidence and foster teamwork, ultimately strengthening, and integrating programs and services.
  • Able to interface with corporate boards and professional staffs.
  • Able to oversee organizational-wide development and fundraising activities.
  • Knowledge in cultivating and soliciting major gifts as well as experience in fiscal management, budget development and strategic planning.
  • Possess demonstrable skills in cultivating, soliciting, and closing major gifts and in working with volunteers.
Position Qualifications:
  • Bachelor’s Degree Or equivalent combination of education and experience.
  • 5 years of successful nonprofit fundraising experience to include Major Gift solicitation.
  • Certified Fund-Raising Executive (CFRE) certification preferred, but not required.
  • Proven professional experience developing a fundraising plan, creating a fundraising budget, and meeting fundraising goals through multi-channel cultivation and solicitation.
  • Valid driver’s license and insurance.

Those eligible to drive company vehicles must have a valid driver’s license and be eligible for coverage as defined by the agency commercial insurance carrier. Those who drive personal vehicles in the course of business must be able to provide proof of insurance.

Please submit applications directly on the Zepf Center website by visiting https://www.zepfcenter.org/careers/

EOE/M/F/H/V