Director of Development and Strategic Partnerships

About Pete’s Garden
Founded in 2020, Pete’s Garden makes it easier for families to share wholesome meals, together at home.  We accomplish our mission through two programs:  food recovery and Kids Feeding Kids. 
Our food recovery program recovers high quality prepared food from restaurants, caterers, and food service operations.  We bring the food to our commercial kitchen at 13th & Broadway where volunteers portion and package it into take-home containers.   We distribute these free, take-home meals to organizations that serve families with children, such as Head Start and after-school programs and various social service agencies.  
Kids Feeding Kids is a real-world learning program designed for high school ProStart, Culinary Technical Ed, and Family & Consumer Science classrooms.  Our curriculum teaches students about critical topics related to food access and sustainability, while empowering them to give back to their community by preparing free, take-home family dinners.  
Pete’s Garden is a small and relatively new organization working to scale up program operations.  Program growth will require maintaining relationships with existing funders while identifying and acquiring new funding sources, including a mix of foundation grants, government funds, and individual donations.    The Director of Development and Strategic Partnerships is a new position for Pete’s Garden; the Executive Director has been responsible for all development and fundraising activities.
 
Job Description
The Director of Development and Strategic Partnerships will lead the organization’s fundraising efforts.  This is a front-line fundraising position; the majority of the Director’s time will be spent interacting directly with donors and prospects.  More specifically, this role will include developing and implementing fundraising strategies, growing the number of individual donors, and cultivating and stewarding corporate, foundation, and government funders.   Within this broad scope of responsibilities, the Director will need to prioritize high-impact initiatives with a goal of sustaining and growing revenue streams while building strong relationships within the current and prospective donor community.  This roles blends strategy with execution in a startup-like environment.  
 
Pete’s Garden’s 2025 fundraising goal is $670,000. Pete’s Garden is a growing organization and anticipates annual revenue needs to grow by 20-30% per year for the next 3 years. The Director of Development and Strategic Partnerships will play a critical role in making this growth possible.
 
Pete’s Garden does not currently utilize a CRM system for managing donor relationships.  The Director will lead the selection and implementation of a CRM system, with support from the Executive Director and appropriate vendors.
 
This position will work closely with the Executive Director and may share some development and fundraising responsibilities with the ED, as appropriate. 

 
Responsibilities:

1. Donor Solicitation, Cultivation & Stewardship (60%)
   • Implement a CRM system and utilize the system to manage donor relationships.
   • Collaborate with the Executive Director to identify and cultivate relationships with major gift prospects, including individuals, corporations, and foundations.
   • Regularly solicit new and renewal donor gifts, at a rate appropriate to meet revenue goals in the annual fundraising plan.
   • Develop and implement strategies to increase individual monthly givers.
   • Implement donor stewardship activities to maintain and enhance long-term donor relationships.
2. Fundraising Strategy & Planning (15%)
   • Collaborate with the Executive Director to set annual fundraising goals and key priorities.
   • Develop and execute a comprehensive fundraising plan to meet the organization’s short- and long-term goals.
3. Grant Writing & Reporting (10%)
   • Support ED and/or grant-writer to write grant proposals to secure foundation, government, and corporate funding.
   • Support ED and/or other staff to prepare reports to funders, ensuring compliance with grant requirements and deadlines.
   • Research and identify new grant opportunities.
4. Community & Corporate Outreach (10%)
   • Collaborate with the Executive Director to build and maintain relationships with local businesses, civic organizations, and community leaders to expand the organization’s network of support.
   • Represent Pete’s Garden at community events and networking opportunities.
5. Financial Reporting & Monitoring (5%)
   • Track fundraising progress toward goals, assist in the development of fundraising budgets, and provide regular updates to the Executive Director. 

• Sincere and deep commitment to Pete’s Garden mission.
• Familiar with and comfortable working in a start-up environment.
• At least 5 years of experience in nonprofit fundraising, with a focus on donor cultivation, solicitation and stewardship.
• Demonstrated experience securing major gifts and cultivating long-term donor relationships.
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to prioritize tasks and manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.
• Proficiency with CRM applications, fundraising software or donor management systems.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate the organization’s mission to a variety of audiences.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively.
• Bachelor’s or graduate degree in a related field is a plus.

• This position is a part-time position with a minimum 50% commitment.  Based on the interest of the applicant, the commitment could increase to 75%.
• Salary: Full-time salary range is $75,000-$85,000; actual salary would be calculated based on agreed-upon percentage of work time (i.e. 50% range is $37,500-$42,500).
• PTO: Full-time PTO accrual is 160 hours per year; actual PTO would accrue based on agreed-upon percentage of work time (i.e. 50% commitment is 80 hours).
• Pete’s Garden does not currently offer other employment benefits (health insurance, 401K, etc.).

• Typical hours are 8am to 4pm; some weekend and evening hours will be required.
• This position can be a fully work-from-home or hybrid, though the expectations of the position will require numerous in-person meetings each week with donors and potential donors, attendance at networking events, and other face-to-face donor engagements. 
• Must reside in the Kansas City area.
• Pete’s Garden operating address: 415 W 13th St, Kansas City, MO 64105.