Director of Development Operations

Job Description

Job Description

PURPOSE OF POSITION

Covenant House Missouri (CHMO) welcomes youth who are runaway, trafficked, at-risk, or experiencing homelessness with unconditional love, absolute respect and a place to call home. Beyond shelter and basic needs, we deliver transformative solutions to help young people ages 16 to 24 build productive, independent and sustainable lives.

The Director of Development Operations ensures the strength and integrity of Covenant House Missouri's development infrastructure by designing and managing systems that drive efficiency, accuracy, and strategic alignment across all revenue streams. This role partners with the Chief Development Officer and cross-functional teams to create a data-driven, donor-centered approach that maximizes philanthropic revenue and deepens relationships. By overseeing gift processing, acknowledgments, database management, prospect research, reporting, and compliance, the Director enables the Development Department to operate with excellence and transparency, supporting the organization's mission to serve youth experiencing homelessness.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Director of Development Operations partners with the Chief Development Officer to lead Covenant House's Development Department and creates, refines and oversees the systems and processes that drive efficiency and effectiveness across all revenue lines.

This role ensures that the organization's development infrastructure is strong, data-driven, and aligned with strategic goals to increase philanthropic revenue and deepen donor relationships. The Director will oversee development operations including gift processing, gift acknowledgment, database management, prospect research, reporting, and compliance. They will partner closely with frontline fundraisers, executive leadership, grant management, finance, and program staff to maximize organizational impact.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Leading. Develop and implement a comprehensive development operations strategy to support Covenant House MO's fundraising goals, participate in the Development team to drive our departmental culture and productivity, and partner with the CDO and leadership team to forecast revenue, analyze trends, and identify growth opportunities, while shaping our donor engagement and retention strategies.
• Team Building. Help create and nurture a team of the smartest, most creative, devoted, supportive, and collaborative members we can find.
• CRM Management. Oversee and maintain the donor database (DonorPerfect), ensuring accuracy, consistency, and security. Develop and enforce data entry and campaign management standards to drive sophisticated analysis of year-over-year trends and opportunities for revenue generation. Lead database training and support for development staff and other system users. Develop and implement process improvements and process audits to support developing data-driven fundraising strategies.
• Donation Processing. Develop and implement policies and procedures for timely data entry, gift processing, and development of acknowledgment letters, tax receipts, and stewardship communications.
• Reporting. Generate reports, dashboards, and insights to track fundraising performance and identify trends. Collaborate with Finance Department to reconcile development data with accounting data to ensure compliance with accounting, audit, and grant reporting standards.
• Integration. Manage the integration of fundraising systems with other organizational platforms.
• Lead Stewardship and Engagement. Ensure a seamless donor experience through effective communication, recognition, and impact reporting. Support the Chief Development Officer and Relationship Managers to develop and maintain donor stewardship and cultivation plans, tracking touchpoints and engagement metrics. Support fundraising events, donor cultivation activities, and major gift prospecting efforts.
• Visioning. Aid in the creation, management, and implementation of Development's strategic plan and annual fundraising plan.
• Innovating. Contribute to creating new ways for the Development team to cultivate and steward donors and prospects, and new ways for Development team members to work with each other and other departments that increase efficiency and effectiveness.
• Collaborating. Assemble teams and join with colleagues to bring more alignment to our operational and revenue generating Development work. Collaborate with Covenant House International.

WORKING RELATONSHIPS

Regular internal contact with all CHMO staff, members of the Board of Directors, outside contact with vendors and suppliers, and regular contact with outside agencies.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Education and Experience

• Have a profound and demonstrated commitment to social change and an incredible passion for our mission
• Hold a Bachelor's degree and have a minimum of five years' experience in Development and/or Non-Profit Management with at least three years' experience supervising staff and teams
• Are team-oriented with a strong work ethic, essential for this demanding environment that continually strives for excellence
• Are a strategic thinker
• Exhibit a deep and proven commitment and ability to build and nurture team and community
• Possess strong, demonstrated project management skills
• Have experience building out moves-management tracking and revenue-projection within a CRM
• Have an insatiable curiosity combined with an innovative and intensely collaborative spirit

PREFERRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Have experience with DonorPerfect
• Have experience building Development infrastructure and a culture of philanthropy
• Have experience serving homeless youth aged 16-24 or other at-risk communities at a community non-profit

IN ADDITION TO THE ABOVE REQUIREMENTS, CANDIDATE MUST

• Have a valid driver's license
• Follow all agency policies
• Pass State Child Abuse and Neglect and criminal background checks
• Carry out the essential functions of the position with, or without, accommodation
• Perform all job duties in a manner which demonstrates a commitment to organizational values and mission
• Demonstrate awareness, understanding, and cultural competence and ethnic diversity of clients, staff and other community partners

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Demonstrated history of leading high-performing development teams with integrity, transparency, and accountability in fundraising practices
• Strong relationship management skills with donors, board members, and stakeholders
• Understands financial management, budgeting, and ROI on fundraising initiatives
• Demonstrated history of using analytics and donor data to refine fundraising strategies
• Ability to navigate changes in donor behavior, market trends, and technology
• Ability to cultivate and steward donor relationships for long-term support
• Creative approach to solving fundraising challenges
• Comfortable with digital transformation and new fundraising technologies
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, assessment tools, database systems, and Windows environment

WORK ENVIRONMENT/ PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Moderate concentration
• Frequent interruptions
• Moderate noise level
• Moderate travel
• On-call responsibilities
• Moderate sitting, standing and eye strain, light walking, bending and lifting

I understand that the statements included in this document are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals in this position, and that they are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified. Further, this job description does not state or imply that this is a contract between the individual in this position and Covenant House Missouri.

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