Director of Development and Engagement - Housing for New Hope

Do you believe…  

Every person is valuable? Every person has a right to housing? In the power of community? Affordable housing contributes to a just society? 

In your ability to connect with and inspire others to invest in community solutions?  Servant leadership and collaboration creates an effective culture that achieves results? 

Then you might be the next Director of Development and Engagement of Housing for New Hope! 

Why? 

Durham faces an affordable housing crisis that is unusually complex. Serving our most vulnerable neighbors requires a multifaceted approach. In one year, two-bedroom rental rates jumped 26% and one-bedroom rates jumped 34%. For many in our community, this took affordable housing from out of reach to out of sight. According to some national experts, we are facing challenges that are without parallel and that puts more of our neighbors on the street or in imminent danger of homelessness. 

Housing for New Hope (HNH) is responding to the affordable housing crisis by stepping forward with expanded supportive services, new housing locators and navigators, and a renewed effort to expand its own inventory of affordable housing units. Over the last 2.5 years, HNH’s revenue has grown more than 50% to a budget of $3.3M, the team expanded from 14 to 25 staff, and private support increased by more than 25%. 

HNH seeks a Director of Development and Engagement to strengthen our relationships with our community, supporters, and funders to support the next chapter of our work.  

What will you do as Housing for New Hope’s next Director of Development and Engagement? 

• Develop and drive Housing for New Hope’ relationship-based annual development plan in partnership with the Executive Director, board, and staff in support of budgeted annual goals and long-term strategic goals.  
• Provide leadership and supervision for the Resource Generation and Community Engagement Team including the Marketing and Communications Specialist, Community Engagement Coordinator, and interns. 
• Evolve a case for support that aligns with the strategic plan and inspires individuals and organizations to invest. 
• Oversee the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of donor constituent groups including individuals, corporations, civic, foundation, and faith-based organizations, utilizing staff and board for execution. 
• Manage a personal portfolio of donors resulting in direct face to face solicitation.  
• Ensure growth of foundation funding through researching, pursuing, and securing new opportunities and deepening current partnerships.  
• Manage the annual campaigns by developing strategy and executing the plan. 
• Execute a formal stewardship plan to further engage donors and volunteers in the mission and to show appreciation for their investments.  
• Work with the team to conduct events designed to increase awareness, raise funds, and offer an effective entry point to the organization as needed. 
• Guide the strategy and execution of special giving opportunities such as capital campaigns or planned giving. 
• Share stories of impact to motivate volunteers, board members, donors, and partners in ways that inspire support for the agency. 
• Build the reputation and exposure of the organization through community outreach.  
• Serve as an integral member of the agency’s Strategic Leadership Team, helping to ensure strong staff relations and fulfilment of mission, vision, and core values. 
• Develop and manage the departmental budgets for Resource Generation and Community Engagement. 
• Work closely with the Director of Finance and administration and Executive Director to ensure that revenue is allocated to specific programming areas and to determine where additional funding is needed.  
• Work closely with Director of Client Services and program leadership to identify programmatic needs as it pertains to development and marketing. 
• Provide staff leadership to the Board’s Resource Generation & Community Engagement Committee. 

Why Housing for New Hope? 

HNH is committed to implementing evidence-based and promising practices and seeks to evolve and change in response to community needs and client input. HNH also abides by the evidence-based Housing First philosophy. This means the first priority is to help clients obtain safe, affordable housing and neither criminal background, substance use, nor any other potential barrier restricts participant access to programs for which they otherwise qualify. 

HNH is led by an Executive Director and a 13-member volunteer board whose members represent Durham in terms of race, gender, lived experiences, and professional experience.  

In response to the intensifying needs in our community, HNH has expanded over the last three years, adding staff and growing community engagement. The current budget is $3.3M. Accomplishments include: 

• Designated by the City of Durham as the unsheltered coordinating agency for Street Outreach in our community, HNH is the “first responder” to our unsheltered neighbors. 
• Maintaining a consistent 90% rate of success for clients maintaining housing when exiting Rapid Rehousing services. 
• Selected for the Impact Award given by GSK and the Triangle Community Foundation in recognition of our effectiveness. 
• Received the Golden Leaf Award: "Hearth and Home" award for innovative design/redevelopment for our Holloway Place, the first affordable co-housing community in our region. 
• Grew private funding support, including many new donors and large first-time gifts from regional and national foundations. 
• Improved opportunities for client feedback on our programs, which helps us continue improving to meet the changing needs of our community. 

HNH operates five main programs: Street Outreach, Housing Location and Navigation, Rapid Rehousing, Supportive Housing, Affordable Housing. Together, these programs served 729 individuals in 2022. 

Want to know more? Visit Housing for New Hope’s website at https://housingfornewhope.org/. 

Key lived experiences, attributes, and skillsets sought in the Director of Development and Engagement 

• Understanding of affordable housing, homelessness, and housing insecurity and systems that reinforce these issues. 
• Professionally and personally uphold core values: every person is valuable, every person has a right to housing, power of community, and affordable housing contributes to a just society. 
• At least 5 years of proven leadership of a comprehensive resource development program with successful face to face solicitations of major gifts ($5,000+).  
• Organized and detailed-oriented with demonstrated ability to follow through. 
• Track record of at least 2 years of team management.  
• Able to build and lead a collaborative team with confidence, humility, and collaboration. 
• Ability to articulate, verbally and in writing, a passion for the mission.  
• Success building relationships with teammates and members of the community who can personally invest, or who can influence individual, faith community, or corporate giving.  
• High energy connector whose default is to engage the community to increase awareness of the organization.  
• Success working with a non-profit board of directors and fund development committees. 
• Demonstrated understanding of using data to drive fundraising efforts and CRM database experience.   
• Experience in volunteer and event management to increase the bandwidth and awareness of an organization.  
• Experience with capital campaigns and planned giving is favored. 
• Knowledge of the greater Triangle area and community partners is a plus. 

Think you are the next Housing for New Hope Director of Development and Engagement? 

To apply, click on the link to the Director of Development and Engagement position profile at ArmstrongMcGuire.com/jobs. You will see instructions for uploading your compelling cover letter, resume, salary requirements, and professional references.  Please provide all requested information to be considered. In case of any technical problems, contact [email protected]. No phone calls, please, and no applications will be accepted by email or directly from third-party posting sites. 

Review of candidates will begin in October 2023 and continue until the position is filled. Academic, MVR, and criminal checks will be conducted before a final offer is made.