POSITION: Director of Development

LOCATION: Remote

JOB TYPE: Full Time

Reports To: COO, dotted line to CEO

Eat Real nourishes the future of American school children by putting real food on the table at school, at home, and in local and national policy. Our award-winning K-12 certification program provides Nutrition Services leaders with the framework and guidance they need to make their school menus delicious, nutritious, and planet-sustaining. Alongside our community of food system advocates, chefs, doctors, and parents, we spread the word about the power and urgency of serving real food at every meal. And we leverage our unique vantage point to drive system change, advocating for healthier policies and higher nutrition standards at the local, state, and national level so every child can look forward to a healthy future.

Eat Real is on a Mission to a Million, scaling our K-12 school food certification program nationwide to make delicious, nutritious meals accessible for 1 MILLION students in 20 states by the end of the 2025-26 school year. We’re more than halfway to our goal! That’s where you come in: we’re looking for a leader to help us scale our fundraising operation to continue growing our org and our offering to support a million kids and beyond. Our vision is that every child deserves a healthy, delicious future on a livable planet. We’re ready to build our Development function to make that vision a reality sooner than later.

But there’s something you should know: we don’t walk, talk, or work like a nonprofit. We’re building a rocketship here, pioneering a model that delivers the values of a nonprofit — accountable, transparent, impact-driven, and heart-led — with the tactics and structure of the most effective start-ups — agile, experimental, industrious, and compact. Two questions lie at the heart of our strategy:

1. What’s the shortest possible route to the greatest possible impact?
2. How can we make changing the world more fun?

Do you like having fun? Do you like to drive fast? Are you hell-bent on changing the world? Then Eat Real might just be the perfect place for you.

THE ROLE

We are seeking a confident and charismatic Director of Development to lead our fundraising efforts. This high-energy leader will be responsible for defining and overseeing all of Eat Real’s development work, including: driving our giving strategy, building and cultivating donor relationships, closing major gifts, expanding corporate and foundation support, and keeping Development operations running smoothly.

ABOUT YOU

You’ve got a heart for relationship-building but an eye for process. You network like the best of them, because you can’t help but woo anyone and everyone to the cause you care about. You’re a planner but you always leave room for magic, thriving in a culture where you know exactly where we’re headed but the path is yours to chart. You’re always tinkering with the latest tech, incorporating AI into your workflows and wielding data to drive strategic decisions. You’ve got Big Builder Energy: creating new strategies, systems, and workflows excites you, as does closing six-figure donations! But most of all, you’re a great hang. You love to laugh, learn, and have fun while you change the world.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop, present, and implement an annual fundraising plan aligned with organizational goals, including half-yearly KPIs and the executional strategies to achieve them.

• Cultivate and steward relationships with major donors, foundations, and corporate partners, directly managing a portfolio and pipeline, and closing transformational gifts.

• Oversee all aspects of development: annual and major gifts, campaigns, grants, corporate giving, gift processing, and exclusive donor and prospect events.

• Lead and build a team of consultants and FTEs to meet fundraising targets, including refining systems and processes, defining org and meeting design, and eventually, fostering professional development.

• Work closely with the CEO, COO, board members, and senior leadership peers to engage key stakeholders in fundraising initiatives.

• Prepare and manage the annual development budget and revenue forecasts. Collaborate with Finance to manage monthly and annual reconciliations.

• Refine donor audience personas/definitions, wield marketing channels to test and verify hypotheses.

• Create clear, strategic internal marketing briefs to ensure consistent, mission-aligned donor communications, including go-to-market strategies for major national and regional campaigns.

• Collaborate with org peers and agency partners on fundraising event strategy, design, and execution, with eye to defining a repeatable playbook.

• Maintain accurate records in the donor database (EveryAction), including meticulous and timely gift processing, while continuously evaluating tech tools for systems optimization.

• Analyze fundraising data and metrics to inform decision-making and improve performance.

• Represent the organization at 1:1 meetings, industry events, conferences, and community functions nationwide.

REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s degree in sales, business, communications, or related field.

• 7+ years of sales or fundraising experience, including a proven track record of closing major gifts/contracts.

• Experienced team builder who thrives in a player-coach role, with strong leadership skills and experience managing teams and collaborating across departments.

• Clear, succinct, and inspiring written and verbal communication skills; experience writing fundraising strategy, messaging strategy, donor proposals and reports.

• Proficient in CRMs or donor management systems and in fundraising regulations and best practices.

• Passion for the mission of Eat Real and the ability to inspire others to give.

• Builder mindset: comfort with ambiguity, enjoys starting from scratch

• Impeccable attention to detail

• Strong collaborative & inclusive working style

• Self-direction, integrity, tenacity, and a “let’s get it done” attitude

• Alignment with team values:

  • Serve Heroes, and Each Other

  • Culture of Continuous Improvement

  • Leave Room for Magic

  • It’s Fun to Change the World

• Know your way around cloud-based software applications, including Asana, Slack, Zoom, G Suite, Canva, CRM (EveryAction)

• Sense of humor required
  
  
  

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Eat Real is a 100% remote environment based in California. Must be able to work remotely and attend in-person coworking days as needed. Preference for California.

Work schedule is flexible with availability during standard business hours expected as well as flexibility for evenings or weekend hours for special events and meetings, as needed. Ability to travel as needed. Driver’s license and ability to lift up to fifty pounds required.

COMPENSATION

For this role, the estimated base salary range is between $140,000-175,000. The actual base salary will vary based on factors including market and individual qualifications, objectively assessed during the interview process. The listed range above is a guideline, and the base salary range for this role may be modified.

Our employees’ health and well-being come first. Our benefits package includes:

• Comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage

• Spring Health mental wellness subscription

• Parental leave program

• Unlimited PTO

• 401K

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW

Eat Real is an equal-opportunity employer. We are committed to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment in our organization and in our work. Every day we actively work to create a healthy, delicious future for our colleagues, communities, and planet.