Senior Director of Development and Communications Hour Children

Hudson Ferris has been retained by Hour Children, a leading provider of services to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women in New York State to execute a search for their Senior Director of Development and Communications.

Senior Director of Development and Communications

Why this role?

Hour Children needs a senior fundraiser who can convert strategy into sustained, diversified revenue while building durable systems and a high-performing team. The CDO anchors individual giving growth (our biggest potential for revenue growth), orchestrates and leads the team in executing a multi-channel development plan, including a grant calendar, direct mail program, and targeted stewardship plan. This person will also be responsible for building upon and improving department, and in some cases organization-wide SOPs to maintain overall effectiveness in Hour Children’s fundraising.

Title & Reporting

• Title: Senior Director of Development and Communications
• Reports to: Executive Director
• Direct Reports: Institutional Giving Officer, Development Coordinator

Core Responsibilities

• Build and own the annual development plan with channel goals for each fundraising channel (individual, major/legacy, foundations, corporate, events).
• Translate strategy into quarterly, monthly and weekly operating rhythms: prospect moves, grant calendar, stewardship touches, and campaign milestones.
• Re-evaluate and adjust development plan quarterly to align with FY 26 Budget progress.

Individual & Major Gifts (Primary Focus)

• Lead moves management for top 50–75 prospects; partner with board and ED on joint visits and solicitations.
• Build a recurring/upgrade ladder and a legacy/estate stewardship track.

Institutional Giving Oversight

• Supervise the grants pipeline (foundation, corporate, government LOIs, proposals, reports) ensuring narrative alignment with program capacity, as well as on-time submission for applications, reports, and renewals.
• Manage, coach, and set clear OKRs for the Institutional Giving Officer and Development Coordinator; drive SOP adoption (acknowledgments, data hygiene, grant workflow, stewardship).
• Ensure rigorous CRM (Bloomerang) use, prospect tagging, and activity logging; maintain a shared development calendar.

Campaigns & Events

• Plan mini-campaigns tied to storytelling and program moments; oversee an efficient, ROI-positive event plan partnered with the Coordinator.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work with Program/Impact to surface outcomes and case studies; with Finance to align revenue forecasts; with Communications to implement the brand/message roadmap.

Qualifications

• 10+ years progressive fundraising experience with demonstrated strength in individual and major gifts.
• 3+ years people management; proven success building team SOPs and pipeline discipline.
• Familiarity with foundation/corporate/government funding, annual campaigns, and events.

Success Metrics (first 12 months)

• Meet or exceed FY26 private revenue targets, focusing on Individual: $600,000, Corporate: $100,000, Foundations: $1,438,000, Events: net positive performance.
• 40+ substantive major-donor moves/quarter; 12–18 joint ED/Board asks annually.