About Beacon
The Beacon Center is Tennessee’s premier free market public policy organization. Beacon is pound for pound the most effective and efficient state-level think tank on the planet. With a staff of just 13, Beacon has achieved remarkable policy and legal victories that have empowered Tennesseans to reclaim and protect their freedoms. Among our accomplishments, we have:
- Led the effort to repeal the state death tax and Hall Income Tax, becoming just the second state in history to eliminate an income tax. These tax cuts have cumulatively saved taxpayers more than $3 billion to date.
- Enacted the nation’s fourth education savings account program, Tennessee’s first private school choice program.
- Advanced free market healthcare reforms, including direct primary care, an overhaul of Tennessee’s certificate of need laws, Medicaid work requirements, and Right to Try.
- Helped usher in the nation’s first Right to Earn a Living Act to bring about occupational licensing reform, and successfully repealed multiple licensing laws, resulting in Tennessee leading the nation in the reduction of licensing barriers over the past five years.
- Combined strategic litigation and community engagement to invalidate Nashville’s home business ban—the most restrictive in the nation—and freeing up 14,000 businesses to operate from home.
About the Role
We’re looking for an energetic and liberty-minded Deputy Director of Development to help grow our organization and provide us with the necessary resources to serve our fellow Tennesseans effectively. Our Deputy Director of Development must be entrepreneurial and results-oriented: someone who is willing to take ownership of projects and exercise sound judgment to solve problems. He or she should be ideologically aligned. We believe that the principles of free markets, individual liberty, and limited government are the foundation of a prosperous and opportunity-laden society. The ideal candidate will have at least three years of relevant experience in fundraising, sales, non-profit management, or an equivalent field and can travel throughout the state of Tennessee approximately 15%.
Our Deputy Director of Development must be based in Tennessee. We have an office in Nashville but offer a hybrid work environment. Team members choose the work location that is best for each day, whether it be working from the office, at home, or some combination thereof. We provide generous benefits and place a huge emphasis on a strong culture and positive work environment. Beacon has been recognized among Nashville’s “Best Places to Work.” A recently internal survey found that 100% of our team members find meaning in what we do and 92% of them said that their role at Beacon is their dream job at this stage in their career.
Responsibilities
- Act as the right hand of the VP of Development.
- Set an overall vision for fundraising and work with other members of the Beacon team to raise the investment needed to fund Beacon’s ambitious plans for near-term growth.
- Oversee day-to-day operations of a comprehensive development program that includes major gifts, grants, mid-level donors, direct mail, email fundraising, donor acquisition, donor prospecting, planned giving, stewardship, and database management.
- Manage a portfolio of major gift donors and work closely with the VP of Development and CEO to assist in managing their portfolios of key donors, all while ensuring that Beacon maintains a donor-centered approach to fundraising, which includes providing radical customer service to donors.
- Prepare regular written reports for the VP of Development and CEO regarding individual donor status updates, progress, and revenue trends.
- Assist with grant writing and searching for new foundations to support our work and guide the grant proposal process for foundation gifts from start to finish to ensure strong representation of our programs and objectives.
- Travel across Tennessee to meet with donors and prospects, traveling approximately 15% of the time.
Qualifications
- Three or more years of experience in fundraising, sales, non-profit management, or a related field.
- Demonstrated track record of success in cultivating, soliciting, closing, and stewarding major gift donors or the temperament, gravitas, and capacity to do so.
- Considerable experience leading a team to meet or exceed its goals.
- Ability to strategize and independently manage a diverse array of activities with fluidity and consistency.
- An entrepreneurial mindset to stay curious and push innovation.
- Exceptional communication skills—a natural gift for comfortably connecting with people at all levels and for speaking and writing in a clear, confident, and compelling way.
- Ability to exercise humility in receiving feedback while having the confidence to practice radical candor, ask questions, and provide pushback in a respectful way.
- Ability to collaborate effectively with others on the team to meet deadlines and produce results.
- Knowledge of, and passion for, the ideas of freedom and individual liberty.
- Experience with Salesforce or other donor relations tools is a plus.
- Bachelor’s degree or higher in non-profit management, business, marketing, public relations, communications, or related fields is a plus.
To Apply
Qualified candidates should submit the following application materials (in order) in one PDF document:
- Cover Letter detailing your philosophical interest in the organization, why the position interests you, how your experience has prepared you for this position, and your salary requirements
- Résumé
Applications should be submitted to Talent Market via this link: talentmarket.org/apply-for-your-dream-job/.
Questions can be directed to Lydia Ocampo, Outreach Manager at Talent Market, who is managing the search process: lydia@talentmarket.org.
There is no application deadline for this position. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. This job will remain posted on our site until it is filled.