Events Director, Developments

Position Events Director  

Level Professional  

Status Full Time  

Department Development   

Location Onsite in Norwalk, CT office  

SeriousFun Children’s Network, founded by Paul Newman, is a growing global community of independently managed and financed camps and programs, which have come together with a common purpose – to provide transformative experiences to children with serious illnesses and their families, free of charge. Through our 30 camps and programs around the world, SeriousFun reaches more than 150,000 children and families annually. Learn more at www.seriousfun.org 

About us: The SeriousFun Support Center is located in East Norwalk CT. Our team of 33 staff members provides support services to SeriousFun camps and partnership programs around the world to ensure program and operational excellence, create awareness for the camps worldwide, and foster the continued growth of the Network as a whole.  

SeriousFun is committed to fostering and ensuring a culture and environment that values the experiences, knowledge, and voices of all those who work to carry out our mission. We are continually focused on bringing our core principles of diversity, equality, and inclusion to life by embracing individual talents and experiences and encouraging ongoing learning and understanding.  

The purpose of our job posting is to provide an overview of the responsibilities and qualifications needed for this role and what it’s like to work with us. If this sounds like the work you would like to do - and if we sound like a non-profit that you would like to work for - then please apply even if you don’t match 100% of the job description.  

This position is perfect for you if:  

You are an experienced, creative and mission driven strategic events planning and execution professional with excellent written communication and networking skills. This position requires an individual who is poised, able to communicate and work effectively with a portfolio of donors, comfortable with communicating/influencing with individuals within the SeriousFun Children’s Network of staff and supporters, with a successful track record of cultivating relationships with a broad spectrum of individuals. 

Position Summary 

Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, the Events Director is responsible for creating the short and long-term strategic vision for SeriousFun Children’s Network Events which complements the Corporate and Individual and Major Gifts fundraising strategies.  This position oversees planning, budgeting, and execution of events, creating donor engagement opportunities for existing event donors, and outreach to potential event donors.  The Events Director develops and oversees identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship for event donors to ensure event donor acquisition, retention, upgrade, and transition to other revenue streams if that meets donor needs, while also managing and ensuring implementation of appropriate back-office systems to support successful implementation. 

 Individuals at the Director level at SeriousFun Children’s Network are expected to: 

• Lead their department, and ensure it is high performing.  
• Lead and contribute to the implementation of departmental strategic initiatives and business process improvements.  
• Coordinate, collaborate, and work directly with other Directors and senior leadership. 
• Engage and interact with camp and partner program staff, donors, third-party vendors, partners and/or service providers to provide support while best-representing the organization. 
• To work well independently, but to proactively and effectively manage-up and across the organization. 
• Set priorities for, supervise, and coach more junior team members. 

Essential Responsibilities 

Events Strategy 

• Develop a SeriousFun short-, mid-, and long-term event strategy designed to include peer-to-peer, virtual (if appropriate), and face-to-face events. 
• Work with Events Manager to create strategy for, and execute events throughout the year, such as annual events to supplement gala, which may include additional special events, cultivation events, and other one-off events. 
• Develop annual calendar of events to meet fundraising and donor cultivation needs. 
• Ensure team engages, recruits, stewards, and manages relationships with volunteers and customers to successfully execute fundraising plans and achieve revenue goals. 
• Lead and manage gala budget, planning and solicitation of support through the months leading to the event to maximum support of the galas (via ticket purchases, tapping into networks, auction donations, and/or other avenues of support.) 
• Work in collaboration with SeriousFun Board and camps to support and develop gala leadership. 
• Liaise with members of the SeriousFun board and leadership staff to determine event/galas pricing structure and income projections and event implementation to facilitate successful event planning. 
• Work with the appropriate Event/Gala volunteer committees to support event implementation. 
• Lead event implementation with collaboration from Corporate and Individual Giving teams leads to coordinate corporate and individual involvement with SeriousFun events.  
• Oversee all logistics for events including venues, vendors, consultants, etc. 
• Work with Marketing & Communications and external designers to develop printed and digital invitations and other materials. 

Fundraising Support  

• Participate with the Development team leadership to ensure event strategies and objectives are integrated in strategic development department decisions. 
• Take accountability for the team's achievement of significant revenue targets for a portfolio of priority relationships, account management, fundraising activities, and events. 
• Ensure the implementation of best practices for revenue growth, adjusting to customer-experience survey results and feedback; drive and encourage creativity and innovation resulting in new revenue opportunities. 

Key Competencies  

Job-Specific Skills, Knowledge and Ability: Demonstrating the application of job-specific technical skills, general knowledge, and/or abilities to add value. 

Authority and Accountability: Providing direction of processes, projects, programs, and people. Delegating responsibilities and decisions appropriately. Being accountable for results. 

Critical Thinking and Decision Making: Making decisions and solving problems involving varied levels of complexity, ambiguity, and risk. 

Planning and Organizing: Defining tasks and milestones to achieve objectives and ensuring the optimal use of resources to meet those objectives. 

Interpersonal Skills: Building and maintaining productive work relationships, collaborating with others to achieve common goals, listening and communicating in a way that is inclusive, respectful, and supportive of others. 

Adaptability: Adjusting one’s own behavior to work efficiently and effectively in light of new information, changing situations, and/or different environments. 

Leadership: Setting a positive example, encouraging and supporting collaboration and teamwork, exhibiting humility, helping others achieve success, and being honest and trustworthy. 

Management: Mentoring, coaching and providing feedback, direction, development opportunities, and positive reinforcement to employees. Inspiring commitment, providing vision, promoting and ensuring alignment with organizational goals and values. 

Organizational Values: 

• Inclusion - As a global network, we welcome and celebrate diverse voices and perspectives, and create communities and experiences based on inclusion and belonging. 
• Possibility - We create opportunities for everyone impacted by our mission to explore their unique talents and abilities, discover their own potential, and imagine what’s possible. 
• Collaboration - We know we are stronger together. Purposeful collaboration and knowledge-sharing across our Network results in greater efficiency, reach, and impact. 
• Innovation - Inspired by our founder Paul Newman, we continuously innovate and evolve to meet the needs of the children and families we serve and positively impact the world around us. 
• Safety - Safety and security are cornerstones of SeriousFun’s work. As a Network, we create environments and experiences that prioritize the medical, physical, and emotional wellbeing of all. 
• Fun - We take our work seriously so children and families can focus on having fun. 

Minimum Qualifications & Job-Specific Skills 

• Education:  Bachelor's Degree (e.g. BA, BS) or equivalent  
• Years of Relevant Work Experience:  7-10 years  
• Proven skills in: 
• Ability to cultivate and maintain good interpersonal relationships across all levels of the organization. 
• Excellent influencing, negotiating, communicating, project-planning, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 

Preferred Qualifications & Job-Specific Skills 

• Experience in working in NGO’s or other non-profit organizations, particularly those with federated/networked structures.   
• 10 years relevant work experience 

Company Culture, Perks, and Benefits

• Fun, respectful, and collaborative environment  
• Professional Development opportunities (online and company-facilitated offerings) 
• Respect for your non-working time (in Eastern Standard Time) unless under special circumstances, we limit contacting staff on evenings and weekends. 
• 30+ for you to enjoy as you see fit, including vacation days, holidays, and opportunities to volunteer at a SeriousFun camp. 
• Paid time off for family, medical, and civic service needs.  
• Company-sponsored retirement 403b plan after one year of continued service. 
• New office located in a fully renovated mixed-used building with great onsite (free) amenities.  
• Steps away from the East Norwalk train station 

Benefits are subject to change  

Compensation is commensurate with experience and relevant labor market comparisons. 

To apply for this position, please submit your resume and cover letter