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Senior Director, External Affairs, Every Hour Counts
Every Hour Counts is a national coalition of citywide organizations that increase access to quality learning opportunities, particularly for underserved students. We are a leading voice in promoting afterschool and summer learning systems. Every Hour Counts has three core strategies:
Build Quality Practice – Every Hour Counts brings network members together to test the feasibility of policy and practice recommendations, and disseminate findings and tools for adaptation through demonstration projects.
Support a Community of Practice – We uplift promising practices from the field, disseminate evidence-based recommendations, and develop tools and resources to support communities in building high-quality after-school systems. Every Hour Counts engages in a variety of knowledge sharing activities to educate local, state, and federal practitioners and policy makers about the value of intermediaries and how to build effective, coordinated systems of support. We do this through a peer learning community, national institute, conference presentations, webinars, and convenings. We also provide technical assistance to communities looking to build systems.
Influence Policy – We engage policymakers, practitioners and leading stakeholders in developing policy recommendations and solutions that embrace a holistic view of learning and support expanded learning systems-building. This year we launched a youth voice initiative that will grow our efforts to center and support youth to engage in advocacy work on their own behalf and on behalf of their communities.
Every Hour Counts is housed at ExpandED Schools in New York City. Nine organizations comprise the governance board and twenty-eight organizations comprise the Every Hour Counts Network, which we expect to grow along with the national focus on out-of-school time as a critical intervention to support young people in their academic, social, and emotional learning. See the full list of network members here.
Position Summary
The Senior Director of External Affairs is responsible for advancing Every Hour Counts’ mission by managing and growing the organization’s fund development and coordinated communications strategies. Reporting to and working closely with the Executive Director, the Senior Director of External Affairs will oversee all organization fundraising and communication efforts. The Senior Director will manage a Manager of External Affairs in FY26. Occasional travel is required. The position can be based in New York City or remotely.
Development Strategy
Develop and lead the execution of a comprehensive multi-year fundraising plan to drive revenue growth, including philanthropic support, corporate giving, and sponsorships for special initiatives and events.
Partner with the Executive Director, Every Hour Counts staff, and Governance Board to create the vision for strategic funding priorities, and operationalize that vision with measurable goals and outcomes.
Serve as the lead strategist of our Development and Communications plans, defining tactics, tracking progress, and ensuring accountability.
Lead organization-wide efforts to coordinate data and reporting to secure financial support from existing and new funding sources.
Donor Cultivation and Stewardship
Identify opportunities that will allow us to sustain, diversify, and grow our base of support, with a focus on expanding our base of corporate and foundation support.
Oversee the grant-seeking process, including researching, writing, and submitting grant proposals and reports to foundations and governmental agencies
Research foundation and corporate prospects; prepare funder briefs and recommend prospects with strong potential for Every Hour Counts
Implement a fundraising/sponsorship plan tied to our national conferences.
Prepare cultivation materials, which might include drafting outreach notes, editing and finalizing programmatic strategy overviews and pitch decks, etc.
Adapt program concept notes into proposal first drafts that highlight program value and align to the specific funder’s interests
Write interim and final reports to funders that capture programmatic accomplishments, impact data, and lessons learned
Support processes for information sharing and alignment among the team.
Manage donor database and record keeping
Communications & Brand Management
Oversee the organization’s external communications ensuring broad community understanding of Every Hour Counts’ work and value
Develop and implement a comprehensive communication strategy to effectively convey the organization’s mission, accomplishments, and impact.
Oversee communications projects that support organizational goals.
Ensure consistent messaging and branding across all communication channels and materials.
Oversee updated content on our website and other communication channels
Maintain a strong and positive public image for the organization.
Team Leadership
Lead with kindness, compassion, and commitment to staff success, program impact, and mission clarity.
Attributes
Every Hour Counts embodies an ethos of continuous quality improvement and is committed to offering an equitable, inclusive, and just working environment for staff and partners.
We seek staff with the following attributes:
Strong commitment to Every Hour Counts’ mission to expand high-quality, engaging out-of-school time opportunities
Commitment to equity
Relationship-builder who considers others’ perspectives and finds common ground
Self-starter who effectively takes on and executes new projects as well as ongoing work with minimal supervision
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced non-profit environment that values teamwork, perseverance, critical thinking, communication, and lifelong learning
Qualifications
Required
Bachelor’s Degree and a minimum of 7 years’ experience in fundraising, with demonstrated ability to strategize fundraising initiatives and secure financial support from diverse donor channels
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Excellent organization skills
Strong record of supervising and managing others to meet goals and deadlines
Experience managing budgets and events
Familiarity with the national philanthropic landscape
Knowledge of fundraising software and tools
Preferred
Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE)
Salary Range: $120,000 – $140,000, depending upon experience
Benefits:
Every Hour Counts offers competitive salaries commensurate with experience and a comprehensive benefits package. Our benefits package includes:
Full-time and eligible part-time employees receive medical, dental and vision plans for employees and dependents, largely subsidized by ExpandED Schools
Health, dependent care and transit pre-tax accounts
Employer-paid life insurance and supplemental disability coverage
Paid time off package which includes 24 personal days, 8 sick days, and 13 paid holidays (prorated for part-time staff)
403b retirement plan with eligibility for employer contribution of 5% of annual compensation after one year of employment (no match requirement)
Commitment to work-life balance
Partial tuition reimbursement offered to employees after six months of service
Professional development opportunities, including funds to participate in external training and coaching opportunities
Every Hour Counts believes in the importance of being a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization. We are committed to building a talented team that reflects the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our students. Every Hour Counts is an equal opportunity employer, and as such, we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status or disability.
To Apply: Interested candidates should forward a cover letter and resume to: employment@expandedschools.org
Subject: Senior Director of External Affairs – [Candidate’s First and Last Name]. Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.