Development Director

The Equity Alliance (501(c)(3)) & The Equity Alliance Fund (501(c)(4))

Location: Nashville, Tennessee (Hybrid)

Salary: $70,000–$75,000

Reports to: Deputy Director & CEO

The Equity Alliance (TEA) and The Equity Alliance Fund (TEAF) are seeking a strategic, values-aligned Fundraising Director to lead and grow our fundraising efforts across Tennessee. This role is responsible for building sustainable revenue streams through grants, major gifts, individual giving and donor stewardship. 

At this moment, TEA is shifting from survival and resistance toward renaissance by building durable Black power rooted in economic justice, culture, and self-determination. The Fundraising Director plays a critical role in resourcing that work by building sustainable revenue streams and integrating fundraising seamlessly into our campaigns, events, and organizational culture.

This is a senior, hands-on role for someone who can think strategically while executing day-to-day, write strong grant proposals, cultivate major donors, strengthen individual giving, and build systems that scale. The Fundraising Director partners closely with leadership and program teams to ensure fundraising is relational, aligned, and impact-driven.

Key Responsibilities

Fundraising Strategy & Revenue Growth

• Develop and execute a comprehensive fundraising strategy that includes grants, major gifts, individual donors, and event-based revenue
  
  
• Lead grant research, writing, submission, and reporting in alignment with organizational priorities
  
  
• Build and manage a major gifts program, including donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship

Collaboration & Integration

• Work closely with the Director of Strategy to ensure fundraising goals are integrated into all major events, programs, and campaigns
  
  
• Partner with the Director of Culture and Strategy to embed fundraising into cultural activations and branded experiences
  
  
• Support leadership in donor-facing meetings, presentations, and relationship-building

Department Building & Management

• Build out and manage the fundraising infrastructure, systems, and processes
  
  
• Supervise the Fundraising Coordinator and provide clear workflows and accountability
  
  
• Maintain accurate donor records and reporting in the CRM

Stewardship & Accountability

• Oversee donor communications, acknowledgments, and impact reporting
  
  
• Track fundraising performance and provide regular updates to the Deputy Director
  

Who You Are in This Era

• You understand that fundraising is not extraction. It is redistribution, alignment, and repair.
• You see donors as co-investors in Black futures, not saviors.
• You are fluent in the language of wealth building, systems change, self-governance, and community infrastructure
  

Soft Skills, Power & Presence

• Charisma rooted in clarity and confidence.
• Social influence that makes people want to belong to this work.
• Swagger that communicates abundance, not scarcity.
• Deep relational intelligence across race, class, and ideology.

How You Move the Work

• Steward individual donors as long-term partners in Black renaissance.
• Manage grants with a relationship-first mindset. Grants as relationships, not transactions.
• Follow up like it’s a love language. Trust depends on it.
• Translate TEA’s work and values into compelling, values-aligned narratives that funders can feel.
• Work in close partnership with the executive leadership team to grow major gifts that fund scale, sustainability, and innovation.