Senior Development Associate | Advance Illinois

Organization Overview

Advance Illinois is a not-for-profit policy and advocacy organization that works toward a healthy public education system that prepares students to achieve success in college, career, and civic life. We are committed to an aligned education system across the B-20 continuum that strives for equity, stresses college and career readiness and completion, and supports the whole child from the earliest years through adulthood. We believe every child should have access to high-quality education and care, regardless of geography, income, or race.

Spanning the early childhood through higher education continuum, Advance Illinois analyzes research, data, and best practice; engages practitioners, families, and partners; and develops and promotes policies designed to strengthen public education, higher education, and early childhood education and care in Illinois.

In 2025, Advance Illinois completed a new and ambitious five year-strategic plan that calls for expanding its capacity and growing its annual budget to roughly $3.5M a year. Advance Illinois is seeking a passionate and committed individual who is looking to grow in the not-for-profit space as a development professional and can thrive in a fast-paced and high-energy workplace to support the teams' efforts to grow revenue over time. This position will support all fundraising and development operations, including overseeing cultivation and stewardship events, grant-writing, prospect research and more.

Position Summary

The Senior Development Associate reports to and works collaboratively with the Director of Development to execute a comprehensive, growing and sustainable year-round fundraising program to maintain and grow the general operations and programs of Advance Illinois.

The Sr. Development Associates’ core responsibilities will touch on all aspects of the fundraising operations, with a particular focus on grant-writing, prospect research and overseeing the grants calendar. In addition to planning and executing small to medium size annual cultivation events, this position will also support the growth of a year-round donor engagement and communications plan and keep the database up to date. A strong candidate will be a self-starter, have a strong work ethic and have the ability to work independently and collaboratively to meet deadlines. Having strong writing skills is a must for this position and prior grant experience is highly desirable.

Essential Functions

Grant Writing and Grants Management Support:

 Provide strong support in grant writing and reporting, in addition to overseeing the grants calendar, and post-award procedures.

 Develop an effective and streamlined prospect research system to support ongoing identification of aligned and sustainable funding relationships to grow average revenue over time.

 Support the Development Director in developing and tracking meaningful metrics for the organization's robust grants program and portfolio.

Year-Round Donor Cultivation, Stewardship and Solicitation:

 Events: In collaboration with Community Engagement and other team members, plan, manage and execute annual cultivation and stewardship events for funders, donors and stakeholders; including the Legislative Forum’s Chicago event, a Legislative Session Recap, and events as needed to spotlight key activities or to disseminate important reports.

 Annual Appeal: Support the Development Director in planning and executing the annual appeal, including crafting messaging, coordinating outreach and board solicitations, and tracking metrics.

 Communications and Engagement: Develop a year-long donor engagement and communications strategy alongside the Director of Development and manage ongoing donor communications such as tax acknowledgements and meaningful and planned updates on Advance Illinois’ work. Identify creative ways to collect and share stories of impact with Advance Illinois’ supporters, connecting the systemic work back to the human side and impact on the ground.

General Team Operations:

 Collaborate closely with the Director of Development to create and implement intentional fundraising strategies throughout the year to grow average yearly revenue over the next three to four years.

 Support the team by helping develop essential benchmark reports that measure the team's progress throughout the year in meeting its yearly goals to present to leadership and the Board.

 Enter and maintain all relevant development data, reports and dashboards (Progress towards goals, grants dashboard, and board engagement, etc) in Salesforce (with NPSP) ensuring the health of key data and metrics to support the ongoing growth of the organization's revenue, in addition to effective engagement of stakeholders.

 Work with the Development Director to stay informed about Advance Illinois’ key priorities, work streams, and progress in order to effectively articulate what we do and are doing to funders and donors.

 Represent Advance Illinois with funders, donors, stakeholders and vendors.

 Make an active effort to stay up to date with fundraising best practices to support the team's ongoing efforts, including investing time into ongoing learning and training to support your role and career development.

Competencies and Attributes

 Education: Bachelor's degree required; Master's or fundraising certification is a plus.

 Experience: 3-5 years in fundraising or grant-writing; prior experience in policy or education non-profits is beneficial.

 Passion for Educational Equity: Strong commitment to Advance Illinois' mission and systemic change.

 Prior Grant Experience: Proven success in securing grants and managing grant processes.

 Strong Writing Skills: Ability to simplify complex ideas and connect systemic work to human impact, in addition to write towards different audiences. You see yourself as a storyteller.

 CRM Knowledge: Experience with non-profit CRM systems, preferably Salesforce with NPSP and a commitment to good data health and maintenance.

 Communication Skills: Effective interpersonal skills and comfort in soliciting donations.

 Time Management and Organization Skills: Have identified and developed the organization and time management system that supports you in completing tasks in a timely manner. You are comfortable pivoting between high-level, strategic work and small tasks (we are a small but mighty team!)

 Commitment to Ongoing Learning: Committed to continuing to learn fundraising best practices and have the ability to apply them to your work and the team's strategy.

 Additional Attributes: Positive attitude, strong work ethic, collaborative, creative, solutions-oriented, inquisitive, and curious.

Working Location

Advance Illinois is a hybrid workplace. In general, employees are expected to work from the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays and have a floating day of their choice as well as be present at in-person meetings with partners as needed. The organization has offices in both Chicago and Springfield, abides by CDC and other health and safety guidelines, and staff are expected to be vaccinated.

Compensation

Competitive salary commensurate with experience within a starting pay band ($58,000-65,000 base salary), with the expectation and ability to earn an additional 10% bonus, for a total compensation range of $63,800-71,500, along with excellent benefits such as: health/dental insurance; short-term/long-term disability plans; 401K with a company match plan; flexible spending account; holidays and vacation accrual.

Commitment to Diversity

Advance Illinois is an equal opportunity employer with a commitment to engaging the skills and leadership of people of color, individuals from low-income backgrounds, LGBTQ+ persons, differently abled people, and other people from diverse backgrounds. People from these and other historically marginalized backgrounds and communities are strongly encouraged to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, political affiliation, mental or physical disability, age, marital status, family status, or veteran status. 

To apply:

1. Please complete the linked; questionnaire 

2. Submit a resume to: development@advanceillinois.org.

All resume submissions will be acknowledged. Applicants selected for an interview will be contacted. Please do not call Advance Illinois.