Westmark School, a nationally recognized leader in educating neurodiverse learners, is seeking a dynamic and visionary Director of Development to join our senior leadership team. This is a pivotal moment in Westmark’s history to build upon record-breaking parent and faculty and staff participation in the School’s annual giving program known as the Westmark Fund, as well as philanthropic momentum to expand our impact.

The Director of Development will champion a culture of generosity, expand constituent engagement (current families, grandparents, alumni and their families, and former trustees), and inspire collective action across the community. This role offers the opportunity to help shape the future of learning differences (LD) education by connecting donor passion with institutional transformation.

The School is looking for a seasoned development professional who is equally comfortable working as a high-level administrator and as a boots-on-the-ground staff member who rolls up their shirt sleeves to execute and implement plans. 

If you are a strategic fundraiser, a collaborative leader, and a storyteller at heart, we invite you to apply and help us write the next chapter of Westmark’s mission.

Our Mission

Westmark School is a creative and supportive college preparatory school dedicated to educating, empowering, and celebrating students with distinct learning styles, providing the tools necessary to achieve successful and fulfilling futures.

The Westmark Difference

Westmark School transforms lives at every age and every grade. We spark the imaginations of our youngest learners as they explore their world and learn to love learning again; nourish the growth of our Middle School students as they develop character and confidence; and illuminate futures for our high school students as they become seasoned communicators, self-directed learners, responsible members of society, and critical thinkers who push past limits and reach for success.

Westmark provides a research-based education for Grades 2–12 students with dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphic, and other language-based learning differences (LD), often combined with ADHD. Because our students think and learn differently, we teach differently. And the difference is brilliant. Our college-preparatory curriculum differentiates instruction based on each student’s unique strengths and needs and enables them to discover not only their personal academic style, but also discover that thinking and learning differently carries its own unique rewards.

Founded in 1983 as Landmark West School, Westmark School recently celebrated its fortieth anniversary. Across many phases of campus, curricular, and administrative growth, the School has remained deeply committed to offering a nurturing, highly specialized education to its neurodiverse student body. As it looks ahead to the future, Westmark strives to sustain its success as a center of excellence in the field of LD education.

In January 2024, Westmark opened an innovatively designed, state-of-the-art Lower School Campus. The promise of this long-planned project was bold: to create an optimal environment in which to educate and empower our youngest learners with language-based LD. Representing a major investment in early intervention, the facility enables us to increase Grades 2–5 enrollment while maintaining small class sizes and low student-teacher ratios. Coupled with strategic efforts to increase tuition assistance, Westmark looks forward to engaging many more mission-fit students so that they can access our evidence-backed curriculum from an early age and grow in our close-knit and inclusive community.

Claudia Koochek, a highly esteemed educator in the LD community, brings a unique passion and energy to Westmark as its Head of School, a position she has held since 2015. She is dedicated to the practice of personalized learning, assistive and instructional technologies, and experiential and service learning, all essential components for student success at Westmark.

Philanthropy at Westmark

Over the last three years, Westmark’s culture of philanthropy has strengthened tremendously through robust parent education about the importance of collective giving, as well as through strong volunteerism by Westmark Fund ambassadors and other key constituents who are well-trained and supported in their work. The Board of Trustees leads by example, contributing to the Westmark Fund, the annual Spring Gala,  and capital campaigns.

Each year, the School raises around $625,000 for the Westmark Fund. This year parent participation reached 100% for the first time in over a decade. The Spring Gala raises approximately $200,000 for tuition assistance and $100,000 for special projects.  In recent years, Westmark completed a capital campaign for a new Lower School, which opened in January of 2023. Westmark’s current major gifts initiative is Changing Lives, specifically designed to raise funds for tuition assistance.

To learn about recent fundraising efforts, please read our Report on Philanthropy, 2024–2025.

Position Description

Reporting to the Head of School, the Director of Development is responsible for providing leadership to and executing the School’s fundraising and constituent relations programs—including annual giving, foundation relations, major gifts, planned giving, and capital campaigns. The Director of Development develops strategies to strengthen relationships across all constituencies and works closely with the Head of School, Advancement Committee, and other key volunteer committees to create and sustain a culture of philanthropy. The Director of Development also serves as a liaison to the Westmark Parent Association (WPA).

Essential Responsibilities

Fundraising Strategy and Leadership

• Inspire a culture of generosity among parents, grandparents, faculty and staff, alumni, alumni parents, former trustees and community partners.
• Develop strong working relationships with members of the Board of Trustees, including staffing the Advancement Committee.
• Provide leadership to the Westmark Parent Association in building a strong sense of community among current parents.
• Develop and implement comprehensive fundraising plans aligned with school priorities.
• Partner with Head of School, Board members, and others to cultivate, solicit and steward donors.
• Appropriately coach and prepare all staff, Board members, and volunteers engaged in solicitation activities.

Constituent Engagement

• Develop tailored strategies to engage parents, grandparents, alumni, alumni parents and former Trustees in the life of the school, including deepening their connection to Westmark’s mission.
• Create opportunities for meaningful involvement through events, communications, and recognition programs that celebrate their impact.
• Strengthen long-term relationships across generations of the school community, ensuring inclusivity and continuity in donor engagement.

Communications and Brand Alignment

• Collaborate closely with Marketing and Communications to produce integrated donor messaging and materials, including related print and digital projects for the Westmark Fund, Holiday Gift Fund, Spring Gala, and Report on Philanthropy, which require a significant amount of copywriting and fact-checking.
• Ensure fundraising communications reflect Westmark’s brand and highlight program successes.

Operational Excellence

• Provide periodic analysis of fundraising programs to the Head of School and Board, as appropriate.
• Collaborate with finance staff to integrate fundraising projections into budgets.
• Oversee the independent contractor providing Raisers Edge services. Responsible for donor list accuracy across materials.

Specific Duties

In collaboration with the Head of School, and finance and program staff, assist in the preparation of annual operating plans and budgets, appropriately incorporating fundraising projections and other data into the organization’s budgets and financial reports.

Westmark Fund

• Develops a detailed plan for the Westmark Fund, including revenue and expenditures for inclusion in the overall advancement plan.
• Sets annual giving goals based on historical analysis of donors, prospect base, and School needs. Uses wealth screening, giving history, and other information to determine appropriate ask amounts for each constituent.
• Establishes a detailed calendar of solicitations by targeted constituency and fundraising strategy and develops targeted campaigns for parents of current students, grandparents of current students, alumni parents, alumni, and faculty and staff.
• Enlists Westmark Fund Chairs and Ambassadors.
• Staffs the volunteer leadership for the Westmark Fund, including ensuring that volunteers receive the appropriate training, support, and recognition.
• Personally contacts, cultivates, solicits, and stewards prospects, as appropriate, for the Westmark Fund.
• Provides ongoing analysis and evaluation of solicitation programs and monitors results in order to meet goals.
• Collaborates with the Director of Strategic Marketing and Strategic Communications and Assistant Director of Communications in writing and producing Westmark Fund collateral.

Foundation Relations

• Develops and implements a plan to obtain annual and major gift support from foundations.
• Develops relationships with program officers as appropriate.
• Tracks top foundations to ensure that a proposal is cued up at all time.
• Conducts research to identify foundations likely to contribute to School programs and projects based upon giving patterns, areas of interest, and relationships with School administrators, faculty, volunteers, parents, and trustees.
• Drafts and submits proposals, including tracking progress of proposals through decision making cycle, developing strategies for follow-up and intermediate moves between application and decision, and determining reasons when proposals are rejected.
• Solicits assistance and involvement of faculty and others as appropriate in the preparation and submission of proposals and in the cultivation and solicitation process.
• Ensures that thank-you letters and timely follow-up reports are drafted and signed as appropriate.
• Establishes and maintains a system for monitoring and reporting the pledged and awarded funds from foundations.

Major Gifts/Campaigns

• Staffs the Head of School, Board members and others in cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major gifts for the school.
• Oversees prospect identification, evaluation, assignment, and tracking of major gift prospects.
• Writes proposals, including editing as necessary;
• Works collaboratively with campaign counsel in executing any campaigns that the school embarks upon.

Planned Giving

• Design and implement a planned giving program that encourages donors to include Westmark School in their estate and long-term financial plans.
• Cultivate relationships with alumni, alumni parents, grandparents, and community members to inspire legacy commitments that sustain the school’s mission for generations.
• Collaborate with legal and financial advisors to ensure planned gifts are structured effectively and align with donor intent.
• Provide clear, compassionate guidance to donors exploring bequests, charitable trusts, and other legacy vehicles.
• Oversee recognition and stewardship of planned giving donors, ensuring their contributions are honored and celebrated as part of Westmark’s philanthropic culture.·

Spring Gala

• Procures sponsorships and high-value auction items.
• Secures auction bids and paddle raises in advance to build momentum for event success.
• Works in conjunction with the Marketing and Communications, Event Management, and Business Office teams on event planning and execution and post-event analysis.
• Promotes attendance by constituents.

Stewardship

• Develops a comprehensive stewardship plan designed to build a culture of philanthropy and appropriately thank and recognize donors.
• Ensures there is ample inventory of mementos and gifts for donors and volunteers to be given in appreciation.
• Ensures donors are thanked for their Westmark Fund, Spring Gala, and campaign gifts and that communications are thoughtful and inspire donors to give repeatedly.
• Responsible for post-gift stewardship of each donor with the highest possible degree of personalized attention, arranging for interactions with the Head of School, and Trustees, as appropriate.
• Performs other duties as assigned by the Head of School.
  
  

Physical Demands and Work Environment

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit in on meetings and work on a computer for long periods of time; and is occasionally required to walk, reach with hands and arms, balance, stoop, talk, and hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 15 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, and the ability to adjust focus.

How to Apply

Interested applicants should submit electronically and as separate documents the following materials:

• Cover letter expressing interest in the Director of Development position
• Current resume
• List of five references with contact information, including email addresses:

Westmark School is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit and job performance. School policy prohibits discrimination based on race, color, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, marital status, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical conditions (including genetic characteristics or information), sexual orientation, or any other consideration made unlawful by federal, state, and local laws.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of relevant fundraising experience.
• Strong track record of progressively challenging fundraising success, including in annual fund/event, major gifts, planned giving, and/or capital campaigns.
• Strong and demonstrated experience leading and engaging all stakeholders: trustees,
  colleagues, parents, students, alumni, other donors, partners, and volunteers.
• CRM database and general technology experience and proficiency required; Raiser’s Edge experience strongly preferred.
• Understanding of independent school communities and culture.
• Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills.
• Detail-oriented and highly organized.
• Actively engaged in professional development and current on best practices.
• Customer service mindset: personable, positive, helpful, with a sense of humor.
• Sensitivity, discretion, and demonstrated ability to use good judgment and maintain confidentiality.
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple responsibilities simultaneously.
• Ability to manage competing demands, and adapt to frequent or unexpected changes.
• Bachelor’s degree required; relevant advanced degree preferred.

About Westmark School

Westmark School is a creative and supportive college preparatory school dedicated to educating, empowering and celebrating students with distinct learning styles, providing the tools necessary to achieve successful and fulfilling futures. Located in Encino, CA, Westmark offers competitive salaries and comprehensive employee benefits. We seek talented professionals committed to excellence.

Connections working at Westmark School