Hill Learning Center Overview
Founded in 1977, Hill learning Center's mission is to transform students with learning differences into confident, independent learners. We pursue our mission through a range of K-12 student and educator programs and strategic partnerships with schools, districts, and leaders in the field.
Twenty percent of children – or 1 in 5 students – have learning and attention issues, yet only a small subset receive the specialized instruction or accommodations they need. Access to services, like those Hill offers, are too frequently predictable by a family’s income level or racial background. Thus, Hill actively works to reach, engage, and retain students and educators representing all races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities, and socioeconomic classes to experience and benefit fully from Hill programs and practices.
Our Student Programs include School, Summer, and Tutoring, reaching ~1,000 K-12 students in the Triangle region annually. Students receive differentiated, research-based instruction in reading, writing, math, and executive function study skills. Hill programs help students develop the academic, organizational, self-advocacy, and social-emotional skills they need to succeed in school, and in life.
Both in and beyond the Triangle region, our Professional Learning and Partnerships programs offer K-12 educators research-based instructional strategies and tools to teach reading, writing, math, and executive function skills in their own classrooms to students who struggle academically. Thousands of educators participate in Hill professional learning opportunities each year. Hill is placing an increasing emphasis on developing deeper connections and partnerships with schools, school districts, and youth-serving nonprofit organizations in the Triangle and surrounding communities.
The Philanthropy Team at Hill Learning Center is responsible for securing $1.2 - $2 million in gifts and grants annually to support pursuit of our mission, vision, and commitment to furthering access - working to ensure all students with learning differences and attention challenges, regardless of where they attend school or whether they have a formal diagnosis, receive the instruction and support they need.
Position Overview
Reporting to the Executive Director, the Director of Philanthropy provides visionary leadership and strategy, major gift and foundation fundraising capacity, and day-to-day operational oversight and execution of Hill Learning Center’s comprehensive fundraising program. This includes implementing best practices from the field to set the strategy for philanthropy at Hill Learning Center and aligning resources accordingly.
The Director will serve as an inspirational and effective leader of a small team, as well as the primary point of contact and philanthropic strategist across all organizational programs and initiatives. In addition, the Director will be a frontline fundraiser, overseeing a portfolio of institutional and individual prospects and donors and securing annual and multi-year support while simultaneously facilitating the philanthropic activities of Hill Learning Center leadership, including the Executive Director, Philanthropy Committee, and Board of Directors.
Hill Learning Center is at a critical and exciting inflection point with a fall 2024 planned leadership transition and launch of a new strategic plan grounded in deepening local impact and accessibility. In alignment with these changes, Hill has been building towards a shift from a fundraising model that has relied heavily on grants and foundations to one that better leverages the generosity and gratitude of individual donors. Over a nearly 50-year history, Hill has served many students and families, resulting in untapped philanthropic potential among individuals who wish to make a positive impact in the areas of learning differences and attention challenges and see Hill as the vehicle to do so. The next Director of Philanthropy will play a central role in setting strategy, building capacity and compelling proposals for local support, and laying the foundation for the organization’s individual giving program and future philanthropic success and sustainability.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities
Visionary Leadership and Strategy:
Major Gift Fundraising:
Operational Oversight and Execution:
Experience, Skills, and Expectations:
About Hill Learning Center:
Founded in 1977, Hill Learning Center is a hub for equitable and differentiated, research-based practices for supporting students with learning differences and attention challenges. Through a range of K-12 student and educator programs, and strategic partnerships with leaders in the field, Hill aspires to ensure students with learning and attention challenges receive the instruction and support they need, regardless of where they attend school or whether they have a formal diagnosis.
Hill Learning Center is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools. Hill is also approved by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction as an 'alternative' school for children with learning disabilities, and Hill’s Professional Development Training Program is accredited by the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council.
Core Values:
Hill grounds our work in our Core Values and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
We Learn We are lifelong learners. We approach all that we do with a growth mindset and a commitment to continuous learning and improvement. We learn from our students, our colleagues, other educators, and our partners. We seek out and embrace new ideas while remaining true to strategies we know work.
We Empower We empower students to take charge of their own learning and lives. We empower teachers to use their knowledge, skills and creativity to lead students to success. We empower staff to discover new and better ways of doing things.
We Reach We strive to reach an ever-increasing number of students, teachers, and schools to support their growth and success. We partner to extend our reach, expand our expertise, and learn from others. We challenge and support students, teachers, our partners, and our colleagues to reach their full potential.
We Relate We develop personal relationships with students, parents, teachers, colleagues, and partners. We empathize. We listen. We communicate. We collaborate. We connect. We relate.
We Care We care about students and their families. We care about teachers. We care about each other. We care about making a difference in students' lives, in schools and school districts, and in our community.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Statement:
Hill believes every student needs success.
We honor and value each individual.
We celebrate differences and diversity.
We are stronger when we are inclusive.
We strive for equity in all we do.
Furthering Access Statement:
We actively work to reach, engage, and retain students and educators representing all races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities, and socioeconomic classes to experience and benefit fully from Hill programs and practices.