Director of Development

Job Title: Director of Development

Posting Timeframe: Desired Start Date: June 15. Applications accepted through May 15.

Position Type: Exempt – full time (40 hours per week)

Reports to: Vice President of Development

Salary Range: $75,000-$77,300 annually, depending on experience. Visit the Careers section of our website at www.uwaylc.org for full benefit information.

What it’s like to work at United Way

Are you passionate about empowering children and youth? Do you believe in the power of community to create meaningful, lasting change? If so, you’ve come to the right place. 

At United Way of Larimer County, we’re building a future where every child has the support they need to thrive. We’re driving real impact by expanding access to affordable child care, strengthening family financial stability, promoting literacy, and building community hubs that bring essential resources together under one roof. 

We are committed to advancing equity, closing disparity gaps, and expanding opportunity for those historically excluded from access and resources. 

As part of our fun, collaborative team, you’ll work alongside dedicated partners to champion innovative solutions that uplift kids and families across Larimer County. Enjoy great benefits, including generous PTO, a hybrid work schedule, paid health benefits, and more! 

We welcome diverse perspectives and encourage candidates from historically excluded groups to apply. If you’re passionate about our mission — even if you don’t meet every qualification — we’d love to hear from you! 

Scope of Position

Seeking an experienced fundraising professional to supervise a team of Development Officers into a re-imagined chapter of fundraising.

Reporting directly to the VP of Development, the Development Director is responsible for translating fundraising strategy into coordinated execution across both corporate and individual giving portfolios. This role directly manages a team of Development Officers and works closely with the VP to operationalize priorities and ensure strong execution across donor acquisition, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and long-term relationship growth.

This role will support and operationalize strategy for engaging new and current donors to meet the needs of UWLC’s growing programs. Further, the position will be responsible for strengthening donor affinity groups, creating structure for UWLC’s legacy giving program, and expanding opportunities for corporate partners.

The Development Director supports Development Officers, managing mixed individual and corporate portfolios and is responsible for strengthening pipeline development, forecasting, and day-to-day operating rhythms to drive performance across revenue streams. In partnership with Marketing, Impact, and other internal teams, this role helps align priorities, improve coordination, and ensure effective execution across the donor lifecycle.

In addition to supervising responsibilities, the Development Director will also manage their own portfolio of corporate and individual donors. Experience in major giving is a plus.

Overall, this position serves as a key connector between strategy and execution, helping create clarity, consistency, and momentum across development efforts.

Key Responsibilities

1. Gift Solicitation: Build and maintain relationships with key donors and stakeholders. Solicit gifts from individual and corporate donors, including major gifts and multi-year commitments. Successfully identify potential individual donors, assess their philanthropic interests, evaluate their capacity for giving, and identify growth tracks for current donors. Similarly, identify prospects for new corporate partnerships, including potential sponsorships, employee giving campaigns, and expanding the relationship with current corporate partners.
2. Strategic Execution and Team Supervision: Develop and execute fundraising strategies to meet financial goals. Supervise and support Development Officers by setting performance expectations, monitoring portfolio progress, providing coaching, and fostering professional development. Partner with the Vice President of Development to sustain diverse revenue streams and expand opportunities with individual and corporate donors. Collaborate with Community Impact and Finance leaders to align fundraising efforts with organizational priorities and program needs.
3. Operational Excellence: Develop and implement inclusive strategies to identify, cultivate, diversify, and engage donors, including major donors, corporate partners, and legacy giving prospects. Build customized stewardship touch points for each Development Officer to apply across their portfolio of donors. This will include touch points for various types of individual and corporate donors. Oversee stewardship plans that recognize donors, strengthen engagement, and foster ongoing support for the organization's mission.
4. Cross-Functional Coordination: Partner with the Marketing, Communications, and Engagement team to develop coordinated strategies for donor-facing content, campaigns, and events across key donor segments, including appeal letters, email campaigns, newsletters, donor materials, digital content, and donor engagement events. Support internal structures and shared processes that strengthen alignment, event execution, and stewardship efforts across departments.
5. Pipeline, Forecasting & Data Oversight: Utilize fundraising software to track and maintain constituent information, prospecting, and engagement activities. Collaborate with Donor Services Manager to create new, customized dashboard for each member of the fundraising team. Support the Vice President of Development in generating donor reports, managing the fundraising team’s budget, establishing key performance indicators, and providing insights and recommendations for improvement.

Required Qualifications

1. Experience: Minimum of 5 years of demonstrated success in fundraising or development roles. Experience in sales and/or account management will also be considered.
2. Relationship Building and Fundraising Knowledge: Demonstrated capacity to establish and sustain strong relationships with individual donors, foundations, and businesses while also possessing expertise in fundraising best practices, donor cultivation and stewardship strategies, and knowledge of industry trends.
3. Strategic Thinking and Results Orientation: Demonstrates strong analytical and problem-solving skills, translating strategic thinking into actionable plans and achieving or surpassing fundraising goals, with an emphasis on diverse revenue growth and donor retention.
4. Computer Proficiency: Proficient in using fundraising software and donor databases. Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite is expected.

Preferred Qualifications

1. Team Supervision: Demonstrated ability to effectively manage and support a team, and foster collaboration, accountability, and strong performance. Proven ability to work cross-functionally with colleagues and stakeholders to achieve shared goals. Supervisory experience preferred.
2. Education: While academic credentials in business, communications and marketing, nonprofit management, or related fields are preferred, they are not required. Relevant professional and volunteer experience will also be considered.
3. Commitment to Mission: Genuine passion for the non-profit sector and alignment with the organization's mission and values and committed to equity.