Development Director

Washington Trails Association (WTA) is the nation’s largest hiking and trail maintenance nonprofit. We have a 50-year legacy of engaging the hiking community to ensure Washington's trails stand the test of time. With more than 27,000 members and an online community of over 300,000 and growing, we are connecting people to the outdoors — from everyday adventures to backcountry explorations. Each year 4,500 WTA volunteers perform over 160,000 hours of trail maintenance across the state. We mobilize hikers as public lands advocates, trail stewards and on-the-ground experts sharing knowledge with fellow hikers. WTA's strength is our community and our vision depends on fostering an inclusive organization where everyone feels welcome and represented. Together we can ensure there are trails for everyone, forever.

Role Responsibilities:

WTA is looking for an experienced fundraising leader to grow our successful development program. WTA’s Development Director powers our reach and impact by building and executing a fundraising strategy that expands our diversified and growing revenue base including annual fund contributions, individual major gifts, corporate support, grants and planned giving. This position leads WTA’s donor engagement while pursuing new fundraising strategies and opportunities.

Candidates will be evaluated on the full range of their lived and learned experience, professional background, volunteer experience, and direct and transferable skills. WTA is seeking candidates with a compelling combination of demonstrated experience, so we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet all the qualifications listed.

Required

• At least five years of experience overseeing and executing organizational fundraising strategies for a mission-driven organization, ideally with familiarity of a variety of relationships across individuals, major gifts, foundations and corporations.
• Successful track record of at least five years as a manager of people and teams by inspiring excellence, creating a culture of feedback and supporting staff members in their growth through mentoring and professional development.
• A strategic and entrepreneurial thinker who is eager to build funding strategies that achieve income growth through a combination of proven approaches, experimentation with new tactics, and exploration of new funding opportunities, with willingness to take risks.
• Solid analytical skills with experience defining performance indicators, analyzing performance and reporting, ideally with experience with multi-year fundraising budgets.
• An intuitive and authentic communicator who is able to persuasively communicate across diverse audiences in ways that instill confidence and inspire people to action.
• A highly skilled internal and external relationship builder, who fosters trust and deepens commitment and engagement.
• A strong commitment to advancing the organization’s goals for diversity, equity and inclusion and a demonstrated ability to work with people of diverse races, ages, genders, abilities and economic backgrounds.

Preferred

• Previous experience working closely with a board of directors and cross-functional leadership teams.
• Knowledge of the funding landscape for environmental and outdoor recreation nonprofit organizations.
• Familiarity with Salesforce or similar CRM platform.

Our ideal candidate is someone who is passionate about our mission and driven to expand our donor community and reach, helping us achieve trails for everyone, forever. The Development Director manages a strong seven-person team with broad expertise to deliver multifaceted development programs. The Development Director collaborates with WTA’s cross-functional leadership team to drive results and works closely with the CEO and Board of Directors. The team raises approximately 70% of the organization’s operating revenue each year, with a fundraising goal of $5 million for 2024. The Development Director is a full-time, exempt position and reports directly to the CEO.

Primary Responsibilities

Strategy and Organizational Leadership

• Develop, implement and evaluate a comprehensive fundraising strategy aligned with WTA’s mission, goals, and strategic priorities.
• Collaborate with and support the CEO and Board of Directors in setting and achieving development strategy, ensuring they have the tools to be effective ambassadors for the organization.
• Partner with the CEO and leadership team to identify resource development priorities, ensuring alignment with funding opportunities and organizational goals.
• Foster an organizational culture of philanthropy where fundraising is embraced as an essential part of building WTA’s community and advancing our mission.

Manage Development Programs

• Manage and mentor a talented team of seven development professionals, including four direct reports, and achieve results by encouraging collaboration, leveraging strengths and supporting professional development.
• Lead the development and execution of the annual fundraising plan and team work plan to achieve income goals, including overseeing a robust annual and institutional giving program and a growing major gifts program.
• Manage and grow a high-impact portfolio of individual, corporate and institutional donors and prospects, including all activities from cultivation to solicitation to stewardship.
• Guide donor management systems and processes to foster donor stewardship and accurate analytics.
• Prepare annual and multi-year revenue projections and funding priorities, meet reporting requirements and manage the development team budget.
• Identify and pursue strategies to grow memberships and expand additional revenue streams for the organization.

Candidate Qualifications:

Candidates will be evaluated on the full range of their lived and learned experience, professional background, volunteer experience, and direct and transferable skills. WTA is seeking candidates with a compelling combination of demonstrated experience, so we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet all the qualifications listed.

Required

• At least five years of experience overseeing and executing organizational fundraising strategies for a mission-driven organization, ideally with familiarity of a variety of relationships across individuals, major gifts, foundations and corporations.
• Successful track record of at least five years as a manager of people and teams by inspiring excellence, creating a culture of feedback and supporting staff members in their growth through mentoring and professional development.
• A strategic and entrepreneurial thinker who is eager to build funding strategies that achieve income growth through a combination of proven approaches, experimentation with new tactics, and exploration of new funding opportunities, with willingness to take risks.
• Solid analytical skills with experience defining performance indicators, analyzing performance and reporting, ideally with experience with multi-year fundraising budgets.
• An intuitive and authentic communicator who is able to persuasively communicate across diverse audiences in ways that instill confidence and inspire people to action.
• A highly skilled internal and external relationship builder, who fosters trust and deepens commitment and engagement.
• A strong commitment to advancing the organization’s goals for diversity, equity and inclusion and a demonstrated ability to work with people of diverse races, ages, genders, abilities and economic backgrounds.

Preferred

• Previous experience working closely with a board of directors and cross-functional leadership teams.
• Knowledge of the funding landscape for environmental and outdoor recreation nonprofit organizations.
• Familiarity with Salesforce or similar CRM platform.

To apply: submit a resume and a brief cover letter to jobs@wta.org. Include “Development Director” in the subject line.This position is open until filled. The hiring process for this role will include a phone screening, a virtual panel interview, final in-person panel interviews in Seattle and reference checks in the final stage. If you have any questions or need accommodation in our recruitment process, please contact jobs@wta.org. We look forward to hearing from you #J-18808-Ljbffr

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