Location: Colorado
Deadline for submission: May 19, 2023
Work Schedule: Non-exempt, Full-time

Conservation Colorado is seeking a Deputy Development Director. To support the ambitious work necessary to fight climate change and protect our state’s air, land, water, and communities, the person in this role will use their fundraising expertise to expand and deepen engagement with our individual donors and institutional funders. The Deputy Development Director will also support the Development team’s general communications efforts in collaboration with the Marketing and Communications team.

About Conservation Colorado
As the largest statewide environmental organization in Colorado, we work to protect our state’s climate, air, land, water, and communities. We play a unique role in Colorado as our work focuses on organizing communities, influencing decision-makers, and electing conservation-minded leaders. We believe that achieving racial, social, and environmental justice are critical to our mission.

Conservation Colorado is a family of five different legal entities focused on education, organizing, elections, and our Protégete program. Protégete—which means “protect yourself” in Spanish—is focused on building Latinx leadership and engagement on environmental issues. You can learn more about our mission by clicking here.

What You’ll Do

This Deputy Director of Development, who reports to the Vice President of Fundraising, is responsible for the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of a diverse portfolio of individual and institutional donors. This role will also support the Development team’s general communications efforts and will collaborate closely with the Marketing and Communications team. This role can evolve over time, but you will have the following specific areas of responsibility:

Fundraising and Donor Management

• Independently steward, cultivate and solicit a wide-ranging portfolio of individual and institutional donors using a moves management process for our family of organizations.
• Maintain regular contact with our donors to deepen our relationships in a way that will benefit both the donor and advance our fundraising goals
• Participate in crucial strategy development for a multi-channel fundraising plan that includes direct mail, digital, and peer-to-peer strategies, in service of our ambitious annual fundraising goals
• Responsible for identifying new sources of funding and donor prospects, fostering relationships between prospective donors and program leads, directors, or the CEO, as appropriate, to deepen engagement
• Become familiar with and able to articulate our mission and theory of change, to accurately and persuasively seek support for Conservation Colorado’s family of entities
• Own grant development and review processes by working with our external grant writer and ensuring that other staff complete their reviews on time, incorporating their feedback, and reconvening discussions as necessary to address questions that arise during review
• Work with the Operations and Finance team to keep track of grant commitments and payments and to request and format grant budgets and financial reports in a timely manner
• From time to time this position will be asked to represent the team in management or executive team meetings or at external events and meetings with donors

Communication and Marketing Support

• Serve as a writing resource for team members, utilizing foundation proposals, conversations with staff, and other language already developed by the Marketing and Communications Department to help develop first drafts of mailings, emails, and stewardship documents
• Ensure writing coming out of the Development team is consistent with organizational standards, including developing a proofreading system in collaboration with the Marketing and Communications team
• Work with the Marketing and Communications team to ensure a high degree of collaboration and effective communication between departments

In addition to your regular responsibilities, all staff are expected to participate at some level in organizational priorities including taking part in our election-related activities, and committing to our organizational efforts around equity & inclusivity.

Qualifications

To be successful in this role, you will have the ability to effectively cultivate and solicit donor support. More specifically you will have:

• 5-7 years of fundraising experience, with a strong preference for experience successfully soliciting, securing, and stewarding gifts from either individual or institutional donors
• Excellent communication (written, verbal, listening) skills, with an emphasis on the ability to persuasively articulate a case for support and actively listen to uncover interests and philanthropic motivation. This includes being able to create culturally competent fundraising materials to reach a variety of audiences.
• A strong project management background, with a demonstrated ability to strategically prioritize, meet deadlines, and manage multiple projects with limited oversight.
• The ability to work with a high degree of independence and frequently use discretion and independent judgment and to overcome obstacles and implement solutions with little direction.
• Interpersonal intelligence and cultural competency. Specifically, the ability to cultivate strong, genuine relationships with donors and colleagues across different social identities as well as the ability to effectively communicate about our racial and social justice work.
• A commitment to our mission and theory of change, with an appreciation for an organizational culture that is oriented to an advocacy-based environmental mission that centers equity, justice, and a theory of change that focuses on elections, policy, and organizing.

This position does not have an undergraduate education requirement. Spanish and English bilingualism is a skill we value, but it is not a requirement. This is a full-time job, but there can be some flexibility in the exact schedule.

Compensation and Benefits:

The full-time salary range for this role is between $75,000-$83,000 based on a wage analysis across the organization and new staff rarely starting at the top of the range. We provide high-quality, zero-deductible health insurance and a strong benefits package that includes a SIMPLE IRA retirement plan with a match, at least 28 days of vacation & holidays as well as 6 physical & mental wellness days in your first year, and parental leave and a sabbatical program. This job offers an opportunity to engage people to find solutions to some of the most important environmental issues in Colorado and work with a great team that is committed to a better, more equitable future. It will be challenging, inspiring, and sometimes frustrating, but you’ll be making a big difference. Please note that as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, Conservation Colorado employees are not eligible to participate in the Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

We are committed to building a more diverse and inclusive organization and conservation movement to fully represent and engage all Coloradans and to build as powerful a movement as we can. Recruiting staff that better reflects Colorado is a priority and we encourage applicants from all cultures, race, ethnicity, geographies, political affiliation, sexual orientations, gender identities, and all other identities represented in Colorado or protected by law. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

To Apply

If this job truly speaks to you please click here to submit a cover letter, a resume, and your answers to a few short questions. If you have a disability and need accommodation or assistance with our online application process, please tell us how we can help by calling us at 303.333.7846.