Chief Development Officer

Chief Development Officer

The Chief Development Officer is a senior executive responsible for building and leading the infrastructure that supports a $35M+ fundraising operation. This role is primarily focused on enterprise-level strategy and operational leadership rather than direct frontline fundraising. While the CDO serves as a key thought partner to the President, CEO, Board of Directors, and Executive Leadership Team on major donor strategy and high-level engagements, the core responsibility of the role is to design, implement, and continuously strengthen the systems, structures, and capabilities that enable a high-performing development function.

The ideal candidate is a systems-oriented leader and organizational builder who excels in creating operational clarity, scalable processes, and data-informed decision-making frameworks. They bring a strong focus on executional excellence, pipeline discipline, and cross-functional alignment. This leader will oversee a comprehensive Development function that includes major and principal gifts, capital campaigns, corporate and foundation partnerships, direct marketing, planned giving and endowment, donor operations, and stewardship. They ensure each area operates with clear goals, defined accountability, and consistent performance measurement aligned to organizational priorities.

The Chief Development Officer must be able to travel overnight several times per year to attend leadership retreats, staff off-sites, and organization-wide events. Participation in these gatherings is an essential function of the role.

Key Job Functions

• Design and lead the structure of the Development department, ensuring appropriate roles, spans of control, reporting lines, and performance metrics are in place to support a $35M+ revenue base and long-term growth trajectory.
• Develop and own the multi-year development strategy, translating organizational priorities into annual revenue goals, channel-specific targets, staffing models, and operating budgets.
• Serve as a member of the Executive Leadership Team, providing senior-level expertise on philanthropy, advancement operations, and revenue strategy; partner closely with the CFO on revenue forecasting, gift accounting, and audit readiness.
• Establish and sustain a culture of accountability and high performance through clear role design, defined performance expectations, standardized scorecards, regular pipeline reviews, and structured coaching.

Internal Processes & Operating Systems

• Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of core Development processes, including moves management, prospect identification and qualification, proposal development, grant submission and reporting, gift entry and acknowledgment, pledge management, and donor stewardship workflows.
• Own and optimize the Development technology ecosystem (e.g., Salesforce CRM, prospect research and wealth screening tools, marketing automation, and grants management systems), ensuring integration, configuration integrity, and reliable data output.
• Establish and enforce data governance standards across constituent records, gift coding, campaign and appeal tracking, restriction designations, and pipeline stages to ensure accuracy and consistency in all reporting.
• Develop and maintain a standardized reporting cadence, including weekly pipeline reports, monthly KPI and revenue dashboards, quarterly Board reports, and annual fundraising performance reviews.
• Define and document policies and standard operating procedures for gift acceptance, naming and recognition, donor privacy, conflicts of interest, and ethical fundraising practices in alignment with AFP, CASE, and DMA standards.

Revenue Function Oversight

• Major & Principal Gifts: Oversee team leadership and infrastructure, ensuring disciplined moves management, portfolio design, solicitation readiness, and pipeline health. Support the President and Board with briefings and structured engagement strategies.
• Capital Campaigns: Lead the operational framework for current and future campaigns, including case development, feasibility study coordination, gift range modeling, pledge tracking, campaign reporting, and post-campaign stewardship.
• Corporate & Foundation Grants: Oversee institutional giving systems, including grants calendars, proposal workflows, compliance tracking, renewal cycles, and coordination with Programs and Finance for alignment on outcomes and budgets.
• Direct Marketing: Oversee multi-channel direct response strategy, including donor acquisition, retention, reactivation, and upgrade pathways across email, direct mail, digital advertising, telemarketing, SMS, and peer-to-peer channels. Ensure rigorous segmentation, testing frameworks, vendor management, and performance-based ROI analysis to inform investment strategy.
• Planned Giving & Endowment: Build and manage infrastructure for legacy giving, including marketing systems, stewardship programs, gift administration processes, and coordination with Finance on endowment policy and gift acceptance.
• Annual Fund & Mid-Level Giving: Ensure data-driven segmentation, integrated multi-channel execution, and a clear progression from acquisition through retention and upgrade in close coordination with Direct Marketing.

Team Leadership & Talent Development

• Directly manage senior Development leaders across Major Gifts, Institutional Giving, Capital Campaigns, Direct Marketing, Donor Operations, and Stewardship & Events, serving as coach, performance manager, and escalation point.
• Build and strengthen the Development talent pipeline through workforce planning, role design, compensation benchmarking, recruitment, onboarding, and ongoing professional development in partnership with Human Resources.
• Foster strong cross-functional collaboration with Programs, Marketing & Communications, Finance, and Tech to ensure integrated execution and alignment across the organization.

Board, President & External Engagement

• Serve as a strategic advisor to the President on fundraising strategy, donor portfolio design, and high-priority external engagements.
• Staff the Board Development or Advancement Committee, providing strategic insight, performance reporting, and decision-support materials; support Board member engagement and onboarding related to fundraising capacity.
• Represent the organization externally in select donor meetings, partner engagements, and sector convenings, primarily in a supporting and enabling capacity to frontline fundraising staff rather than as the primary relationship owner.
• Other duties as assigned

Required Experience, Skills & Background

• Bachelor's degree in nonprofit management, business administration, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 12+ years of progressive nonprofit development, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role overseeing a multi-channel fundraising operation
• Demonstrated track record of building or rebuilding development infrastructure — systems, processes, reporting, and team structure — in an organization of $25M+ in annual revenue excluding government funds.
• Deep expertise in CRM administration and development operations (Salesforce NPC), including data governance, gift coding, and reporting architecture.
• Direct experience leading or supporting comprehensive or capital campaigns ($25M+), with mastery of campaign mechanics: gift-range charts, pipeline staging, pledge accounting, and campaign reporting.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing a direct marketing or direct response program at scale, including multi-channel acquisition, renewal, mid-level upgrade strategy, list and audience management, testing discipline, and agency/vendor oversight.
• Proven success managing and developing high-performing teams of 8+ professionals, including senior individual contributors and people-managers.
• Strong financial acumen, including experience partnering with a CFO on revenue forecasting, restricted-fund tracking, and audit preparation.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate complex data into clear executive- and Board-level narratives.
• Willingness and ability to work nights, weekends, or holidays as required.
• Ability to travel overnight several times per year for required in-person gatherings.

Desired Experience, Skills & Background

• Direct experience serving military, Veteran, or military-family-focused organizations, or lived experience as a member of the military community.
• CFRE, ACFRE, or equivalent professional credential.
• Comfort and confidence in high-visibility, external-facing roles.

More About Blue Star Families

Blue Star Families empowers military and Veteran families to thrive by connecting them with their civilian neighbors — both people and organizations — to create strong communities of mutual support. We believe we're all stronger when we take care of one another.

Our groundbreaking research is raising the nation's awareness of the unique challenges of military family life. With the help of neighbors across the country, Blue Star Families is overcoming the isolation and alienation of frequent moves, deployments, and reduced support from the government. Our innovative programs are solving specific challenges for military families, including fighting economic insecurity with resources that foster spouse career development, creating family strength with rich family programming, and providing critical peer support for caregivers, whose numbers are only increasing.

Blue Star Families is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

EEO Policy

Blue Star Families is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.