Development Manager

Development Manager

The Foundation for American Innovation champions the technology, talent, and ideas essential to American prosperity, security, and flourishing. We are builders, hackers, and scholars advancing an optimistic vision of the future—aligning technology with human ends to forge a more perfect union between innovation and the American republic.

To support this mission, FAI is seeking a development manager to join the team, reporting directly to the vice president of growth. This role is central to FAI's fundraising operation and involves building and managing relationships with donors and funders, maintaining the integrity of our CRM, and helping translate our policy mission into compelling cases for support. The ideal candidate brings a mix of relationship instincts, operational rigor, and genuine enthusiasm for FAI's work.

This is a role for someone who is energized by both the relational and administrative dimensions of development work—someone who can manage a donor pipeline with discipline, communicate FAI's mission credibly, and help the VP of growth move fast on opportunities.

This is a full-time position based in Washington, DC.

Responsibilities

• CRM Ownership : Maintain and continuously improve FAI's donor CRM. Own data hygiene, contact records, interaction logs, and pipeline tracking. Build reports and dashboards that give the VP of growth clear visibility into fundraising status and next steps.
• Donor Relationship Management : Manage a portfolio of existing donor relationships through timely outreach, meeting coordination, and follow-through. Draft personalized communications and stewardship materials to keep funders engaged between major touchpoints.
• Pipeline Development : Research prospective funders aligned with FAI's mission. Build prospect profiles, identify warm entry points, and help develop outreach strategies. Track prospects through the pipeline from first contact to grant commitment.
• Cross-Team Coordination: You will be the team's main representative to FAI's other departments, working with Departments to raise money for their teams, Operations to facilitate team budgeting and administrative compliance, and External Relations to promote your team's work and plan events.
• Grant Coordination : Work with program staff to gather the information needed for grant proposals and reports. Track reporting deadlines and ensure deliverables are met on time. Maintain accurate records of grant agreements and funding commitments.
• Meeting and Materials Preparation : Prepare briefing materials, donor memos, and pitch decks ahead of funder meetings. Capture notes and action items, and ensure follow-up happens promptly.
• Development Operations : Support the VP of growth on cross-functional projects as needed, including development events, funder convenings, and internal process improvements.

Qualifications

You'll be a great fit if you:

• Get genuine satisfaction from being the person who makes everything run—you don't need the spotlight, but you take pride in knowing the operation wouldn't work without you.
• Are a natural relationship-tracker—you remember the details, follow up without being asked, and make donors feel like they're a priority.
• Have strong opinions about CRM hygiene. A messy pipeline bothers you. You fix it.
• Can move fluidly between a high-level funder conversation and a spreadsheet of grant deadlines.
• Thrive in a fast-moving, intellectually serious environment where you're expected to take ownership and figure things out.
• Are enthusiastic about FAI's mission of aligning technology with human ends to forge a more perfect union between innovation and the American republic, and can convey that conviction to the people we're asking to fund it.

Physical requirements: Ability to frequently navigate multiple flights of stairs throughout the workday in a multi-story facility without elevator access.

Benefits and Perks

• The projected salary range for this role is $75,000–$125,000 per year, commensurate with experience.
• Health, dental, vision, and life insurance
• 401(k) match up to 6%
• $1,000 annual book credit
• Monthly commuter benefit
• Unlimited vacation policy