Development Officer

Development Officer

This is a full-time position with American Bird Conservancy (ABC), a fast-growing, results-focused wildlife conservation nonprofit with an annual budget of around $40M and a dispersed workforce throughout the United States. ABC tackles the greatest problems facing birds today, innovating and building on rapid advancements in science to halt extinctions, protect habitats, eliminate threats, and build capacity for bird conservation.

With a positive atmosphere, fun and dedicated colleagues, and leadership that values transparency and innovation, ABC is an environment where employees can thrive both personally and professionally. ABC is seeking employees with an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to make a difference for birds throughout the Americas.

The Development Officer position will serve as the lead for raising private funds for various programs at ABC, including the BirdsPlus Program, which incentivizes and catalyzes farmers, ranchers, and companies (particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean) to adopt conservation practices that restore and maintain habitat for healthy populations of birds. In addition, the program connects companies and investors with high-impact conservation projects that meet sustainability goals and generate returns for investors and communities and harnesses the power of birdsong to measure the ecological impact of conservation investments.

For this role, we prefer someone with experience in building and managing relationships with corporate partners, sponsors, and mission-aligned investors. This position requires a candidate who is comfortable representing the organization externally and communicating its value to corporate and investment audiences. The Development Officer will help identify new funding opportunities, cultivate corporate and philanthropic partnerships, and support marketing and communications efforts that strengthen program visibility and positioning. The ideal candidate has experience in corporate engagement, understands how to communicate impact and value to external stakeholders, and is comfortable working with both philanthropic and investment-oriented audiences.

Primary duties include:

• Develop and implement fundraising strategies, in coordination with program and development directors, to meet or exceed programmatic annual and long-term fundraising goals.
• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward relationships with corporate partners, high-net-worth individuals, impact-oriented investors, and foundations.
• Lead on donor communications, including reports and updates on conservation impact, thank-you letters, and other personalized outreach and donor recognition efforts.
• Assist in developing materials for funders and investors, including pitch decks and proposals.
• Assist with creation of outreach materials including presentations, one-pagers, and digital content.
• Support campaigns that increase visibility and engagement with partners and funders.
• Represent the organization at external meetings, conferences, and networking events.
• Uphold the highest level of grant and gift stewardship.
• Ensure compliance with gift acceptance, reporting standards, and donor intent.
• Track fundraising progress and maintain accurate donor and prospect records in ABC's CRM (EveryAction), and other tracking systems.
• Help develop and maintain program budgets in coordination with program, finance, and other development team members.

ABC offers strong benefits, a 35-hour work week, generous leave policies, and flexible, remote-friendly work arrangements that support a healthy work-life balance.

• Excellent benefits package includes medical, dental, flexible spending accounts, and employer-matched retirement savings, flexible schedule, etc.
• Paid vacation days (starting at 15 days annually and increasing to 20 days after 1 year of employment), paid holidays (including both US holidays and additional ABC holidays) and sick leave.
• Lodging, meals, and transportation covered for work-related travel away from home where applicable.
• Rental vehicle or personal mileage reimbursement where applicable.

Requirements include:

• Bachelor's degree and at least three years' experience in major gifts and fundraising from the private sector.
• Excellent writing and oral communication skills; particularly funding proposals and compelling donor updates, as well as with presentations and public speaking.
• Experience working with corporate partners.
• Experience with investor relations or impact investing.
• Experience in nonprofit fundraising or partnerships.
• Experience with Donor Advised Funds.
• Familiarity with prospect research.
• Experience in moving donors from prospecting to solicitation to stewardship.
• Ability, willingness, and eagerness to contact donors and build relationships with a variety of funders.
• Excellent organizational skills and demonstrated ability to manage deadlines and complex tasks, particularly as it relates to grant and donor stewardship.
• Proficiency with computers and software, including Excel and CRMs. Proficiency with Every Action CRM and Netsuite/PyanGo systems preferred.
• Experience working in conservation considered a plus.
• Willingness to travel, and work occasional nights and weekends, mainly for donor meetings, birding trips, and networking events (with the ability to take comp time).
• Proactive with high level of personal motivation, growth mindset, positivity, and a sense of urgency. Outgoing and flexible personality with an entrepreneurial outlook. Sense of humor.
• Strong leadership skills.
• Strategic thinker.
• Ability to work effectively and respectfully with a team, as well as independently, while maintaining deadlines.
• Ability to work with a wide range of people at all levels and a diversity of backgrounds.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality of donor information.
• All remote and hybrid employees are required to have a stable and high-speed internet service provider in place prior to beginning work for ABC. Our distributed work force relies heavily on cloud technologies, Zoom, and other automations to successfully complete our day to day work. The ideal speeds are 30-40 Mbps for downloads and 10-15 Mbps for uploads.
• You may be required to use your personal cell phone to access ABC systems remotely.
• Authorized to work in the US or Permanent Resident
• Occasional air and car travel may be required with this position.
• Background screening required
• Spanish language skills highly preferred.

Salary: $88,380 - $98,200*; Based on experience