Director of Development, Pacific Northwest and Northern California

At The Obama Foundation, our mission is to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world. We seek to build an active democratic culture where people are equipped and motivated to make change in the communities where they live, work, and play. Right here on the South Side of Chicago, we’re building a home for this vision, a global center for change with a range of opportunities - coordinated programming, community outreach events, educational moments, and more - that invite visitors from down the block or across the globe to turn hope into action.

Achieving our ambitious goals starts with an exceptional team built on our Hope to Action Values - Courage, Empathy, Integrity, Accountability, Community, Inclusivity, Pragmatism, Resilience, Imagination, and Hope. A Framework that anyone, anywhere, can use to build trust, activate participation, and expand opportunity in their community.

Purpose of the Role

The Director of Development, Pacific Northwest and Northern California, will lead and grow the Foundation’s fundraising program for the region, in partnership with the Sr. Director, West. You will work closely with Foundation leadership, regional connectors, and Team West colleagues to build relationships and cultivate/solicit six and seven-figure gifts, while expanding the prospect pipeline within and beyond the stated regions.

Reporting to the Senior Director for the West region, this is an ideal opportunity for a proven, fearless, and values-driven nonprofit fundraiser who is highly motivated to work in pursuit of big goals and try new ideas. This role will require tenacity, discipline, and someone who thrives on data and moves management with a lot of creativity.

Reporting to the Senior Director for the West region, this is an ideal opportunity for a proven, fearless, and values-driven fundraiser who approaches ambitious goals with drive and discipline. The successful candidate will build a robust pipeline, execute a well-defined plan with consistency and rigor, and bring strong data fluency to inform and refine moves management strategy. This role requires tenacity, sound judgment, and the creativity to develop innovative approaches across every stage of the donor journey - from cultivation through solicitation and stewardship.

Core Job Responsibilities

• Portfolio Strategy & Management: Create and lead the strategy for a portfolio of annual and major gifts prospects. Manage a portfolio of 100+ six and seven-figure prospects and develop customized cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship plans for each.

• Donor & Prospect Engagement: Build and manage relationships with prospects and donors through visits, correspondence, and regular communication. Collaborate with the Development Operations team to identify new prospects and design and execute donor engagement opportunities. Design and execute events of varying tone and scale, for diverse audiences, in collaboration with the Events team.

• Volunteer Management: Develop strong partnerships with local board members, alumni, regional connectors, and other volunteers to provide support for their fundraising efforts in the region.

• Principal Engagement: Collaborate with the Executive Leadership Team on the management of select high-capacity donors, including support for meeting preparation and follow-up. Propose and plan development travel for other key principals and surrogates.

• Region Collaboration: Establish supportive and cooperative working relationships with other regional fundraisers, share best practices and new ideas, and collaborate on donor cultivation when needed.

• Philanthropy Stewardship: Represent the Development team in external settings (conferences and gatherings) and partner with other teams across the Foundation to help advance a culture of philanthropy.

• Operating Effectiveness: Build a culture of Salesforce utilization to track and evaluate the team’s key metrics, and use meaningful data to continually improve practices and inform decisions.

• Fundraising Collateral: Ensure the timely creation and distribution of fundraising/stewardship materials, collateral and briefings, and highly personalized proposals with support from the Development department’s Donor Relations sub-team.

• Other duties as assigned.

Key Deliverables / Outcomes

• Meet fundraising targets and other key metrics.

• Regional prospect portfolio strategy and annual cadence of fundraising activities.

• Expanded prospect pipeline.

• Prospect stewardship and engagement plans.

• Fundraising/stewardship materials, collateral and briefings, and highly personalized proposals.

• Help lead and execute regional development events.

• Propose, plan, and staff Foundation executive travel to the region.

Required Qualifications

• 8 - 10 years of experience in fundraising for complex and evolving organizations, with a preference for regional knowledge of Seattle, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, and other emerging markets such as Texas, or Colorado.

• Track record of building relationships with major donors, ideally closing gifts of at least $1M+.

• Deep understanding of fundraising programs and high-level gift strategies.

• Ability to develop and maintain long-term, productive relationships internally and externally.

The salary range for this role is between $160,000 and $185,000.

This is a remote role.

Don’t check off every box in the requirements listed above? Please apply anyway! If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to still consider submitting an application. You may be just the right candidate for this role or another one of our openings!

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Foundation is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. The Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, parental status, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable laws. We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply. If you are a qualified candidate with a disability, please e-mail us at if you require a reasonable accommodation to complete this application.

Originally posted on Himalayas