Chief Development Officer

Socket.dev; Salt Lake City (UT); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

13+ paid holidays

3 weeks paid time off

Performance bonus up to 20%

Job summary

Encircle in Salt Lake City seeks an experienced Chief Development Officer to lead and grow fundraising, with a focus on major and principal gifts. You will build strategy, manage key donor relationships, and steer a lean team to scale annual philanthropic revenue.

You will collaborate with the CEO, Board, Marketing, and Finance to expand the major gifts pipeline and strengthen fundraising capacity across Utah.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
• 7+ years of fundraising or development experience with major gifts.
• Proven success cultivating, soliciting, and closing six- and seven-figure gifts.
• Experience managing a major donor portfolio worth several million dollars annually.
• Strong ability to research high-capacity donor prospects using public data.
• Experience using fundraising databases, CRM systems, and online giving platforms.
• Hands-on, entrepreneurial approach; able to operate strategically and tactically.
• Excellent relationship-building and communication skills with diverse stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a comprehensive annual and multi-year fundraising strategy.
• Establish revenue targets, pipeline expectations, and metrics.
• Analyze results and identify opportunities/risks.
• Plan expansion of the Development team as revenue milestones are met.
• Partner with CEO, Board, Marketing and Finance on priorities.
• Personally manage a portfolio of major and principal donor relationships generating ~$3M in annual revenue.
• Represent Encircle in donor meetings and community events.
• Build high-value corporate, foundation, and community partnerships.
• Engage Board members in fundraising.

Skills

Fundraising

Major gifts

Relationship-building

Strategic planning

Public speaking

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

CRM systems

Online giving platforms

Donor research tools

Job description

About Encircle

Encircle exists to bring families and communities together to enable LGBTQ+ youth to thrive.

Since opening our first home in Provo, Utah, Encircle has grown into a statewide organization serving thousands of LGBTQ+ youth, young adults, families, and community members each year through mental health services, community programming, friendship, and connection.

Across our homes and therapy services, Encircle creates spaces where LGBTQ+ young people can build meaningful relationships, access affirming mental health care, and feel supported by the people and communities around them.

What can sometimes be missed about Encircle is that our work is not only about supporting LGBTQ+ youth, it is also about strengthening families and communities. Our approach, No Sides, Only Love, is built around creating places where people with different backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences can come together around a shared commitment to helping young people thrive.

We are now looking for an experienced development leader to help build the fundraising strategy, relationships, and team that will sustain and expand that work for years to come.

Why Utah

This role is based in the Salt Lake City area and offers the opportunity to live and work in one of the country's fastest-growing regions. Utah combines a thriving business and philanthropic community with easy access to world-class outdoor recreation, including skiing, hiking, biking, and national parks. Salt Lake City has a growing arts, food, sports, and cultural scene, an international airport minutes from downtown, and a strong network of business, nonprofit, and community leaders.

For candidates relocating to Utah, this role offers a unique opportunity to become deeply connected to a growing philanthropic community while helping shape the future of an organization with statewide and potentially national impact.

Job Summary

Encircle is seeking an experienced, strategic, and hands-on Chief Development Officer to lead and grow our fundraising efforts. The CDO will be responsible for developing and executing the fundraising strategy. Within that broader goal, the CDO will personally own and grow a portfolio of major and principal donors expected to generate $3 million in annual philanthropic revenue.

Working directly with the CEO, the CDO will build on Encircle's strong existing donor base by taking ownership of key donor relationships, deepening those partnerships, and developing new relationships with major and principal donors. The CDO will shape Encircle's long-term fundraising strategy, expand the major-gift pipeline, and partner closely with Marketing, Finance, the Board, and organizational leadership.

The CDO will initially lead a lean Development team, directly managing Encircle's Development Manager, who oversees grants and supports development operations. As fundraising grows and performance goals are achieved, the CDO will have the opportunity to design and build the Development team and infrastructure needed to support Encircle's next stage of growth.

This is a highly hands-on leadership role for someone equally comfortable setting strategy and doing the work required to achieve it. The ideal candidate can move seamlessly between developing a multi-year revenue strategy, sitting across the table from a major donor, analyzing pipeline performance, strengthening fundraising systems, and building organizational fundraising capacity.

Key Responsibilities

Fundraising Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and execute a comprehensive annual and multi-year fundraising strategy.
• Establish clear fundraising priorities, revenue targets, pipeline expectations, and performance metrics.
• Regularly analyze fundraising results and pipeline performance to identify opportunities, risks, and areas requiring additional focus.
• Develop a thoughtful plan for expanding the Development team and investing in additional fundraising capacity as revenue milestones are achieved.
• Partner closely with the CEO, Board, Marketing, and Finance leadership on fundraising strategy and organizational priorities.

Major & Principal Gifts

• Personally own and manage a portfolio of major and principal donor relationships expected to generate approximately $3 million in annual philanthropic revenue.
• Develop individualized strategies for donor identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, renewal, and increased giving.
• Personally cultivate, solicit, and close six- and seven-figure philanthropic gifts.
• Identify and develop new high-capacity donor prospects through research, referrals, community relationships, Board connections, and strategic outreach.
• Conduct and apply donor prospect research using public tax filings, wealth indicators, philanthropic giving history, and other publicly available information.

Donor Stewardship & Engagement

• Ensure major donors receive thoughtful, timely, and highly personalized communication, recognition, and stewardship.
• Strengthen Encircle's overall donor stewardship strategy in partnership with Marketing.
• Create a consistent and meaningful donor experience across communications, campaigns, events, impact reporting, tours, and recognition.

External Relations & Partnerships

• Represent Encircle in donor meetings, tours, community events, and other external engagement opportunities.
• Develop and cultivate high-value corporate, foundation, and community partnerships with meaningful philanthropic potential.
• Engage Board members and volunteer leaders in donor introductions, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Build and strengthen relationships across Utah's philanthropic, corporate, and nonprofit communities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
• 7+ years of progressively responsible fundraising or development experience, including significant responsibility for major gifts.
• Demonstrated success personally cultivating, soliciting, and closing six- and seven-figure gifts.
• Experience managing a major donor portfolio representing several million dollars in annual philanthropic revenue.
• Strong experience identifying and researching high-capacity donor prospects using public tax filings, wealth indicators, philanthropic giving history, and other publicly available information.
• Experience using fundraising databases, CRM systems, and online giving platforms to manage donor relationships, pipelines, and fundraising performance.
• Proven ability to develop and execute comprehensive fundraising strategies, establish measurable goals, and use data to improve performance.
• A hands-on, entrepreneurial approach to development and a willingness to operate both strategically and tactically.
• Exceptional relationship-building and communication skills, with the ability to engage major donors, corporate leaders, foundations, Board members, volunteers, and community partners.
• Experience effectively engaging Board members and other volunteer leaders in fundraising.
• Strong public speaking, presentation, and executive communication skills.
• Deep alignment with Encircle's mission and commitment to creating welcoming and supportive communities for LGBTQ+ youth and families.

Strongly Preferred

• Knowledge of Utah's philanthropic community and demonstrated ability to build relationships with major donors, family foundations, corporate leaders, and other high-capacity supporters.
• An established network within Utah's philanthropic or business community.

• CFRE certification.

Salary & Benefits

• Salary: $120,000–$150,000 depending on experience.
• Performance Bonus: Eligible for an annual performance-based bonus of up to 20% of base salary.
• Health Benefits: Regence medical coverage with PPO and HDHP options, dental, vision, and employer-paid life insurance.
• Paid Holidays: 13+ paid holidays, including Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Juneteenth, Indigenous Peoples' Day, and LGBTQIA+ activism days.
• Paid Time Off: Three weeks / 15 days annually.