Senior Development Officer (Remote)

Association of Fundraising Professionals; United States; Remote; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Association of Fundraising Professionals seeks a Senior Development Officer to manage a diverse donor portfolio and deepen relationships with institutional and individual funders. The role focuses on personally soliciting five- and six-figure gifts and building a robust major gifts pipeline.

The Senior Development Officer will lead advisory board engagement, facilitate donor stewardship, and align philanthropic interests with organizational priorities.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5–7 years of development experience with a track record of soliciting and closing gifts at five- and six-figure levels.
• Frontline donor relationship building through in-person cultivation, meetings, and direct solicitation.
• Experience managing a portfolio of institutional donors (corporate and/or foundation).
• Experience building individual major gifts relationships or donor pipelines preferred.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of institutional and individual donors and prospects to deepen relationships and secure gifts.
• Personally solicit and close five- and six-figure gifts to build the major gifts pipeline.
• Lead advisory board engagement to support fundraising and regional relationship-building.
• Communicate impact and align funders' interests with program priorities, with travel up to 30%.

Skills

Donor relationships

Fundraising strategy

Portfolio management

Solicitation skills

Advisory boards/volunteer engagement

CRM (Salesforce) awareness

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

Job Summary:

The Senior Development Officer is a dynamic, relationship-driven frontline fundraiser responsible for managing a portfolio of institutional and individual donors and prospects, with a mandate to deepen existing relationships, secure new funding, and build NAF's individual major gifts pipeline. This role requires aligning funders' philanthropic interests with NAF's priorities by cultivating genuine relationships with program officers, corporate funders, individual donors, and personally soliciting and closing gifts at the five and six-figure level. The Senior Development Officer is primarily a frontline, donor-facing position: success is measured not by grants written but by relationships built, meetings held, and gifts closed.

The Senior Development Officer leads NAF’s advisory board engagement strategy as a vehicle for fundraising, prospect development, and regional relationship-building, helping to strengthen connections between NAF’s philanthropic goals and programmatic growth in priority markets

This is a remote role with occasional regional and national travel, up to 30%.

Preferred Educational/Training:

Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree preferred.

Preferred Experience:

• 5–7 years of development experience with a demonstrated track record of personally soliciting and closing gifts at the five- and six-figure level.
• Demonstrated frontline experience: a history of proactively building funder and donor relationships through in-person cultivation, meetings, and direct solicitation—not primarily through proposal writing alone.
• Experience managing a portfolio of institutional donors (corporate and/or foundation) with a relationship-driven approach.
• Experience building individual major gifts relationships and/or a donor pipeline preferred.
• Experience with advisory boards, volunteer engagement, or community relationship-building preferred.
• Working knowledge of MS Office; experience with Salesforce or a comparable fundraising CRM preferred.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Commitment to NAF's mission and values, with genuine interest in education equity, career-connected learning, and youth development.
• Confidence and skill in direct solicitation — comfortable making asks in person and in writing.
• Entrepreneurial approach to prospect development and pipeline building, including in new or unfamiliar geographies.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to craft compelling donor-facing narratives.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage a diverse portfolio with discipline and follow-through.
• Comfort with regional travel and building relationships across diverse communities and geographies.

Benefits:

• Medical, Dental, Vision and Flexible Spending Account eligibility as of date of hire
• Employer-paid Life Insurance as of date of hire
• Employer-paid Headspace and HealthiestYou by Teladoc memberships as of hire date
• Generous employer contributions to Retirement Plan
• Twelve Paid Holidays per calendar year
• Five Paid Sick Days per calendar year
• Generous flexible paid time off policy
• Conditional Paid Leave, e.g., Parental Bonding, Bereavement, Jury Duty

NAF and Insperity provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race (including hair texture and hairstyles), color, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, pregnancy, childbirth, physical disability, mental and/or intellectual disability, age, military status, veteran status (including protected veterans), marital status, registered domestic partner or civil union status, familial status, gender (including sex stereotyping and gender identity or expression), medical condition (including, but not limited to, cancer related or HIV/AIDS related), genetic information, or sexual orientation in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws.