Vice President for Development

JustLeadershipUSA; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

JustLeadershipUSA invites a seasoned VP for Development to lead and scale its fundraising program. You will work with the President & CEO, the board, and staff to design strategies, set revenue targets, and grow major gifts.

In this role, you will diversify funding streams, oversee events and campaigns, and manage development operations, while building a strong donor base in a fully remote, US-only environment.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience managing the strategy and implementation of all aspects of traditional nonprofit funding streams, including large-scale fundraising events, institutional/corporate funders, and individual/major donors; planned giving experience a plus.
• Track record of creating and cultivating long-term relationships with institutional funders, individual donors, and board members.
• Demonstrated success diversifying revenue and building major gifts and individual giving programs.
• Experience coaching and mobilizing a board around fundraising, including building capacity with directors who are newer or less confident fundraisers.
• Proven people-management experience, with the ability to lead and develop direct reports and manage up, down, and laterally in a fully remote environment.
• Systems-minded, with experience building fundraising infrastructure and data discipline, including hands-on use of a CRM (Salesforce experience strongly preferred) as a strategic relationship-management and reporting tool.
• Demonstrated success working on a distributed, fully remote team and using collaboration tools to stay aligned.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the President & CEO, board, and Executive Team to develop long- and short-term development strategies and define annual fundraising priorities, goals, and revenue targets.
• Create and implement donor identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies that diversify JLUSA’s donor base, attract new prospects, and grow annual revenue.
• Set fundraising benchmarks and KPIs, track performance against them, and report progress to the Executive Team and board on a regular cadence.
• Collaborate with JLUSA’s Finance team to ensure revenue and fundraising goals align with and support the organization’s budget and financial health.
• Coordinate the President & CEO’s development portfolio to focus on top donors and prospects capable of making transformational gifts.

Skills

Leadership

Fundraising strategy

Donor cultivation

Board governance

Strategic planning

Communication

Stewardship

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

Organization: JustLeadershipUSA | www.jlusa.org

Role Title: Vice President for Development

Location: Fully remote (US-only)

Annual Operating Budget: ~$4 million

Reports to: President & CEO

Role Structure: Full-time, exempt

Compensation: $140,000 – $150,000 annually plus competitive benefits package

Anticipated Start Date: September 2026

About JustLeadershipUSA (JLUSA)

JLUSA amplifies the power of people who have been directly impacted by the criminal legal system to dismantle racist and oppressive systems and build a just U.S.

Led by directly impacted people, JLUSA educates, elevates, and empowers leaders and their communities to decarcerate the United States and drive meaningful, lasting policy reform.

Through cohort-based leadership development programs and a national network of formerly incarcerated leaders, JLUSA invests in the people closest to the problem, who are also closest to the solution. Now in its tenth year, the organization is advancing an ambitious 2025–2029 strategic roadmap shaped by its nationwide network of directly impacted leaders.

Role Overview

Partnering closely with JLUSA’s President & CEO, Board of Directors, and staff, the VP for Development is responsible for planning and implementing all aspects of JLUSA’s fundraising program, ensuring it continues to reach – and exceed – annual revenue goals.

A central priority for this role is diversifying JLUSA’s revenue streams by building the organization’s major giving and individual giving programs while stewarding and strengthening its institutional funding. The VP for Development also develops corporate and other diversified revenue streams, plans and executes events and campaigns, and oversees all aspects of the organization’s development operations.

The VP for Development is a member of the Executive Leadership Team, manages the Development Coordinator, and is responsible for ensuring the necessary systems, structures, and processes are in place to support the organization’s current fundraising operation and planned growth.

Specific Responsibilities Include

• Partner with JLUSA’s President & CEO, board, and Executive Team to develop long- and short-term development strategies and define annual fundraising priorities, goals, and revenue targets
• Create and implement donor identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies that diversify JLUSA’s donor base, attract new prospects, and grow annual revenue
• Set fundraising benchmarks and KPIs, track performance against them, and report progress to the Executive Team and board on a regular cadence
• Collaborate with JLUSA’s Finance team to ensure revenue and fundraising goals align with and support the organization’s budget and financial health
• Coordinate the President & CEO’s development portfolio to focus on top donors and prospects capable of making transformational gifts

Leadership

• Serve as a member of JLUSA’s Executive Leadership Team, partnering and collaborating with other members of the Executive Team to build and foster an organization-wide culture of philanthropy
• Provide leadership, training, coaching, and support for the members of the development team
• Represent JLUSA externally, including with board members and major donors, in cultivating and securing significant gifts to the organization

Board of Directors

• Build board members’ fundraising capacity and confidence through trainings, a shared case for support, and supporting opportunities for board members to participate in fundraising, including making introductions, hosting donor briefings, and board-led cultivation events
• Coordinate meetings of JLUSA’s Development Committee, including creating agendas, and managing task-outs and follow-ups
• Partner with the President & CEO in board recruitment efforts to ensure candidates are vetted, understand and are capable of meeting JLUSA’s give/get expectations, and are supported and stewarded following their election to the board

Individual Giving

• Develop and implement strategies for the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of current and prospective individual donors
• Direct major donor identification, research, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship efforts, working in partnership with the President & CEO, board, and Executive Team to build a robust pool of donors at the $1,000 level and above
• Lead the creation, design, and implementation of planned giving strategies and operationalize short- and long-term planned giving goals to build a base of planned giving intentions
• In partnership with Communications staff, oversee annual fundraising appeals and campaigns
• Develop a recurring giving program and year-round strategies to grow and engage small-dollar donors

Foundation, Corporate, & Government Funders

• Own JLUSA’s foundation funding strategy, deepening the stewardship and renewals of existing funders and identifying and expanding the portfolio of new funders
• Partner with JLUSA’s Programs and Communications teams in the creation of institutional funding requests (grant applications) and requisite funder reports
• Manage and expand JLUSA’s portfolio of corporate funders
• Cultivate relationships with government funding agencies and oversee the development and stewardship of funding requests

Events

• Oversee the planning and execution of annual fundraising events
• Develop and implement a series of donor cultivation and stewardship events throughout the year

Development Operations & Communications

• Oversee the day-to-day aspects of JLUSA’s fundraising program and activities, with support from JLUSA’s staff and consultants
• Develop and maintain policies and procedures for development operations, including fundraising communications, prospect research, moves management, and gift processing and acknowledgement
• Oversee the integrity and effective use of JLUSA’s database (Salesforce), maturing it from a financial tracker into a true donor CRM with moves-management stages, consistent touchpoint logging, and dashboards
• Partner with the Communications team to guide messaging for fundraising materials and campaigns, driving development–communications alignment through a shared donor narrative and an integrated content calendar tied to program milestones
• Contribute to the preparation of reports, sponsorship decks, strategic plans, and other organizational materials

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience managing the strategy and implementation of all aspects of traditional nonprofit funding streams, including large-scale fundraising events, institutional/corporate funders, and individual/major donors; planned giving experience a plus
• Track record of creating and cultivating long-term relationships with institutional funders, individual donors, and board members
• Demonstrated success diversifying revenue and building major gifts and individual giving programs
• Experience coaching and mobilizing a board around fundraising, including building capacity with directors who are newer or less confident fundraisers
• Proven people-management experience, with the ability to lead and develop direct reports and manage up, down, and laterally in a fully remote environment
• Systems-minded, with experience building fundraising infrastructure and data discipline, including hands‑on use of a CRM (Salesforce experience strongly preferred) as a strategic relationship-management and reporting tool
• Demonstrated success working on a distributed, fully remote team and using collaboration tools (e.g., Slack, Zoom, project management platforms) to stay aligned
• Excellent communicator and storyteller with the ability to make JLUSA’s work come alive through superior written materials
• Flexibility to work at both a strategic level and oversee the day-to-day tasks associated with the implementation of a robust development program
• An energetic passion for JLUSA’s mission and the topics JLUSA’s work addresses
• Commitment to social justice and a sophisticated understanding of the ways in which JLUSA’s work intersects with race and equity
• Lived experience with the criminal legal system is valued and encouraged, though not required

JLUSA is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate based on age, national origin, ethnic origin, citizenship status, disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, justice system involvement, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law in its employment policies. In addition, JLUSA will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.