The L.A. Local News Initiative seeks a chief development officer to build and lead fundraising for an ambitious nonprofit startup that is on a mission to close information gaps for communities across Los Angeles.

The Role

With over $17 million raised so far and growing momentum, this position presents an opportunity for an experienced and motivated fundraiser to increase our local support base, ultimately building a lasting civic institution serving Los Angeles with community-centered journalism for decades to come. The chief development officer will hire and lead a development team that works closely with our CEO to develop and cultivate our pipeline of institutional funders and major donors, and work with our head of audience development on small donor campaigns. They will be integral in the development of our strategic messaging to help potential supporters understand our mission, vision, values, and impact, so that more Angelenos will feel motivated to join the movement for local news and a stronger democracy.

Our journalism and storytelling builds real connections with the community and our development plan should match it. The successful candidate will be an affable, motivated team player who is a meticulously organized, creative free-thinker. We need someone who is a master relationship builder and excited by building strong fundraising and donor engagement processes — who knows the solid framework and foundational support needed to accomplish our goals, and who can execute and successfully root a development plan for a startup nonprofit. The CDO must also recognize that, for us to be successful, they will need to be innovative, entrepreneurial and comfortable with strategic experimentation.

About the L.A. Local News Initiative

Founded in 2024, the L.A. Local News Initiative is a coalition of organizations and philanthropists that have come together to support local news in L.A. This coalition represents a groundbreaking effort by philanthropy, media, and community organizations in L.A. to work together to fill information gaps, strengthen local democracy and make L.A. work better for Angelenos.

The new initiative will take a multi-pronged, ecosystem approach to ensure all L.A. communities have free access to the information they need to be more civically engaged, to thrive, and to hold decision makers accountable:

We are investing in expansion of a community-centered, hyperlocal model developed by Boyle Heights Beat, a trusted newsroom serving Boyle Heights and East L.A., so that more communities in L.A. can get quality, independent news relevant to their neighborhoods, produced by people who are rooted in their communities.
We will facilitate investments to add reporting resources in the region through investments in regionwide beats and state government reporting from the perspective of Los Angeles at LAist and CalMatters, made available to ecosystem partners, and continue to rally philanthropy to advance local news as a mechanism for civic engagement
We will foster collaboration among ecosystem partners, by coordinating content sharing, and providing shared resources that will help existing news outlets in L.A. do more reporting and bring more journalism to more people

These strategies were formed following extensive research and community listening done in partnership between local civic leaders and the American Journalism Project, which included input from nearly 900 Angelenos spanning a wide range of ages, genders, races, ethnicities, incomes, professions, and neighborhoods.

Our values

Free, Independent Local Press: We believe all Angelenos deserve to have a source of unbiased information that equips them to thrive in their daily lives. Our work will meet high journalism standards, be independent, non-partisan, and free to access. We’ll prioritize reaching as many Angelenos as possible, in the most effective ways possible.
Community-first: We center the needs of local communities, with an ultimate goal to strengthen communities and make LA work better for Angelenos. Journalism should be focused on serving people most affected by the subject matter, and equipping them to take action.
Equity & Inclusion: We need a representative, equitable, and inclusive local press. Newsrooms should be representative of the communities they cover, shift narratives to be centered on community perspectives, and provide pathways into newsgathering for residents.
Trust: We believe that building trust must be a core principle of our journalism. As a baseline, the journalism we support must be accurate, independent, unbiased, non-partisan, and a trusted source of shared facts by the communities we serve.

Key responsibilities

Build, execute and evaluate a development strategy that meets fundraising goals of $5-7 million annually and grows operational reserves beyond six months in order to embrace our mission and achieve organizational sustainability.
Build and oversee a development team, and coordinate with the editorial team as necessary to galvanize funding support.
Create a comprehensive foundation and individual donor operations plan that maintains and fosters strong relationships through personalized outreach, events and activities.
Develop and implement a plan to expand our major gifts along with large individual donor support with keen attention to identifying, engaging and cultivating new donors.
Create, oversee and maintain a meticulous donor relationship management database.
Develop an annual fundraising budget. With that budget, prepare and develop reports that measure and monitor achievement of revenue goals.
Coordinate and prepare funding requests, donor prep data and research to foster better engagement and outreach.
Lead the development of fundraising materials including donor correspondence, and maintain primary responsibility for developing campaign messages, project plans, talking points and donor materials.
Oversee the development and maintenance of a calendar of grant opportunities, manage the grant application process, and ensure timely and accurate grant reporting with support from a development team.
Lead in planning and executing donor gatherings.
Work with CEO to enlist and support LALNI’s board of directors in philanthropic outreach.
Develop tactics to inspire all staff to engage in fundraising stewardship.
Monitor all revenue received and provide statistics, analysis and reports to leadership.
Represent LALNI publicly at industry events as needed.

Candidate profile

Experienced - You have multiple years of experience managing nonprofit development or growth and cultivating relationships with major donors; you have a track-record of seeking and securing six and seven-figure gifts and tangible experience expanding and cultivating existing donor relationships over time.
Mission-oriented - You’re committed to our mission to advance democracy, improve the lives of all Angelenos, and to create more opportunities for L.A. youth.
Self-starter - You’re ready to experience startup life at work, and are ready to work hard.
Multitasker - Your flexibility to move from task to task almost seamlessly is a must as we are ever-changing.
Technical skills - Data is at the heart of your decisions because of your advanced spreadsheet skills.

We’re committed to building an inclusive organization that represents the people and communities we serve. We encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, Black, Latinx, Asian American, and Indigenous people, veterans, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities. The Los Angeles Local News Initiative is dedicated to equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees. We encourage people of all races, colors, national origins, ancestries, creeds, religions, genders, ages, disabilities, veteran status, sexual orientations, and marital statuses to apply.

‍What to expect in the hiring process

‍We hope to fill this role as soon as possible, though the hiring process can typically take from a few weeks to several months. We will do our best to communicate with you about timing expectations throughout the process. Candidates who advance to later rounds of this process can expect multiple interviews with members of our hiring committee. Semi-finalists will be asked to complete a written assignment designed to help us understand your thinking and approach to the role, and you will be offered an optional prep session to ask any questions that will help you put your best foot forward in this process. We aim to truly get to know you, to help you fully understand the role you’re applying for.

The Role