Development Director

Join States Newsroom as Development Director to power our award-winning journalism and expand its role in the nation's local news infrastructure.

States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, is seeking a talented and driven development professional to lead the organization’s major gifts and philanthropic fundraising efforts. Building on years of successful fundraising growth, the Development Director will develop the revenue strategy that will support our continued growth and sustainability. If you have a proven track record of landing gifts and grants and are passionate about journalism’s essential role in our democracy, this job is for you.

We’re looking for an accomplished, entrepreneurial professional to help raise awareness of a unique news organization amongst major donors and foundations, while supporting our ongoing individual donor program. You’ll work closely with organizational leaders to capitalize on your colleagues’ work, develop new relationships, respond to funder inquiries, and develop new strategies for our network’s revenue growth.

The skilled development professional we’ll hire will preferably be based at either of our headquarters offices in Chapel Hill, NC or Washington, DC. Fully remote work within the U.S. will be considered for highly qualified candidates. Remote candidates must be able to travel to our offices as needed several times per year.

If you have a proven track record in nonprofit fundraising and are passionate about state and local journalism’s essential role in our democracy, this job is for you.

Job Responsibilities

The responsibilities of this role include, but are not limited to:

• Working closely with senior leadership, create and pursue a comprehensive plan to increase philanthropic support for States Newsroom
• Support and advise state editors pursuing in-state philanthropic support
• Supervise and collaborate with membership and marketing manager tasked with increasing reader support
• Serve as a member of the organization’s leadership team and collaborate with departmental leaders as appropriate
• Work with operations staff to manage grants and renewals across the organization
• Work with senior leaders on overall revenue strategy and new revenue-generating initiatives
• Occasional travel may be required

Qualifications and Compensation

We’re looking for someone who demonstrates:

• Enthusiastic support for the power of journalism in democracy
• Strong track record, at least five to 10 years, in fundraising and development roles, preferably including at least some for a news organization
• Previous success leading a comprehensive development program, and preparing work plans to achieve goals
• Proven ability to secure large-scale grants and individual donations, driving measurable revenue growth
• Experience and enthusiasm for managing other fundraising staff as well as coaching others to raise money more effectively
• Creative vision for cultivating innovative and effective revenue-generating opportunities that others may not see
• Ability to manage projects, whether individual or cross-departmental, from inception to successful execution
• Excitement for collaboration and innovation across teams
• Excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to adapt quickly to new technologies and priorities
• Great self-direction and the ability to manage short- and long-term tasks

The minimum salary for this position is $110,000 and rises with experience. Our generous benefits package includes:

• Premium-free platinum healthcare for employees and their families (i.e., nothing comes out of your paycheck!)
• 4 weeks of vacation per year
• 2 weeks of personal leave per year
• 11 paid holidays per year
• 20 hours of paid volunteer time per year
• $75 monthly cell phone reimbursement
• $200 cell phone replacement benefit every two years
• $75 monthly fitness benefit
• 401K with up to 3% match
• 12 weeks of parental leave
• Full-service EAP

Authorization to work in the United States is required. All States Newsroom employees are required to be fully vaccinated for COVID within 30 days of hire. States Newsroom will provide all necessary equipment.

About Our Culture

States Newsroom is dedicated to producing journalism at all levels — from quick hit to investigative — but we also aim to be supportive, exciting, welcoming and positive. We believe in creating sustainable careers for journalists on the crucial state government beat.

States Newsroom’s mission is to connect people to the power that shapes their daily lives through relentless reporting and incisive commentary on state government and policy. Journalism is a powerful force for social change, uniquely suited to challenging systemic inequality and racism. Our goal is to build an organization that fulfills that mission. At States Newsroom, we believe we strengthen our work and improve our insights when we incorporate the perspectives of people who come from different backgrounds and have had different experiences.

We are committed to diversity and prioritize equity in all recruiting and hiring. We are always working to better represent our communities and are supported in these efforts by a network-wide Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice committee.