Chief Development Officer - Rathgeber Village Campus

The Opportunity

The SAFE Alliance is seeking a Chief Development Officer to lead a transformational phase of philanthropic growth and organizational impact.

This is not a maintenance role. This is a build, scale, and lead role.

The SAFE Alliance (SAFE) is one of the largest nonprofit organizations in Central Texas, operating at the intersection of crisis response, prevention, housing stability, and long-term healing. With an annual operating budget of approximately $30M and philanthropy as a critical revenue driver, SAFE is poised for its next phase of growth.

The Chief Development Officer will partner directly with the CEO, Board of Directors, and Executive Leadership Team to build a high‑performing, accountable development function that can sustain and expand SAFE's impact across the region.

This leader will be responsible for both delivering near‑term revenue results and building the long‑term systems and strategy required to scale philanthropy.

SAFE has strong community credibility, mission urgency, and programmatic scale. The organization is already operating at meaningful size and impact— but the development function has not yet reached the level of discipline, infrastructure, and performance required to sustain the next phase of growth.

This role exists to close that gap.

The next phase of SAFE's trajectory requires more than incremental improvement. It requires building a development function that is both high‑performing in the near term and structurally sound for long‑term scale. That means delivering revenue today while putting in place the systems, processes, and expectations that make growth repeatable.

This role is designed to:

• Build a disciplined, data‑informed, and scalable fundraising engine from a partially developed foundation.
• Expand major and principal gift capacity while strengthening donor strategy and execution.
• Establish the systems, tools, and processes required for consistent performance and accountability.
• Activate the CEO and Board more fully in fundraising through shared ownership of relationships.
• Align development, marketing, communications, and external engagement into a cohesive external strategy.
• Prepare the organization for ongoing capital needs and future campaign opportunities.

This role carries clear responsibility for both fundraising performance and long‑term revenue growth.

The Chief Development Officer is expected to deliver measurable results in the near term while building the systems, strategy, and relationships required for sustained growth over time.

Key expectations include:

• Grow annual philanthropic revenue from approximately $15M to $20M+ over the next 2–3 years.
• Build and manage a major and principal gift portfolio targeting gifts of $25,000 to $250,000+.
• Increase donor retention, average gift size, and multi‑year commitments.
• Expand revenue across individuals, corporations, and foundations.
• Reactivate and grow a portfolio of dormant and lapsed donors, unlocking existing but under‑leveraged relationships.
• Strengthen the major gifts pipeline, including identification, qualification, and movement of high-capacity prospects.
• Drive greater engagement and accountability from CEO and Board in fundraising, resulting in increased participation and giving.
• Establish clear performance metrics, reporting, and forecasting to enable disciplined revenue management.
• Build a diversified and resilient philanthropic portfolio that reduces volatility and supports long‑term sustainability.

Success will be measured by both revenue outcomes and the strength, sustainability, and scalability of the development function.

The Chief Development Officer is a senior executive responsible for building, integrating, and leading SAFE's overall external engagement and philanthropic strategy.

This leader will operate as both a strategic architect and a hands‑on fundraiser— personally engaging top donors while building the systems, team, and cross‑functional alignment required for long‑term growth.

This role requires the ability to deliver near‑term revenue results while strengthening infrastructure,…