Development Director

ORA Trails seeks an energetic, highly relational Development Director to lead the organization’s philanthropic growth. This external-facing role is ideal for a fundraiser who enjoys building authentic relationships, listening for what inspires people, and inviting donors and partners to make meaningful investments in ORA Trails’ mission.

The successful candidate will pair warmth and emotional intelligence with initiative, disciplined follow-through, strong systems, and a demonstrated ability to move relationships from cultivation to commitment.

The Development Director is ORA Trails’ senior fundraising leader, responsible for executing fundraising plans, managing donor and sponsor pipelines, leading capital and annual campaigns, overseeing grants and donor systems, and directing most external marketing and communications functions. The role works in close partnership with the Executive Director, who retains organizational accountability for fundraising strategy, financial sustainability, brand strategy, governance, and overall organizational leadership.

The Development Director is expected to achieve board-approved contributed-revenue goals, currently $500,000+ annually, in addition to defined capital-campaign targets.

• Develop and execute annual fundraising plans in partnership with the Executive Director; maintain a qualified donor and prospect portfolio of approximately 75–125 relationships and build a healthy pipeline through networking, referrals, research, events, and community engagement.
• Personally cultivate, solicit, and steward donors and sponsors; lead annual and special campaigns, major gifts, recurring giving, planned-giving opportunities, and donor-retention and upgrade strategies.
• Lead and manage capital campaign fundraising, including prospect strategy, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, recognition, and progress reporting, with particular responsibility for Community Trail Farm fundraising.
• Lead corporate sponsorship acquisition and management; coordinate corporate and community partner relationships with the Executive Director and other directors as appropriate.
• Own grant research, writing, submission, tracking, and reporting; coordinate program, project, budget, and compliance information with staff responsible for those areas.
• Lead fundraising and donor-appreciation events, including the Trail Lovers Ball and other major fundraising events, with logistical and administrative support from the Business Support Coordinator.
• Equip and coordinate the Executive Director and Board members for donor introductions, meetings, solicitations, and stewardship while the Executive Director retains ownership of Board relations and governance.

• Maintain accountability for the donor CRM (Neon or successor system), including data standards, workflows, segmentation, reporting, and development analytics; coordinate gift entry and routine database administration with the appropriate team member.
• Oversee donor acknowledgement and stewardship processes, ensuring timely, accurate, and personalized communications while coordinating routine processing with the appropriate staff member.
• Track fundraising performance, donor movement, campaign progress, grant activity, and other development metrics to support forecasting, accountability, and decision-making.

• Implement ORA Trails’ brand standards and messaging in alignment with the Executive Director, who retains accountability for organizational brand strategy.
• Lead the social media content calendar and posting, organizational newsletters, press releases and media relations, website content, print materials, graphics, marketing collateral, and program/event promotional materials in coordination with appropriate staff.
• Lead communications request management and the Marketing & Communications Committee; maintain accountability for inbound public inquiry systems and marketing-event tabling, with routine response and production support from the Business Support Coordinator.
• Oversee ORA Trails merchandise and storefront management, including brand alignment, product strategy, and…