US Director of Development & Partnerships; East Coast

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Bellingcat is an independent community of researchers, investigators, and citizen journalists who pioneered open source investigations tools. With precision and perseverance, Bellingcat exposes everything from crimes against humanity to environmental destruction, using publicly available tools and resources. Bellingcat's work can help shape opinions, guide policy, and inform courts. Poised for strategic growth, Bellingcat US is the US-based entity of the global nonprofit organization.

We are the home of open source investigations, and the industry gold standard, covering stories no one else covers. Having recently hired a US-based Executive Director, we are poised for expansion in the United States, ready to capitalize on a wide variety of opportunities for growth. Founded in 2014, we have pioneered the use of open source research methods to investigate a variety of subjects of public interest.

Our groundbreaking coverage has ranged from the shooting down of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine to police violence in Colombia and the illegal wildlife trade in the UAE. Our research is regularly referenced by international media and has been cited by courts and investigative missions. We are scrappy, mission-driven, open, collaborative, persistent, and community-oriented. With over 30 staff and contributors in more than 20 countries, and an actively engaged online Discord community of 30K+, we operate in a unique field at the intersection of advanced technology, forensic research, and journalism, and are united in our pursuit of transparency and accountability.

We build, sustain, and set the standards for an empowered global network of open source researchers and investigative journalists to work on issues of importance to their communities.

We design, use, and share verifiable methods for ethical digital investigations.

We are curious, creative
, and collaborative
, and we strive to promote transparency, accountability, independence
, and integrity in our work. You can learn more about us and our work at our website.

We are seeking an experienced Director of Development and Partnerships to join Bellingcat as we build and scale US operations to $10M over the next five years. In this role, you will be responsible for developing and implementing fundraising and earned income strategies, systems, and operations. You will also play a leadership role not only building and maintaining relationships with donors and coordinating with the fundraising team based in the Netherlands, but also in creating partnerships that meaningfully scale Bellingcat's work here in the US.

The ideal candidate will have prior experience creating a fundraising function for a highly impactful, visible, and entrepreneurial organization.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• As our inaugural Director of Development, create and implement a comprehensive US fundraising plan to support our mission and goals
• Build a development function that enables the organization to not only produce world-changing reporting, but also train journalists on open source intelligence methods, enabling meaningful action at the community level
• Create a strategy to grow and diversify US revenue streams, ensuring that we have a robust pool of both individual and institutional donors in accordance with Bellingcat's fundraising policy
• Develop programs and strategies to manage a portfolio of donors, including stewardship, solicitation, and recognition activities, with an eye toward meaningful donor engagement

• Win ongoing funding by investing in the cultivation of key foundations that align with our mission and work
• Work closely with the editorial and operations team to create compelling proposals, grant applications and donor reports, leveraging organizational assets to attract new donors and keep them engaged
• Build and maintain donor database and lead data analysis to inform fundraising strategies and enable strategic…