Development Officer

Title:                    Development Officer

Responsibility: Fundraising for ABC programs that are focused on bird-friendly forestry and habitat conservation on public and private lands in various regions of the United States

Supervisor:      Deputy Director of Development

Location:            Remote; office space available in Washington, D.C. or Marshall, VA

Salary:                 Estimated at $90,000 yearly; Based on experience

Application Deadline: August 31, 2025

Position Summary:

This is a full-time position with American Bird Conservancy (ABC), a fast-growing, results-focused wildlife conservation nonprofit with an annual budget of around $40M and a dispersed workforce throughout the United States. ABC tackles the greatest problems facing birds today, innovating and building on rapid advancements in science to halt extinctions, protect habitats, eliminate threats, and build capacity for bird conservation.

With a positive atmosphere, fun and dedicated colleagues, and leadership that values transparency and innovation, ABC is an environment where employees can thrive both personally and professionally. ABC is seeking employees with an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to make a difference for birds throughout the Americas.

The Development Officer position will serve as the lead for raising private funds for ABC programs in various regions of the United States that are focused on bird-friendly forestry and habitat conservation on public and private lands. For this role, we prefer someone with experience in fundraising for conservation or forestry-focused projects. Development Officers at ABC are integral members of program teams, and, in addition to raising funds, provide input into project planning and implementation.

Primary Duties:

• Develop and implement fundraising strategies, in coordination with program and development directors, to meet or exceed programmatic annual and long-term fundraising goals.
• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major individual donors.
• Coordinate donor communications, including updates on conservation impact, thank-you letters, and other personalized outreach.
• Coordinate donor recognition efforts and stewardship/cultivation activities to build long-term engagement. This could include in-person meetings, field trips, and other special gatherings such as invite-only webinars with program representatives.
• Research and pursue grant opportunities from private foundations and corporate entities, and lead on submission of proposals and reports.
• Uphold the highest level of grant stewardship.
• Ensure compliance with gift acceptance, reporting standards, and donor intent.
• Track fundraising progress and maintain accurate donor and prospect records in ABC’s CRM (EveryAction), and other grant tracking systems.
• Help develop and maintain program budgets in coordination with program, finance, and other development team members.
• Stay informed about trends in philanthropy, conservation funding, and donor engagement best practices.
• Provide input into conservation planning and project implementation.
• Assist with projects as requested.

Position Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree and at least three years’ experience in major gifts and foundation fundraising.
• Excellent writing and oral communication skills; particularly grant proposals and reports, and compelling donor updates.
• Familiarity with prospect research.
• Experience in moving donors from prospecting to solicitation to stewardship.
• Ability, willingness, and eagerness to contact donors and build relationships with a variety of funders.
• Excellent organizational skills and demonstrated ability to manage deadlines and complex tasks, particularly as it relates to grant and donor stewardship.
• Proficiency with computers and software, including Excel and CRMs. Proficiency with Every Action CRM and Netsuite/PyanGo systems preferred.
• Experience working in conservation considered a plus.
• Willingness to travel, and work occasional nights and weekends, mainly for birding trips and events (with the ability to take comp time).
• Proactive with high level of personal motivation, growth mindset, positivity, and a sense of urgency. Outgoing and flexible personality with an entrepreneurial outlook. Sense of humor.
• Strong leadership skills.
• Strategic thinker.
• Ability to work effectively and respectfully with a team, as well as independently, while maintaining deadlines.
• Ability to work with a wide range of people at all levels and a diversity of backgrounds.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality of donor information.
• All remote and hybrid employees are required to have a stable and high-speed internet service provider in place prior to beginning work for ABC. Our distributed work force relies heavily on cloud technologies, Zoom, and other automations to successfully complete our day to day work. The ideal speeds are 30-40 Mbps for downloads and 10-15 Mbps for uploads.
  • You may be required to use your personal cell phone to access ABC systems remotely.
• Authorized to work in the US or Permanent Resident
• Background screening required

Benefits:

 American Bird Conservancy fosters a mission-driven, collaborative, and supportive workplace where staff are respected, empowered, and connected by a shared purpose. ABC offers strong benefits, a 35-hour work week, generous leave policies, and flexible, remote-friendly work arrangements that support a healthy work-life balance.

• Excellent benefits package includes medical, dental, flexible spending accounts, and employer-matched retirement savings, flexible schedule, etc.
• Paid vacation days (starting at 15 days annually and increasing to 20 days after 1 year of employment), paid holidays (including both US holidays and additional ABC holidays) and sick leave.