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We are hiring: Development Director

Development Director- full time with comprehensive benefits package

Friends of Casco Bay is hiring a Development Director. The Development Director will work closely with our Executive Director and communications and development staff to design, implement, and successfully execute a comprehensive fundraising program that ensures that we have the support we need to fulfill our mission.

About Friends of Casco Bay

Friends of Casco Bay’s mission is to improve and protect the environmental health of Casco Bay, an Estuary of National Significance, located in the Gulf of Maine. Our science program monitors the health of the Bay and tracks changing conditions. These data inform our advocacy and how we engage the community in our stewardship efforts. 

Casco Bay is changing. As part of the Gulf of Maine, and as our data show, Casco Bay is warming more quickly than almost all other marine waters in the world in response to excess greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. We play a leading role in our region to reduce pollution, encourage stewardship, and address the causes and consequences of climate change. 

We are home to the Casco BAYKEEPER®, our lead advocate who acts as the eyes, ears, and voice of Casco Bay. We are one of the seven founding members of WATERKEEPER® Alliance, a network that includes more than 300 independent organizations working to protect waters around the world. Thanks to our efforts, industrial pollution has decreased, municipalities are working to reduce sewage and stormwater pollution, and the Bay has been designated a No Discharge Area, making it one of the most protected water bodies in the country. 

A Board of 15 Directors oversees the work of Friends of Casco Bay. More than 2,500 households and donors support our organization. More than 500 volunteers assist us in our efforts. We are known as an exceptional place to work, with dedicated, cohesive, long-time staff. We currently have eight full-time employees. We balance our ability to leverage collaborative efforts, funds, and volunteers, with the capacity and capabilities of staff — a talented team, each passionate about our mission. We work to improve and protect the health of this special place for everyone. We are committed to creating a culture and practices that integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion into our work.

Friends of Casco Bay receives restricted and unrestricted funds from individuals, corporations, foundations, governments, nonprofits, and events. Annual revenue is in the range of $1,300,000. Our fundraising strategies are donor-centric and collaborative.

The job of the Development Director

The Development Director (DD) works to ensure Friends of Casco Bay’s long-term success through developing and sustaining diverse funding sources. This position requires collaboration with all of our staff. The DD is responsible for the research, identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of donors. Relationship building is crucial to our work. The DD will broaden our visibility, increase engagement, highlight our work, and encourage action. The DD will work with our communications team to tell stories that connect us with our communities. The DD must adhere to the work plan and calendar to meet deadlines. The Development Director reports to the Executive Director (ED). The DD manages and oversees the Development Assistant (DA). Specific duties include:

Development Efforts

  • Manage our renewal process for our existing donors
  • Develop a prioritized list of prospective individual major donors, corporate donors, and foundations
  • Continue to recruit new members and donors while encouraging deepening commitments from those already aboard
  • Research funders and submit proposals to foundations, corporations, government agencies, and others, to fund our initiatives and programs
  • Provide fundraising input as new program initiatives are developed
  • Work with the ED and the Community Engagement Committee of the Board of Directors to identify and contact corporate donors and corporate sponsors
  • Facilitate and organize meetings between major donors, businesses, and foundations and the ED, the Casco Baykeeper and/or Board members
  • Submit updates to funders, generating content in collaboration with staff, to report on how funds have been used
  • Conduct membership acquisition campaigns: obtain, sort or generate lists; write appeals; coordinate production and mailing
  • Develop strategic opportunities to partner with other organizations for funding 
  • Work with ED and Board to develop and implement capital campaigns as appropriate

Research, Planning, and Collaboration

  • Work with the ED to set fundraising goals while developing the next year’s revenue budget; prepare a twelve-month fundraising plan with monthly goals and deadlines
  • Work with the ED to develop short-term and long-term communication and fundraising strategies to:
    • Increase the number and the amount of individual donations
    • Increase the number and the amount of gifts to the Annual Fund
    • Identify benchmarks, set measurable goals, and organize implementation strategies for our communications and development work
  • Work with ED and Staff Writer to develop monthly and weekly communications plans to engage supporters and would-be supporters
  • Help plan and implement public events, such as our Annual Members Meeting; Donor Appreciation Event; house parties, Casco Bay Matters events, and others
  • Work with staff to advance our visibility through cohesive visual branding in our documents, publications, website, emails, social media, presentations, and other materials
  • Help keep our website up-to-date 

Execution

  • Meet monthly and annual fundraising goals
  • Manage the writing and submittal of grant proposals and donor requests
  • Solicit and close gifts personally and/or as part of a team
  • Manage Development Assistant for most efficient and effective use of time and skills relative to our operating plan
  • Work with the Office Manager to coordinate mailings and billing notices
  • Manage our monthly renewal cycle was well as our biannual annual fund and special appeal mailings
  • Facilitate contract finalization for government work, if requested.
  • Generate all follow up correspondence to major donors and foundations (e.g., thank you acknowledgements, thank you telephone calls/messages, reports to grantors, and the like)
  • Collaborate with the ED, Staff Writer, and other staff on the concept/theme for newsletters, the Annual Fund Appeals and Special Appeals

Tracking and Reporting

  • Maintain the tracking systems for all donors via Raiser’s Edge and, when appropriate, paper records
  • Prepare reports for the ED and Community Engagement Committee of the Board on the status and progress of targeted funds and on the successes to date
  • Help develop and design materials, including invitations, mailing pieces, newsletters, fact sheets, and emails
  • Attend staff, board, and Community Engagement Committee meetings.
  • Be alert to professional development opportunities

Attributes, Skills, and Experience

  • Substantial and successful fundraising experience: raising money for environmental causes from a combination of foundations, governments, corporations, and individuals. 
  • Experience in membership, sponsorship, and annual fundraising appeals 
  • Communication ability: Excellent written and verbal communication skills 
  • Environmental or marine science knowledge: ability to understand scientific issues and present them in an accessible and effective manner
  • Passion for the environment and the ability to articulate our work in terms of a compelling vision
  • Knowledge of the local, state and regional funding communities: businesses, individuals, foundations, philanthropists, and government sources; experience with federal government grants, a plus
  • Computer skills: Competence in use of PC word processing, database, social networking, and spreadsheet software. Friends of Casco Bay currently uses Word, Excel, Raiser’s Edge, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WordPress 
  • Organizing skills: Must be organized, calendar oriented, able to keep others organized and motivated around fundraising activities, able to meet deadlines, think strategically, reach goals, pay strict attention to detail, and convey information in organized and meaningful presentations.
  • Fundraising principles and accounting: Ethical commitment to the proper recording and recognition of income in compliance with nonprofit accounting principles is essential. Understanding of accrual basis and the ability to help reconcile fundraising records with those provided by accounting, a plus.

Salary and benefits:

The salary range is $63,000 to $75,000/year, commensurate with experience, with an excellent benefits package, including paid vacation time, 13 state and federal holidays, health and dental insurance (employer pays 75% and contributes to a health savings account), paid sick days, life insurance, and retirement plan, including a 4% employer match.

Location and public health expectations

Friends of Casco Bay is located in South Portland, Maine, in the greater Portland region. We currently work using a hybrid model of working from home and working in the office. This is not a “remote” only position. By its nature, this position requires showing up in person at meetings and doing work on the Bay. The Greater Portland area offers a vibrant cultural scene and easy access to the state’s many recreational opportunities. 100% of our staff are vaccinated against COVID-19 and we expect our newest employee to be, too.

Start date

As soon as possible upon job offer.

Application Instructions

A complete application package from interested applicants must include:

  • A letter of application citing why you are qualified for the position
  • A resume
  • A writing sample that you have written not to exceed 750 words, preferably for a fundraising request or proposal

Email your application as a single PDF document to keeper [at] cascobay [dot] org. This is a priority position that we hope to fill with the right candidate as soon as possible. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Screenings and interviews will be conducted initially by phone and online; finalists will be interviewed in person as CDC guidelines allow. No phone calls, please.

About Casco Bay

Casco Bay encompasses 14 coastal communities, including two of Maine’s largest cities, Portland and South Portland, and two of Maine’s newest towns, Long Island and Chebeague Island. Casco Bay is both a working waterfront—a port of call for cruise ships, oil tankers, and container ships—and a scenic postcard of historic forts, stalwart lighthouses, secluded anchorages, and many islands.

We are home to the Casco Baykeeper

Baykeeping is our mission put into practice: acting to improve and protect the environmental health of Casco Bay. Our Baykeeping Program exists to advocate for solutions to environmental challenges facing the Bay.

30 Years of Friends of Casco Bay

This timeline highlights our biggest victories as well as some of the most significant moments of Friends of Casco Bay’s history over the past three decades.