Chief Development Officer

Creative Action•Austin, TX

8d•$115,000 - $135,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Creative Action seeks an accomplished, collaborative, and relationship-centered fundraising leader to serve as Chief Development Officer. Reporting to the Executive Director and serving on the senior leadership team, the CDO will lead a comprehensive development program, grow philanthropic support, strengthen donor relationships and fundraising systems, and build an organization-wide culture of philanthropy. The CDO will be both a strategic leader and an active fundraiser—personally cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major donors while leading the development team and engaging the Board as fundraising partners. The CDO will also collaborate closely with Creative Action's Capital Campaign Director and Executive Director to coordinate donor strategy, prospect assignments, communications, and stewardship. The Capital Campaign Director will retain primary responsibility for campaign strategy and execution.

Requirements

Seven or more years of progressive nonprofit fundraising experience, including significant leadership responsibility; experience in arts, education, youth development, or the cultural sector is preferred.
Proven success securing significant individual gifts, growing a donor pipeline, and executing fundraising strategies across multiple revenue streams.
Experience leading and developing teams and working effectively with executives, Board members, donors, volunteers, community leaders, and colleagues across an organization.
Strong knowledge of donor cultivation and stewardship, prospect management, fundraising metrics, development operations, and CRM systems.
Excellent relationship-building, communication, storytelling, writing, presentation, planning, and analytical skills.
A strategic, proactive, collaborative, ethical, and adaptable leadership style, with emotional intelligence and sound judgment.
Ability to attend occasional evening and weekend donor, program, community, and fundraising activities.

Nice To Haves

experience in arts, education, youth development, or the cultural sector is preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and lead annual and multi-year fundraising strategies across major gifts, annual giving, institutional support, corporate partnerships, special events, planned giving, and other philanthropic opportunities.
Build and actively manage a portfolio of major donors and prospects, personally leading cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of significant gifts.
Set clear revenue goals, forecasts, metrics, and accountability practices; use results and donor data to strengthen performance, retention, and the prospect pipeline.
Partner with the Executive Director on funding priorities, donor strategy, and management of the Executive Director's portfolio.
Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing development team with clear roles, goals, and expectations.
Engage and equip the Board of Directors and its development-related committee(s) as active fundraising partners, providing regular reports on progress, opportunities, and challenges.
Represent Creative Action in the community and build relationships with donors, institutional partners, community leaders, and other stakeholders.
Partner with Marketing and Communications to create compelling cases for support, donor communications, and stories of impact.
Ensure effective development operations, including prospect and moves management, CRM and data integrity, gift tracking and acknowledgement, reporting, forecasting, and donor stewardship.
Strengthen fundraising policies, systems, and cross-departmental practices that support collaboration, accountability, and informed decision-making.
Coordinate closely with the Capital Campaign Director so annual, major-gift, institutional, and campaign fundraising efforts are integrated, donor relationships are managed thoughtfully, and campaign donors remain engaged with Creative Action over time.