Development Director

Gowanus Canal Conservancy is seeking a Development Director that can manage and sustain our existing fundraising, while strategically planning for sustainable growth. The ideal candidate is entrepreneurial, creative, detail oriented, and an excellent communicator, with an interest in urban environmental issues and/or the Gowanus neighborhood and experience with fundraising in NYC. This position will report to the Executive Director. We are a small organization with a dynamic team - the ideal candidate will be excited to collaborate with the Board, Leadership Team and Staff to oversee development and implementation of strategic fundraising, aligned with the mission, vision and strategic plan of our growing organization.

Key Responsibilities

Lead Development and Implementation of Organizational Fundraising

Individual Giving

• Identify, cultivate and steward relationships with prospective and existing individual donors
• Develop and implement Annual Giving campaign
• Oversee Membership program, in coordination with Communications & Outreach Senior Manager

Board Giving and Fundraising

• Work with the Fundraising Chair to manage Board Fundraising Committee
• Manage relationships with Board Members to renew and solicit new support
• Support Board members in donor cultivation and solicitation
• Support Board member recruitment and nominating process

Foundation and Corporate Giving

• Manage existing unrestricted funding, including proposals, administration, reporting and relationships
• Work with Leadership Team to manage programmatic funding, including proposals, administration, reporting and relationships
• Work with Landscape Director to solicit and manage Corporate Volunteer events
• Identify and pursue new opportunities for corporate and foundation support

Events

• Oversee planning and execution of annual Spring Benefit, including planning for GCC’s 20th Anniversary celebration in Spring 2026
• Oversee fundraising strategy and implementation for all special events

Fundraising Administration

• Supervise PT Development & Office Coordinator
• Manage donor receipts and acknowledgements
• Manage tracking of all fundraising data in Salesforce database
• Oversee planned revamp of Salesforce database to better coordinate fundraising and other organizational data
• Provide reporting to the Leadership Team and Board on fundraising activities and progress

Organizational Management

• Work with Leadership Team to coordinate fundraising planning with organizational goals and objectives
• Work with Communications Senior Manager to plan and coordinate public facing communications strategies aligned with fundraising goals

Preferred Qualifications

• At least 5 years of comparable experience with demonstrated fundraising success
• Familiarity and experience with the NYC fundraising landscape
• Entrepreneurial and strategic thinker
• Demonstrated ability to take initiative, think creatively and collaborate
• Interest in and ability to articulate complex urban environmental issues
• Experience and interest in working with diverse communities and teams
• Excellent writing, presentation and communication skills
• Excellent organizational and project management skills
• Working knowledge of Excel and Salesforce or other donor databases

Physical Requirements

Ability to talk, hear, sit, stand, and walk; use hands to finger, handle or feel; and reach with hands and arms

Communicating information; reading and typing; using video conferencing

Schedule: This is a full-time, salaried position, 40 hours per week, and may require occasional evenings and weekends. The role is primarily in person at the GCC office in Gowanus, with some flexibility for hybrid work.