Development Manager

Arcadia manages a $1.5M annual revenue goal for 2026 across Foundation, Government, Corporate, Program Fee, Event, and Individual/Major Gift revenue. The Executive Director currently leads all fundraising while building their own development skill set, supported by a Corporate Volunteer Coordinator, eight programmatic staff, and our Board.

The Development Manager (new role!) is the person who keeps the whole Development Plan healthy, honest, and moving: owning the budget tracking, the calendar, operations, and the CRM across every portfolio, while carrying direct fundraising work of their own - primarily Individual/Major Gifts and Corporate Sponsorship. The role also directly supports and coordinates the ED's fundraising activity. Private & Government Grants and Program Fees are led by other teammates. This role tracks, coordinates, and supports those calendars and progress but does not own those relationships or strategy. This is not yet a Director role as the ED still holds overall strategy and the largest institutional relationships, but it is the natural next step toward one as the department and its revenue grow. Because Arcadia's team is small and hands-on, this role also does its own data entry, drafting, and prep work; no task is "below" it.

Portfolio Scope & Collaboration

• Individual / Major Gifts - primary ownership. This is the role's core donor portfolio and the organization's largest near and mid-term growth opportunity. Relationships are managed by this role and the ED.
• Corporate Sponsorship - shared ownership, working in tandem with the Corporate Volunteer Program Lead and the ED. Relationships, sponsorship revenue growth, and pitch/renewal work are done together, with leads and opportunities pipelined back and forth between sponsorship and the volunteer program (a corporate volunteer connection can become a sponsorship prospect, and vice versa).
• Private & Government Grants - supporting role. Grant strategy and relationships are led by the ED, COO and consultants; this role helps keep the shared LOI/proposal/report calendar current and communicated, the CRM records clean, and can support submissions.
• Program Fees — supporting role. Program fee revenue (Mobile Market, field trips, camps, etc.) is led by other teammates; this role helps track revenue/progress-to-goal, not the underlying programs.

Key Responsibilities

1. Own the Development Plan & Calendar

• Maintain the annual Development Plan and calendar of activity across all donor types/portfolios: Corporate, Events, Foundations, Government Contracts, Program Fees, and Individual Giving.
• Track progress-to-goal (goal, YTD, remaining-to-goal) for each portfolio and prepare materials for recurring Revenue Task Force meetings.
• Build and maintain a shared calendar of LOIs, proposals, and reports due across all active grants and contracts.
• Keep the CRM (Neon) clean and current: deduplicate records, update contact and account profiles, and improve overall donor file quality.

1. Manage Fundraising Work

• Manage an assigned portfolio of Individual donors and prospects for the scaled, broad-based portfolio moving them through Research & Qualification, Cultivation, Solicitation, Transactions/Record-Keeping, and Stewardship. Supports the same process for organization's largest accounts, with the ED as the relationship holder.
• Co-manage Corporate Sponsorship with the Corporate Volunteer Program Lead and the ED: share relationship/goal ownership, grow renewal and new sponsorship revenue, and prep/deliver sponsorship pitches on a predictable annual cycle (e.g., corporate pitch decks ready by end of September, pitches delivered by mid-October).
  • Pipeline leads back and forth with the Corporate Volunteer program - identifies volunteer-day companies as sponsorship prospects, and looping sponsors into volunteer opportunities so the two efforts reinforce each other.
• Execute the organization's recurring campaigns and events (e.g., Farm Dinner, Snallygaster, Funtacular, Volunteer Days): prep pitch decks, coordinate outreach and follow-up, and track results.
• Conduct prospect research to help prioritize where the ED and Board spend their time.

1. Support the Executive Director's Fundraising

• Act as the ED's fundraising right hand: prepare briefing notes, track follow-ups, and help the ED prep for cultivation and solicitation meetings on their own top accounts.
• Help translate Arcadia's Case for Support across formats, from a short elevator version to the fuller strategic-plan narrative, for use by the ED and Board.
• Support Board fundraising engagement: prep materials, track commitments, prepare briefing notes and track follow-ups. Support ED in Board relationship management.

1. Build Systems, Training & Best Practices

• Manage Revenue taskforce meeting: collect materials/reports, prepare agendas, keep strategic notes to support ED’s revenue strategy, direction, and clarity on progress to date.
• Support any revenue related reporting to Board: prepare materials, provide insights and supporting documents for Board meetings and fiscal transparency related work.
• Document and roll out basic Donor Development Cycle best practices for Staff and Board.
• Manage production of organization’s annual report (and all mailings and revenue related communications) including timelines, outlines, content collection, and stakeholder distribution
• Support organization-wide fundraising skill-building for staff involved in cultivation and stewardship.
• Bring structural and qualitative observations (internal strengths/weaknesses, external opportunities/threats) to Revenue Task Force discussions.
• Support as liaison to Development related consultants, volunteers, and contractors.

What This Role Is (and Isn't)

More than an assistant

Owns a real donor portfolio with revenue accountability, not just administrative or logistical support.

Runs the operational backbone of the whole department's plan and calendar, not just one person's inbox and calendar.

Represents Arcadia directly in donor cultivation and solicitation conversations — solo or supporting on Individual Giving (according to portfolio assignment), and jointly with the Corporate Volunteer Program Lead and ED on Corporate Sponsorship.

Not yet a Director, but building skill toward it

Does not set overall development strategy or own the organization's largest institutional relationships — that stays with the ED for now.

Focuses on executing, coordinating, and reporting within an existing plan, rather than creating a strategy from scratch.

If suited/desired, can grow into a future Director of Development role as Arcadia's revenue and department scale, and should be evaluated with that trajectory in mind.

Qualifications

Required

• 3–5 years of nonprofit development experience, including hands-on fundraising execution (not solely administrative support). Equivalent experience in a related field (e.g., sales, account management, community organizing) will also be considered.
• Familiarity with moves-management or donor-cycle frameworks (research, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship)
• Experience with a donor database/CRM (Neon experience a plus, not required) and strong spreadsheet skills.
• Comfortable working across altitudes (from portfolio strategy down to data entry) at a small, resource-constrained organization.
• Strong project management skills; able to track multiple portfolios, deadlines, and stakeholders (ED, Board, program staff) at once.
• Clear, persuasive writing for donor communications, pitch materials, and case-for-support content.
• Comfortable co-managing relationships and revenue with a teammate (as with Corporate Sponsorship alongside the Corporate Volunteer Program Lead) rather than needing sole ownership of every account.
• Able to attend evening and weekend donor events (e.g., Farm Dinner) as part of the annual cycle.
• Willingness to learn
• Alignment with Arcadia’s values, and willing to be accountable to them

Preferred

• Experience managing or running a successful capital campaign
• Experience/knowledge in farming, food systems
• Familiarity with the National Capital Region philanthropic community
• A genuine interest in growing into department leadership as Arcadia's fundraising program matures.

A Note on Fit

The 2026 plan is deliberately weighted toward growing Individual/Major Gifts as the biggest near- and mid-term opportunity. The right candidate will be energized by bringing order and momentum to that opportunity- comfortable building on the strategy, setting up the system, and doing the work inside it. They'll also be a natural partner and people person: growing Corporate Sponsorship revenue means working hand-in-hand with the Corporate Volunteer Program Lead, trading leads in both directions rather than guarding a separate pipeline.

No specific degree is required. We're evaluating demonstrated experience and skill, not credentials.

Compensation & Benefits

Low-to-Mid-60s,Arcadia also offers subsidized health insurace, unlimited PTO, and a professional development budget for full time-year round staff.

Schedule & Work Environment

This is primarily a weekday, business-hours role - however, due to the nature of relationship building, evenings and occasional weekends required around donor and sponsor events and meetings (e.g., Farm Dinner, Snallygaster, Funtacular). Flexibility is built into scheduling to support this kind of work e.g. time spent on donor meetings after working hours or on weekends can be balanced with a later morning start.

How to Apply

Please send a cover letter and resume to info@arcadiafood.org with Development in the subject line. We will be reviewing resumes on a rolling basis and scheduling interviews through the fall.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Arcadia is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants of all backgrounds. Arcadia is committed to providing its job applicants, employees, contractors and Arcadia visitors with a professional environment free from all forms of discrimination and harassment based on race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, gender identity/expression, disability, marital status, personal appearance, family responsibilities, political affiliation, sexual orientation, citizenship, disability, veteran status, genetic information, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, or any other category protected by applicable federal, state, or local law (collectively, the “protected characteristics”). All employees are expected to uphold and abide by this Policy and treat, and be treated by, each other with dignity and respect.

Arcadia offers unlimited PTO, a hybrid work environment, and subsidized health insurance.

Fluent English; additional languages welcome but not required.