Capital Campaign Director – Lead a Field-Defining Campaign to Anchor Abolitionist Infrastructure in Oakland

Critical Resistance (CR), a national grassroots organization working to end the prison industrial complex (PIC), seeks a Capital Campaign Director to lead strategy, fundraising, donor engagement, and ecosystem coordination to lead the remaining capital raise and bring a bold vision of a long-term abolitionist movement hub to life.

This is a rare opportunity to shape a field-defining campaign—one that reimagines how capital and community support local-to-global movement building, governance, and cultural memory. The Director will play a central role in aligning the campaign with CR abolitionist values and anchoring its success in strong relationships, compelling narrative, and collective care.

This full-time, Oakland-based (hybrid) position reports to CR’s Development Director and collaborates closely with the Building Project Manager, campaign consultants, and CR’s national staff team.

Location: Oakland, CA (hybrid)

Status: Full-time, two-year+ position (with initial six-month mutual fit review)

Salary Range: $120,000-140,000/year + generous benefits

Project Overview

Building People Power (BPP) – a project of Critical Resistance – is preparing to launch the quiet phase of a bold capital campaign to resource a new movement hub for healing, organizing, and community-led governance, and to activate a living model of abolitionist economic sovereignty. The current capital campaign team recently conducted a feasibility study which affirmed BPP’s potential as a generational investment in abolitionist infrastructure and informed an updated campaign work plan, positioning CR to move forward with clarity, intention, and momentum.

At its heart is the transformation of a 10,000 square foot building at 4400 Telegraph Ave in Oakland, CA into a home for political organizing, cultural strategy, collective care, and movement stewardship. Currently under CR’s ownership, the building will house the organization’s national headquarters and provide a welcoming, inclusive space for movement partners and communities impacted by imprisonment, displacement, and state violence.

To date, the campaign has secured ownership of the building and a $6 million lead gift. With preliminary architectural estimates, the total working goal of $11.5 million to complete renovations and ensure long-term sustainability for building operations. Pricing with the contractor and updated BPP operational planning will refine the final goal.

This is not just a capital campaign—it’s a blueprint for how movements can mobilize resources and relationships to build the world we need, centering community stewardship, participatory governance, and the transformative use of resources to build collective power.

Key Responsibilities

Campaign Strategy and Management

• Refine and implement a multi-phase campaign strategy from quiet phase cultivation through public launch and close
• Align campaign calendar with CR’s programmatic, construction, and fiscal timelines
• Track benchmarks, manage campaign budget, and report progress to key internal and external stakeholders
• Coordinate consultants, advisors, and Capital Campaign committee members while assessing overall campaign capacity and design
• Develop annual fundraising plans and materials aligned with CR’s values, voice, and vision
• Facilitate internal coordination and documentation across campaign staff, volunteers, and systems

Donor Organizing and Engagement

• Build and manage a portfolio of donors and funders giving $10K+ in one-time or multi-year commitments
• Cultivate and solicit major individual and institutional gifts—including recoverable or blended capital where aligned
• Coach and support CR staff, campaign committee, and volunteers in donor engagement and asks
• Manage donor systems, acknowledgements, pledges, and grant proposals and reports
• Collaborate on donor storytelling and events that highlight the campaign’s transformative impact

Campaign Culture, Learning, and Ecosystem Stewardship

• Cultivate a campaign culture grounded in CR’s abolitionist principles: collective care, accountability, and shared power
• Represent CR and BPP in philanthropic, community finance, and movement-building spaces
• Support documentation that uplifts BPP’s broader field impact and long-term strategic significance
• Help bridge CR with aligned fields such as solidarity economy, community capital, and governance innovation

Ideal Candidate Qualifications

We welcome applications from candidates with a variety of backgrounds—including development, organizing, philanthropy, and economic justice. You don’t need to meet every single qualification to apply. We value curiosity, strategic thinking, and alignment with our values.

• 5–7+ years of fundraising experience, including 3+ years in capital campaigns or major gifts
• Experience leading or co-leading multi-stakeholder fundraising efforts and securing six-figure+ gifts
• Strong relationship-building skills across diverse philanthropic and movement spaces
• Creative, values-aligned approach to capital strategy and narrative positioning
• Effective communicator and collaborator with strong writing, planning, and prioritization skills
• Comfort working in CRM systems (Salesforce a plus), along with experience managing campaign budgets and tracking systems
• Experience supporting or supervising fundraising staff, volunteers, or campaign committees
• Familiarity with integrated capital strategies (e.g. grants, major gifts, recoverable capital, public/private partnerships) is a plus
• Familiarity with prison industrial complex abolition; the ability to learn about and articulate CR’s broader mission and values.
• Personal qualities of diligence, humility, integrity, emotional intelligence, and self-direction
• Confidence operating as a visible campaign leader while honoring collective leadership and grassroots values

Salary: $120,000-$140,000/year depending upon experience

Benefits: Six weeks paid vacation + generous benefits package

Classification: Position is full-time, exempt

Work Setup: Office infrastructure or remote work support available

Timeline: Two-year position with initial six-month mutual fit review period. There is potential for extension beyond the two-year period depending on candidate interest, fit, and campaign trajectory.

Reporting Structure: This role will be supervised by CR’s Development Director, informed by the Building Project Manager, supported by a capital campaign consultant, and accountable to the BPP Board.

This job description outlines the role’s primary responsibilities but is not exhaustive. The employee may be assigned other duties that are reasonable and related to the position, consistent with applicable law.