Development Director [East]

About the Working Families Party

The Working Families Party (WFP) is the progressive party for the multiracial working class, fighting for a nation that works for the many, not the few. We recruit, train, and support transformational candidates up and down the ballot — and run them to win.  

We believe that no matter where we come from or what our color, most of us want the same things. We want to earn enough to thrive, not just survive, and leave a better future for our kids. We want healthy food and clean water, safe neighborhoods and a safe world. We want to be free.

The Working Families Party is regular people coming together across our differences to make a better future for us all. We’re a multiracial party that fights for workers over bosses and people over the powerful. We want an America which realizes the promise – unrealized in our history – of freedom and equality for all.

The Development Director [East] will design and lead the Working Families Party (party) and Working Families Power (organization) strategy to raise private money from individuals and institutions based in New York, and over time, other East Coast communities. The Development Director will play a significant role in ensuring the party and organization meet ambitious fundraising goals to increase total reliable annual revenue of the party to $30+ million over the next five years by managing and growing their own fundraising portfolio in the $3 - $5 million range within their assigned regions and states. The Development Director [East] will be a member of the Development Team and report to the Chief Development Officer. The Development Director will work closely with regional and state focused program staff to advise on their fundraising strategies, build fundraising capacity, and develop and implement organization and party fundraising activities that effectively engage other staff. The Development Director will also benefit from the collaboration of an already highly functioning and successful fundraising team. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Applications encouraged by July 31.

• Individual & Institutional Fundraising:
• Design and lead on the implementation of the party’s fundraising strategy for assigned regions and states to significantly grow and diversify annual revenue over the next 5 years from institutional and individual supporters, with an expectation of managing and growing a fundraising portfolio in the $3 - $5 million range from donors within assigned regions and states.
• Individual donor fundraising: Oversee, grow and innovate party and organization fundraising efforts from individual supporters in assigned regions, including:
• Stewarding current individual supporter relationships and identifying opportunities for increasing support and bringing support into more alignment with party goals
• Leading prospecting strategy to identify new individual supporters.
• Build and strengthen relationships with current and new individual supporters via meetings and managing a calendar of special events
• Institutional fundraising: Oversee, grow and innovate party and organization fundraising efforts from institutional sources in assigned regions including:
• Stewarding current institutional funder relationships and identifying opportunities for increasing support and bringing support into more alignment with party and organization goals
• Leading prospecting strategy to identify new aligned funding opportunities
• Holding formal and informal meetings with new potential institutional supporters
• Working with program and development staff to envision general papers and grant proposals and reports and oversee the development of high-quality written materials
• Solicit individual and institutional contributions, and organize supporters towards becoming unrestricted, multi-year party and organization supporters
• Project revenue for assigned portfolio of individual and institutional contacts, and periodically update revenue projections to inform financial planning

• Provide technical assistance and coaching to assigned regional and state staff to help them develop and execute their assigned organization and party fundraising responsibilities, including:
• Stewarding relationships with current supporters,
• Strategies to identify new supporters and building onramps for cultivating them, and
• Preparing for and executing supporter meetings and solicitations
• Helping department heads and supervisors to set realistic and ambitious fundraising goals, ensure departments have fundraising role clarity, and know how to access help
• Identify opportunities to integrate regional and state programs and staff participation into fundraising opportunities 
• Ensure regional and state staff understand and, as appropriate, adopt party and organization-wide fundraising systems including revenue projections, CRM database, and grants management 

• Ensure an excellent overall party experience for institutional and individual funders in assigned regions, including:
• Cultivation and stewardship events such as virtual briefings and in person salons
• Engage supporters in existing party and organization activities
• Regular email, phone, text, and other communication with institutional and individual supporters on relevant party and giving matters
• Other digital communications and physical mailings to funders, etc. and ensure foundation contacts have excellent plans for cultivation and relationship maintenance
• Providing information and recommendations about supporting endorsed candidates
• Initiate periodic mailings of physical cultivation and stewardship materials
• Travel as needed to cities throughout assigned region for in person cultivation and stewardship meetings, conferences and events
• Ensure integration of current and prospective institutional and individual funder contact information into data systems

• Identify opportunities to engage party donors in supporting priority WFP candidates 
• Serve as a thought partner to member organization’s fundraising 
• Provide ongoing input and collaboration on the Development Team’s party wide donor experience strategy 
• Assist with the Development Team’s party and organization wide donor experience activities
• Engage donors in understanding WFP’s theory of change, and how its infrastructure and short term programs build towards long term goals

• At least 5 years of experience creating and implementing fundraising programs that have raised at least $1 million from individuals, and more from institutional donors. Experience can be within candidate campaigns, political parties, or advocacy or social movement organizations that raise c4 and PAC money.
• A passion for building working class governing power through elections and an attunement to political opportunities to do so
• Extensive knowledge of progressive and political funder communities in New York
• Experience in soliciting individual contributions of at least $100,000
• Excellent interpersonal and written communications skills with high capacity individual and institutional funders
• Excellent work planning, prioritization, and independent time management skills
• Experience in managing or coaching others to complete their fundraising responsibilities

• Compensation:   The base salary range for this position is $111,000- $150,000. The final salary will be determined based on an internal equitable scale that takes into consideration years of experience, geographic location, and final job description. We also offer a robust benefit package for full time employees including paid time off; health, dental, vision, and life insurance; flexible spending accounts; retirement plan options; professional development funding; and remote work support.
• Location: The position is full-time and based in the New York Metro Area.
• Schedule: Full Time, Permanent.
• Union Affiliation: WFP is a unionized workplace. This is a managerial role, not included in our bargaining unit. WFP's union employees are represented by the New York Metropolitan Area Joint Board, Workers United union.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Working Families is an equal opportunity employer with a commitment to economic and social justice. Women, people of color, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, and members of other historically disenfranchised populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Any applicant who requires an accommodation in order to apply for or perform the essential functions of the job should contact us at jobs@workingfamilies.org with the subject line "Application Accommodation" to request such an accommodation.