Director, Development

🔥 10 hours ago

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Non-profit • Environment • Sustainability

Verra is a nonprofit organization that operates in the area of environmental and social markets. It is renowned for setting the world’s leading standards in these fields, including the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program, which is the world’s foremost voluntary greenhouse gas program. Verra's programs focus on the development and implementation of standards for climate action, sustainable development, and the reduction of plastic waste. With a substantial global impact, Verra facilitates projects that aim to combat deforestation, promote biodiversity, and advance sustainable development goals worldwide.

📋 Description

• Develop and execute a comprehensive, cohesive development strategy that aligns with Verra's mission and growth objectives, encompassing philanthropic contributions (including major gifts), grants, and corporate partnerships, with a focus on climate-focused donors and foundations. • Identify, research, and cultivate new funding prospects, including foundations, institutional partners, and high-potential donors, while implementing innovative approaches such as digital campaigns, donor events, and diversified revenue stress to expand Verra’s funding based and maximize impact. • Lead generation for donor acquisition, retention, and stewardship efforts, ensuring strong relationships with foundations, corporations, and climate-focused donors. • Design and manage grant proposals and reporting processes to ensure compliance and timely submissions. • Maintain a robust donor pipeline, track prospect progress, and manage cultivation strategies to ensure a steady flow of funding opportunities. • Oversee CRM implementation and optimization, ensuring accurate donor data management and leveraging insights for strategic decisions. • Create compelling fundraising materials, including proposals, donor decks, and impact reports that communicate Verra's mission and outcomes. • Track and analyze fundraising performance metrics to provide insights and recommendations for continuous improvement. • Represent Verra at key events and networking opportunities, elevating organizational visibility and cultivating strategic partnerships. • Collaborate cross-functionally with communications and marketing teams, finance, legal and program teams to align development efforts with organizational priorities, including media campaigns, digital outreach, and donor engagement initiatives. • Ensure compliance with legal and ethical fundraising standards and maintain accurate documentation of donor interactions. • Mentor global team members and colleagues on development best practices, donor engagement strategies, and CRM utilization, while building organizational capacity for grant writing and stewardship to foster a culture of philanthropy across teams. • Lead the fundraising change management process for the organization. • Develop compelling stories and reports that demonstrate Verra’s impact for donors and stakeholders, supporting grant proposals and stewardship efforts. • Continuously refine processes and tools to increase efficiency and impact, leveraging technology and data-driven insights. • Support fundraising budgeting and forecasting, monitoring progress against goals and providing insights to leadership for strategic decision-making.

🎯 Requirements

• 10+ years of proven experience in development with a minimum of 5 years of progressive leadership responsibility, preferably within the non-profit sector. • A degree in Non-profit Management, Business, Communications, Environmental Policy or related field. • Experience with environmental markets, especially carbon markets, preferred. • Comprehensive development expertise with demonstrated success in cultivating philanthropic contributions (including major gifts), high net-worth individuals, grants, corporate partnerships, and donor stewardship. • Proven ability to generate leads, identify and cultivate new donor prospects, innovative programs and funding opportunities. • Experience managing a donor pipeline and prospect tracking systems. Deep knowledge of orchestrating fundraising events, digital campaigns, and online giving platforms. • CRM and systems proficiency with hands-on experience implementing and managing donor management systems (CRM) and leveraging data for strateg