Director, Development and Fundraising

Every professional sports team plays an important role in the civic fabric of its community. Washington Nationals Philanthropies, the official charitable arm of the Washington Nationals, is on a mission to help children, families, and communities thrive through sport-based youth development and access to healthy food. The organization delivers on this commitment through direct delivery of programs and grants, and by spurring investment in community-based programs that address the disparity of opportunity for residents of the region.

Since 2007, the foundation has issued over $7 million in grants to local organizations. Through its signature program, the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy, the organization operates year-round youth development and baseball instruction activities, as well as a holistic food access program – supporting the delivery of over 1 million meals into the Washington, DC region since 2018. Since 2013, the organization has invested $50 million for facility construction and annual programming through the Academy.

Position Summary

Organizational excellence and community impact requires a commitment to fundraising capacity through stewardship of our loyal donor base, cultivation of new funders, and strategic collaboration with programmatic staff. The Director, Development and Fundraising oversees development efforts, including individual and corporate donor cultivation, institutional giving and partnerships, grant-seeking, fundraising events, and bespoke initiatives. The Director will work closely with the VP/Executive Director and WNP Leadership Team and will play a leading role in expanding the organization’s revenue sources, identifying potential funders, and securing new commitments.

The successful candidate will be motivated and passionate about ensuring the organization’s success and understands the value of demonstrating impact through a clear articulation of measurable results achieved by the organization – both through its own programs and activities as well as in the context of similar efforts regionally, nationally, and across sports philanthropy and youth development.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

Development Strategy and Leadership

• Develop and execute an annual development plan and fundraising strategies to meet monthly, quarterly, and annual fundraising targets; track and report out on performance regularly.
• Steward an existing base of donors, partners, and sponsors, and develop and execute strategies to cultivate new opportunities and resources.
• Lead and manage all aspects of donor cultivation, stewardship, solicitation, and recognition across donor types and levels.
• Collaborate with WNP Leadership Team to develop effective donor-centered communications that build authentic connection between supporters and organizational impact.
  
  

Donor Engagement and Outreach

• Identify and cultivate relationships with key stakeholders including major donors/prospects, event sponsors, corporate and foundation donors.
• Lead Development team in cultivation and stewardship activities that engage and grow the donor portfolio with a relationship-based approach; Collaborate with Development Manager on a thoughtful and strategic stewardship calendar such that annual donors remain connected to the mission they support.
• Lead donor-focused events, tours, and presentations showcasing WNP programs and impact.
• Oversee and support the preparation and execution of appeals and proposals, donor acknowledgements, and donor engagement communications.
• Support Board engagement related to fundraising, including prospect identification, preparation of materials and meeting briefings.
• Manage up and across, serving as primary person responsible for assigning prospects to other relationship managers while guiding their cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship processes, delivering structured ongoing support.
• Support WNP Leadership Team in regular funder interactions, facilitating the advancement of key relationships. Prepare for donor meetings, create briefing documents, develop personalized appeals.
• Collaborate across the organization to ensure fundraising strategies align with programmatic goals and organizational priorities.
  
  

Operational Leadership and Management

• Manage Development staff, delegating work streams effectively, fostering professional growth and motivation, and holding team members to a high standard of excellence and accountability.
• Support Development staff in achieving goals related to individual and corporate donor cultivation, institutional giving and partnerships, grant-seeking, and fundraising events.
• Oversee and execute specific strategic initiatives, special campaigns, and projects as needed.
• Oversee all development operations including donation processing, acknowledgment, reporting, compliance, and coordination with operations and finance colleagues.
• Oversee the use of Salesforce to track development, donor, and engagement data; Ensure team is dedicated to data integrity and delivers routine reporting.
• Support strategy for non-traditional revenue streams including in-stadium and fan-facing initiatives.
• Utilize Salesforce to analyze data, segment donors, and drive strategic adjustments to development plan.
  
  

Compensation

The projected salary range for this position is $125,000 to $135,000 per year. Actual pay is based on several factors, including but not limited to the applicant’s: qualifications, skills, expertise, education/training, certifications, and other organization requirements. Starting salaries for new employees are frequently not at the top of the applicable salary range.

Benefits

The Nationals offer a competitive and comprehensive benefits package that presently includes:

• Paid vacation and sick leave, paid holidays throughout the year and a holiday break in December
• Medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D insurance
• Short- and long-term disability insurance
• Flexible spending accounts
• 401(k) and pension plan
• Access to complimentary tickets to Nationals home games
• Employee discounts
• Free onsite fitness center
  
  

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Nationals are dedicated to offering equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals regardless of their race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, genetic information, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.