The Nature Conservancy · 12 hours ago
Director of Development, North America Region
Arlington, VA
Full-time
Onsite
Director/Executive
$134K/yr - $196K/yr
8+ years expThe Nature Conservancy is a leading environmental organization dedicated to protecting the lands and waters upon which all life depends. They are seeking a Director of Development for the North America Region who will be responsible for growing the donor pipeline and engaging current prospects and donors to inspire significant gifts. The role involves managing a donor portfolio, coordinating fundraising efforts, and leading a fundraising team to mobilize substantial financial support for conservation initiatives.
Environmental ConsultingNatural ResourcesNon ProfitWaterWildlife Conservation
Responsibilities
Working with Executive VP, North America, Caribbean, and Micronesia, other TNC leaders, and development staff to develop, execute, and communicate a development vision and fundraising plan for the NAR business unit that aligns with TNC’s global campaign and multi-year fundraising goals
Having a line of site on and raising, directly and indirectly through supporting fundraisers throughout the organization – $10-12 Million in gifts and pledges annually for the North America Region at the least restricted level possible
Setting an example for raising flexible funds supporting the Global Priorities of TNC, including those in NAR, by increasing the percentage of flexible funds raised by 10%
Leading and managing the NAR matrixed fundraising team, including one direct report and multiple indirect reports, to execute on the fundraising plan and support a networked approach to fundraising for NAR priorities
Managing an Associate Director of Development, who primary focus is fundraising for the Indigenous Right Relations Program, including the Buffalo Restoration Program
Motivating the efforts of a multi-disciplinary network of staff and volunteers in activities related to donor identification, cultivation, and solicitation, participating in some cases as the direct relationship manager and in other cases as an active team member to fundraisers across TNC
Partnering with Executive VP, North America, Caribbean, and Micronesia in prioritizing PG donor work – maintaining a “top 20+” list and ensuring these donor relationships are managed with excellence and the VP is deployed strategically
Growing the donor prospect pipeline for TNC and NAR. The pipeline goal in the first year will be to identify and begin relationships with 10-15 new individuals and foundations that can make 7-figure+ philanthropic gifts to TNC (some managed by Director and some managed by fundraising colleagues within the Principal Gifts team and/or Regions or State Chapters)
Engaging key North America Cabinet members (volunteer leaders that are high major and PG level) and working with the key fundraisers on Cabinet member strategies and volunteer networking “work plans”
Partner with the Managing Director, Operational Excellence, NAR to develop the annual development plan for Executive VP and ensure strong linkages with the NAR Management Team, as well as appropriate engagement of NAR program staff (NAPGR, Climate Mitigation, IRR, Community and Equitable Conservation, and Leveraging Our Lands)
Ensuring responsiveness to donors/prospective donors and to fundraisers throughout TNC related to engaging them in TNC global priorities
Partnering closely with the development operations team, ensuring the fundraising goals for the North America Team and the progress against those goals are clearly tracked and monitored
Leading the feasibility analysis related to the health of the donor pipeline and adjusting the fundraising plan and goals accordingly
Establishing and monitoring activity level benchmarks and measures of success pertaining to pipeline growth, donor engagement, # of solicitations, dollars raised annually
Serving as a liaison with the Principal Gifts fundraising team and network, the Global Priority Development Team, as well as other key relationship managers and senior conservation staff, to build the best and most robust donor strategies and solicitations – ensuring we represent and communicate the synergies between all the global priority areas to our donors
Serving as a liaison from Global Development to the North America Region to advance “best in class” data-informed strategies and decisions, supporting NAR’s partnership with Global Development across a number of dimensions, including how Leadership of the region encourages Division Directors, BU Leads, DOPs, etc. to understand and meet the fundraising objectives of the Campaign
Partnering with North America Leadership by contributing to the overall strategy and vision of NAR priorities, including alignment with management priorities, communications, and financial management and related systems
Partnering with Leadership to leverage their contacts, relationships and talents related to donor development, engagement and stewardship
Working closely with and managing relations with key stakeholders including senior management, internal teams, donors and volunteers to achieve program goals
Coordinating with, and influencing, a network of internal relationship managers to grow their understanding and awareness of NAR priorities to help advance flexible gifts for global priorities
Socializing our NAR program and priorities to fundraisers and key leaders throughout the organization
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree and 8 years related experience
Experience managing staff, leading a development team and developing a fundraising plan - 5 years minimum
Experience building and maintaining long-term relationships with constituents such as major donors and corporations
Experience building and executing fundraising plans for a program or an organization
Experience in asking for and closing major or planned gifts of $100,000 or more
Experience in managing and tracking multiple prospects and donors
Experience working with fundraising principles and practices
Experience, coursework or other training in current and evolving trends in charitable giving, particularly in the areas of capital campaigns, major gifts and planned giving
Benefits
Health care benefits
Flexible spending accounts
A 401(k) plan with an 8% employer match
Parental leave
Accrued paid time off
Life insurance
Disability coverage
Employee assistance program
Other life and work well-being benefits
Company
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a non-profit conservation organization that works to protect terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.
5001-10000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
The Nature Conservancy has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (26)
2024 (21)
2023 (13)
2022 (18)
2021 (13)
2020 (12)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$120.09MKey Investors
Global Affairs CanadaBezos Earth FundNFWF
2025-11-17Grant· $7.94M
2025-10-23Grant
2025-06-09Grant
Leadership Team
Jennifer Morris
Chief Executive Officer
Matt Merrifield
CTO
Recent News
2025-12-03
Company data provided by crunchbase