Development Director, San Francisco Public Press (San Francisco)

The San Francisco Public Press, a 17-year-old independent nonprofit news organization producing web and audio journalism, seeks a full-time Development Director to work with the Executive Director and a Major Donor and Sponsorships Manager on the design and execution of a growing, diversified fundraising strategy. This is an opportunity to work with an organization dedicated to publishing and broadcasting reliable, relevant, and professionally produced investigative reporting and community journalism for diverse and historically under-served communities in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area.

About The Organization

The San Francisco Public Press is a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization that publishes independent public-interest journalism about under-covered issues, with a focus on underserved communities. Our in-depth, data-driven approach is widely recognized as a model for local investigative and solutions reporting. Coverage areas include housing affordability, public health, transportation safety, homelessness, AI and digital privacy, environmental equity, immigration, and elections.

Our website features original, nonpartisan reporting based on public records and deep sourcing. We operate KSFP 102.5 FM, a community radio station featuring “Civic,” our flagship public affairs show and podcast, alongside programming from local producers and PRX, the public radio exchange. The Public Press is a founding member of the Institute for Nonprofit News and the Local Independent Online News Publishers. We have won dozens of national and local awards from organizations including the Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Education Writers Association, and the San Francisco Press Club.

The San Francisco Public Press is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within our organization, and through our journalism and community engagement. These tenets are fundamental to supporting a culture of trust between our organization and the communities we serve. We hire colleagues who are committed to these values and encourage members of historically underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities.

Responsibilities

The new Development Director will be expected to create, execute, and measure the effectiveness of a diversified revenue development plan that builds upon previous efforts and relationships. It is our objective to grow foundation, membership, major gift, and sponsorship revenues year-over-year for the next decade. To that end, management will hold the Development Director accountable for meeting or beating quarterly and annual revenue targets.

Foundations

The Development Director’s focus in this area will be on securing funds from national journalism funders, local and regional donors, private family foundations, and donor-advised funds. They will:

• Research and maintain a portfolio of foundation prospects and collaborate with leadership on relationship cultivation and solicitation.
• Work with reporters and editors to understand their upcoming projects and identify which ones fit with funding opportunities.
• Draft solicitation letters, letters of inquiry, and proposals in conjunction with management.
• Follow sources of journalism funding news and trends in our sector.
• Keep track of all reporting requirements on all secured grants, including maintaining a shared calendar to track due dates for all grant reports.

Membership

The Development Director will be expected to:

• Design and execute campaigns and test membership conversion programs focused on identifying, targeting, and converting standard members into major donors.
• Make recommendations to management on longer-term membership growth strategies focused on increasing the value of membership for members and the organization.
• Guide members through the donation process, thank donors, respond to queries, record interactions, and report membership growth to management.

Major Gifts

The Development Director will oversee the work of the Major Donor and Sponsorships Manager, whose responsibilities will be to:

• Develop and manage relationships with a portfolio of potential major donors, as well as track potentially revenue-generating relationships with leadership.
• Research, identify, and actively engage donor prospects.
• Develop cultivation strategies and stewardship plans for each donor, ensuring personalized service.
• Carry out face-to-face solicitations, alone and with the Executive Director or Development Director, and manage ongoing relationships with existing donors with a focus on securing additional commitments.
• Draft donor messaging strategies and solicitation materials.
• Initiate correspondence with donors and prospective donors and track all interactions.

Sponsorship

The Development Director will oversee the work of the Major Donor and Sponsorships Manager, who will be responsible for developing and implementing a sponsorship strategy consistent with the organization’s mission and values by:

• Researching and reaching out to mission-driven nonprofit or trade organizations that have facilitated successful underwriting for radio, events, web, and print programs to identify best practices.
• Designing and testing a corporate sponsorship program that appeals primarily to local and regional organizations that are consistent with the Public Press’ mission.

Management

The Development Director will be expected to:

• Participate in staff meetings to gain a detailed understanding of program goals to better target project-specific grant applications.
• Conduct gift processing and gift acknowledgment.
• Ensure departmental activities conform to all company policies and financial accounting practices.
• Maintain accurate records of progress for use by leadership and the Board of Directors.
• Attend board meetings if and when requested by leadership.
• Participate in the budgeting process.
• Maintain working knowledge of local and regional issues and important news stories that are of interest to our members, funders, and the general public.
• Generate and analyze fundraising data across platforms to provide leadership with accurate revenue projections on an ongoing basis.

Requirements

Our ideal candidate will have:

• A background in nonprofit development and a keen understanding of the civic, economic, and environmental issues facing the San Francisco Bay Area.
• A high level of technological and organizational skill, with experience using cloud-based collaboration tools, spreadsheets, presentation software, customer relationship management software, donor databases, and other fundraising technology.
• Clear written and spoken communication skills.
• Demonstrated professional growth in revenue development or a related field.
• 3+ years of hands-on, face-to-face revenue development experience, ideally in mission-driven organizations. Experience working with journalists or in public media is a plus.
• Passion for the work we do.

Pay

Salary for this position is $80,000 to $82,000.

Benefits

• Access to subsidized health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Four weeks of paid time off (accrued time plus 14 holidays).

Schedule

This is a hybrid position. We expect that you will work from our office in San Francisco’s Mid-Market St. neighborhood at least two days per week and meet with development contacts in the field as needed. We are open to accommodating people with flexible work requirements.