TITLE: Development Director

SALARY: $100,000 -140,000 per year, commensurate with experience

LOCATION: This position is located in Arlington, MA, with frequent travel throughout the watershed for donor engagement and site visits, and offers hybrid work flexibility

JOB CLASSIFICATION: Full-time, Exempt

REPORTS TO:Executive Director

SUPERVISION RESPONSIBILITIES: This position supervises a Grants Manager and co-manages an Associate

ABOUT THE MYSTIC RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION

Founded in 1972, the Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) is a nationally recognized environmental nonprofit organization located in Arlington, Massachusetts, with a mission to achieve a healthy, resilient watershed. Supported by hundreds of volunteers and built on robust partnerships, we protect water quality, restore habitats, build climate resilience, transform public spaces, and inspire local youth. With an annual budget exceeding $6 million, 20 staff and 2,000 volunteers, and a deep commitment to equity and justice, MyRWA is a powerful force for healthy communities.Learn more

THE POSITION

The Development Director will oversee all fundraising efforts, including major gifts, annual fund, corporate donations, legacy giving, and engagement with foundations. The Director will lead the continued evolution of MyRWAs fundraising model building on the organizations strong foundation of institutional and restricted funding to further diversify philanthropic support and grow flexible, unrestricted resources.

MyRWA has a strong history of securing high-level restricted grants that advance its climate resilience, habitat restoration, and environmental justice work. This role is designed to complement and strengthen that success by expanding individual, family foundation, and corporate givingparticularly through the development of a robust mid- and major-gift pipelinewhile continuing to steward institutional partners with care and excellence.

A central opportunity of this moment is to activate MyRWAs large and loyal base of individual supportersmany of whom are volunteers, partners, and deeply connected to the watershedby strengthening pathways for deeper engagement and increased philanthropic investment.

As a primary measure of success, the Director will design and implement strategies, systems, and relationships that enable sustained growth in philanthropic support, providing the flexible capital necessary for MyRWA to pivot and respond to emerging climate and environmental justice priorities. The Director reports to the Executive Director and oversees two Development staff membersa full-time Grants Manager and a Development Associate (CRM, acknowledgement, event support). This role offers significant opportunity for leadership, creativity, and strategic partnership and is central to MyRWAs long-term sustainability and next chapter of growth.

WHAT YOULL GET TO DO

Fundraising Strategy & Leadership

• Design and lead a comprehensive fundraising strategy that builds on MyRWAs existing strengths while diversifying philanthropic support across individual, foundation, and corporate sources.
• Translate MyRWAs technical water quality, climate resilience, and habitat restoration work into compelling, visionary case statements that connect mission, impact, and opportunity.
• Work in close, day-to-day partnership with the Executive Director on fundraising strategy and execution, including developing campaigns, cases for support, identifying high-value opportunities, and stewarding the organizations most important relationships.
• Lead forecasting and goal-setting using historical trends and projections across fundraising activities.
• Build and refine systems, tools, and practices that strengthen fundraising effectiveness over time, including donor segmentation, moves management, and pipeline development.
• Contribute to cross-team visioning and planning that support MyRWAs long-term sustainability.

Individual & Major Donor Giving

• Lead and grow MyRWAs individual giving program, including annual fund campaigns and major giving.
• Develop and manage a thoughtful major gift strategy that cultivates, stewards, and solicits, high-net-worth individuals in alignment with MyRWAs mission and values.
• Successfully solicit and close five- and six-figure gifts from a portfolio of high-net-worth individuals.
• Identify and cultivate additional mid-level donors with the potential to grow into major donors.
• Create donor-centered communications and marketing materials across all print and digital platforms in close collaboration with the communications team.
• Support the development Associate in CRM management, lead on MyRWA cultivation events, and house parties, and support the Associate on the Herring Run & Paddle and smaller cultivation events like paddles and bike rides.

Board Partnership

• Coach the Board of Directors and Executive Director on donor engagement and solicitation strategies, as a strategic advisor and thought partner.
• Provide clear reporting, strategy updates, and engagement opportunities that empower Board members to activate their networks and contribute meaningfully to fundraising success.
• Support the continued development of a strong culture of philanthropy across the Board and organization.

WHO WERE LOOKING FOR

There are innumerable ways to learn, grow, and excel professionally. We know people gain skills through a variety of professional, personal, educational, and volunteer experiences. We respect this in our application reviews, taking a broad view of each applicant’s experience. That said, we are most likely to consider your candidacy if you can demonstrate the qualifications and 5+ years of experience listed below. If you see yourself in this job description but dont feel like you meet every single criterion, we encourage you to apply anyway!

Fundraising Excellence

• Demonstrated experience contributing to or leading philanthropic efforts of $1M+ annually, through a combination of individual and institutional support.
• Proven success in the full donor engagement cycle, including the ability to develop persuasive cases for support and a track record of personally securing five- and six-figure gifts through direct donor asks.
• Demonstrated ability to write high-impact case statements that ali…