Leadership role
Chief Development Officer
The senior fundraising executive, responsible for all private revenue from individuals, foundations and corporations.
Reporting and scope
Reports to the Executive Director / CEO and works with the board's development committee. Authority covers the whole fundraising program and its staff.
Core responsibilities
- Sets annual and multi-year fundraising goals and strategy
- Leads major gift, planned giving, foundation and corporate teams
- Plans and runs capital or comprehensive campaigns
- Manages a personal portfolio of top donors with the CEO and board
- Oversees gift processing, donor records and restricted gift documentation
- Engages board members in giving and asking
How it differs
The Chief Philanthropy Officer is a near equivalent, often used in hospitals and health foundations. The VP of Development / Advancement and Director of Development lead fundraising at a lower level or in smaller shops, and the Director of Major Gifts manages one segment.
By organization size
In mid-sized organizations the role manages a small team and does much of the asking itself. In large institutions it leads dozens of fundraisers and campaigns counted in the hundreds of millions.
Filings from the last five years mapped to this role commonly report titles such as: Chief Development Officer; Chief Advancement Officer; Chief Dev Officer; Chief Dev. Officer; Chief Development; Chief Development of