Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Chief Development Officer

🎯 Role Definition

The Chief Development Officer (CDO) is a senior executive charged with building and executing a comprehensive fundraising strategy that aligns with organizational priorities and growth targets. The CDO leads major gifts, annual giving, corporate and foundation relations, planned giving, and capital campaigns; manages a high-performing development team; cultivates deep donor relationships; and partners with the CEO and Board to increase philanthropic revenue, improve donor retention, and translate philanthropic support into measurable programmatic outcomes. This role demands a strategic, data-informed fundraiser who can inspire confidence among donors, prospects, staff, and volunteers while delivering predictable revenue growth and long-term sustainability.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Director of Development or Senior Development Manager with significant major gift and institutional fundraising success
Vice President of Development or Philanthropy at a mid-sized nonprofit
Senior Director of Advancement or Head of Institutional Giving from education, health, or arts organizations

Advancement To:

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) / Executive Director
Chief Advancement Officer or Chief Philanthropy Officer in larger multi-site organizations
Board leadership roles or senior consultant/fundraising advisor

Lateral Moves:

VP/Head of Institutional Giving at a national foundation
Senior Director of Capital Campaigns or Strategic Partnerships
Executive roles in development consulting, philanthropic advisory services

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead the development, execution, and continuous optimization of a comprehensive, multi-year development strategy that includes major gifts, annual giving, corporate partnerships, foundation grants, planned giving, and digital fundraising to meet and exceed organizational revenue targets.
Own fundraising revenue targets and deliverables; establish clear KPIs (e.g., pipeline value, donor acquisition, donor retention, average gift size) and drive accountability across the development team to achieve measurable growth year over year.
Design and implement a proactive major gifts program: identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward high-net-worth individuals and family foundations, personally managing top-tier prospects and joining CEO/Board cultivation visits to close transformational gifts.
Plan, launch, and lead capital campaigns, including feasibility studies, campaign case development, integrated communications, volunteer-led campaign committees, and rigorous campaign tracking to surpass goal thresholds.
Build and manage an outcomes-oriented development team: recruit, mentor, and evaluate directors and managers across major gifts, annual fund, foundation relations, donor stewardship, and gift operations to scale capacity and performance.
Develop and execute foundation and corporate strategies: research and steward institutional funders, craft compelling proposals and stewardship reports, secure multi-year grants, and expand corporate social responsibility partnerships.
Partner with the CEO and senior leadership to integrate fundraising objectives with organizational strategy, program priorities, and financial planning; provide monthly and quarterly fundraising forecasts to inform budgeting and strategic decisions.
Establish and maintain an integrated prospect pipeline and moves management process; implement systematic qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship actions that increase conversion rates and shorten gift cycles.
Lead donor stewardship and engagement initiatives that deepen relationships, increase lifetime value, and improve retention — including personalized stewardship plans, impact reporting, and donor recognition programs.
Oversee gift and data operations: ensure best-practice CRM (e.g., Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, Raiser’s Edge) utilization, gift entry accuracy, revenue reconciliation, and donor privacy/compliance to protect donor trust and organizational integrity.
Develop and manage the development budget and resources; allocate staff, technology, and outsourced services to highest-impact activities and track ROI on fundraising investments.
Serve as the primary liaison to the Board Development/Governance Committee: recruit, train, and mobilize board members and volunteer leaders to engage in cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship activities; prepare briefing materials and donor portfolios.
Craft high-quality proposals, impact narratives, stewardship reports, and cultivation materials that clearly articulate organizational outcomes and ROI for donors; oversee content alignment across development and communications teams.
Use data analytics and donor insights to segment audiences, personalize asks, optimize channels (digital, events, face-to-face), and apply predictive models for major gift prospecting and donor lifetime value.
Establish and enforce philanthropic policies, gift acceptance guidelines, naming rights, and legal/compliance standards for charitable contributions in coordination with finance and legal teams.
Lead high-profile donor events and cultivation experiences — from intimate salon visits to large-scale donor recognition ceremonies — to deepen relationships and create donor advocates.
Cultivate legacy and planned giving programs that secure bequests, annuities, and other long-term instruments to grow the endowment and ensure future sustainability.
Negotiate and close multi-year corporate sponsorships and strategic partnerships that align business objectives with mission impact and deliver measurable benefits to partners and beneficiaries.
Oversee grant management and compliance for foundation and government awards: ensure deliverables, budgets, and reporting timelines are met and funder relationships are proactively managed.
Drive cross-functional collaboration with Program, Finance, Marketing, and Operations to align fundraising asks with program needs, ensure accurate budgeting, and enable timely impact reporting to donors.
Monitor philanthropic market trends, competitor fundraising landscape, and changes in tax law that affect giving; adapt strategy and messaging to capitalize on opportunities and mitigate risks.
Maintain a high level of visibility in the philanthropic community: represent the organization at conferences, consortiums, and donor events; speak publicly about impact and funding needs to expand the prospect base.

Secondary Functions

Support development of segmented communications and digital fundraising campaigns with Marketing to increase online donor acquisition, recurring giving, and micro-donations.
Collaborate with People & Culture to identify training needs and deliver fundraising skills development across staff and volunteer fundraisers.
Provide ad-hoc analyses and dashboards on fundraising performance, donor behavior, and campaign ROI to inform executive decision-making.
Contribute to organizational planning processes by sharing philanthropic insights that influence program design and strategic priorities.
Participate in cross-departmental leadership teams for strategic initiatives, ensuring fundraising considerations are integrated early in project planning.
Oversee third-party vendors and consultants (e.g., prospect research firms, campaign counsel, direct mail agencies) to ensure deliverables and budgets align with strategic goals.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Strategic Fundraising Planning: Demonstrated ability to design and execute integrated multi-channel fundraising strategies that drive major gift and institutional revenue.
Major Gift Solicitation: Proven track record of closing seven-, six-, and five-figure gifts through personalized cultivation and solicitation strategies.
Capital Campaign Management: Experience leading successful feasibility studies, campaign case development, volunteer campaign governance, and post-campaign stewardship.
Institutional Fundraising & Grantwriting: Deep experience securing and stewarding foundation and corporate grants, including proposal writing, budgeting, and reporting.
CRM & Data Management: Proficiency with fundraising CRMs (Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, Blackbaud/Raiser’s Edge, Bloomerang) and experience enforcing data integrity, segmentation, and moves management.
Analytics & Performance Measurement: Skilled in building KPIs, dashboards, and predictive models to inform prospecting, pipeline forecasting, and ROI assessment.
Gift Administration & Compliance: Familiarity with gift acceptance policies, restricted funds management, donor intent, and charitable giving regulations.
Budgeting & Financial Acumen: Ability to create and manage development budgets, forecast revenue, and align fundraising investments to net revenue targets.
Planned Giving Instruments: Knowledge of bequests, charitable remainder trusts, gift annuities, and endowment-building strategies.
Digital Fundraising & Marketing Integration: Experience with online giving platforms, email/digital campaigns, social fundraising, and optimizing digital channels for donor acquisition and retention.
Proposal & Stewardship Writing: Strong copywriting skills to produce persuasive cases for support, grant narratives, and impact reports.
Event Strategy & Execution: Track record planning and executing donor cultivation events that convert prospects and deepen donor engagement.

Soft Skills

Executive Leadership: Inspirational leader who builds high-performing teams, mentors staff, and creates a culture of accountability and results.
Relationship Building: Exceptional ability to cultivate trust and long-term relationships with donors, board members, community leaders, and corporate partners.
Communication & Presentation: Clear, persuasive public speaking and presentation skills tailored to diverse audiences, including high-net-worth prospects and trustees.
Negotiation & Influence: Skilled negotiator who can craft mutually beneficial partnership agreements and solicit transformational philanthropic commitments.
Strategic Thinking: Big-picture orientation with the capacity to convert strategy into tactical plans and measurable outcomes.
Emotional Intelligence: High EQ for managing sensitive donor conversations, conflict resolution, and motivating teams through change.
Project Management: Strong organizational skills to manage simultaneous initiatives (campaigns, grants, events) with timelines, milestones, and deliverables.
Resilience & Adaptability: Comfortable with ambiguity, shifting priorities, and the pressures of revenue-driven targets.
Collaborative Mindset: Works cross-functionally to align fundraising goals with programmatic and operational needs.
Ethical Judgment: Strong commitment to donor stewardship, confidentiality, and the highest ethical standards in fundraising.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Business, Communications, Nonprofit Management, Public Administration, or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master's degree (MBA, MPA, MA in Philanthropy/Fundraising) or equivalent professional certifications (e.g., CFRE).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Nonprofit Management
Business Administration
Communications, Marketing, or Public Relations
Finance or Accounting

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

10+ years of progressive development/fundraising experience with at least 5 years in senior leadership roles (Director/VP/Head of Development).

Preferred:

Track record cultivating and closing high-net-worth donors and leading successful capital campaigns.
Experience working with Boards of Directors and volunteer fundraising committees.
Demonstrated success managing multi-million-dollar fundraising portfolios and cross-functional teams.
Prior experience in organizations of comparable scale (national or regional nonprofits, higher education, healthcare systems, cultural institutions) and familiarity with complex stakeholder landscapes.