Position Title: Chief Development Officer

Division: Management

Reports to: President & CEO

Time Commitment: Full Time

Location: Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Services, Administrative Offices, 106 Wilbraham Road, Springfield, MA 01109

Salary Range: $70,000 – $80,000 / year

About Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Services

For more than fifty years, Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Services has worked to build what Dr. King called the Beloved Community — a society defined by justice, equity, and care for one another. Based in Springfield, MLKFS delivers programs that strengthen families, support youth development, and advance economic opportunity for individuals and communities facing the greatest barriers.

This is mission-driven work in the truest sense. The organization’s legacy is deep, its community relationships are real, and its leadership is committed to doing this work with integrity and discipline. The Chief Development Officer will join at a moment when MLKFS is investing in the infrastructure and relationships needed to grow its impact for the next generation.

The Opportunity

MLKFS is looking for a Chief Development Officer who brings both fundraising expertise and genuine commitment to this community. The right candidate knows how to build and own a development program from the ground up — deepening major donor relationships, building a stronger individual giving base, and establishing the infrastructure a serious development operation requires.

The CDO works in close partnership with the President & CEO, jointly carrying primary relationships with major donors and civic leaders. Your job is to build the development program, own the strategy, expand the donor base, and make sure the work runs with discipline year-round.

Institutional giving (foundation and government grants) is handled collaboratively, with grant writing and submission supported by other team capacity. The CDO contributes strategy and donor intelligence to that work but does not own day-to-day grants execution.

What You’ll Do

Build and own the organization’s fundraising strategy.

You’ll set annual fundraising goals across individual giving, corporate sponsorships, and events, and maintain a rolling 12-month development calendar. You’ll track progress, report monthly to the CEO and Finance Committee, and adjust strategy when the data tells you to.

Own major donor cultivation with CEO support.

You’ll build and manage the major gift pipeline — identifying and qualifying prospects, designing cultivation strategy, and moving donors through to solicitation. The CEO is your partner in this work and a primary face to donors and civic leaders; you own the strategy, the pipeline, and the discipline behind it.

Build the individual donor program.

Annual giving campaigns, Giving Tuesday, year-end appeals, and a growing mid-level and major gift base. You’ll design the program, build the segmentation, and make sure every donor is acknowledged within 48 hours.

Contribute to institutional giving strategy.

You’ll work alongside CEO and grant writing capacity on foundation and government funder strategy — bringing donor intelligence, helping prioritize prospects, and ensuring institutional and individual giving work in alignment. Day-to-day grant writing and submission sit elsewhere.

Build board engagement in fundraising.

You’ll work with the CEO to clarify board members’ fundraising roles, build their confidence and capacity to make asks, and grow a culture of board giving and engagement. You’ll staff or support the formation of a Development Committee.

Own development events.

The Annual MLK Day Celebration is the organization’s signature event. You’ll own fundraising strategy, sponsor packages, acknowledgment, and budget discipline — and bring the same ownership to any other fundraising events across the year.

Coordinate marketing and communications.

You’ll serve as the primary internal point of contact for the organization’s marketing and communications contractor — briefing on priorities, reviewing donor-facing materials, and making sure what goes out reflects the development strategy.

Build and own the development operation.

CRM data integrity, monthly fundraising dashboards for the CEO, gift acceptance policies, and accurate records. A development program is only as strong as the infrastructure underneath it, and you build and own that infrastructure.

What You Bring

• 10+ years of nonprofit development and fundraising experience
• Demonstrated ability to build a development program, not just maintain one — setting strategy, growing donor bases, and producing results
• Track record in major donor cultivation and solicitation
• Strong writing across formats: donor correspondence, campaign materials, and board communications
• Working knowledge of at least one CRM platform and a commitment to data integrity
• Experience building board fundraising capacity and culture
• Genuine alignment with the mission, values, and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Services
• Familiarity with the Western Massachusetts philanthropic landscape a strong plus

Our Commitment

Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Services is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected characteristic.

We strongly encourage applications from candidates who reflect the communities we serve, including Black, Indigenous, and people of color, individuals with disabilities, and people with lived experience of the issues central to our mission. Reasonable accommodations will be made for qualified individuals with disabilities upon request.

How to Apply

Submit a cover letter and resume to sarah@sarahtannerconsulting.com. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis; priority consideration will be given to materials received by June 20, 2026.

Anticipated start date: September 1, 2026.