Associate Director of Development

We seek to foster a culture of equity and belonging within our staff, which includes investments to professional development and building a healthy working environment. Additionally, full time employees are eligible for benefits including  medical, dental, vision, life, and long-term disability insurance, and paid sick, vacation, and holiday time. A 401(k) retirement plan is available after three months. Employees also enjoy additional perks, including:

• Free Mountaineers membership
• Opportunities to advance your outdoor skills with $1,000 toward Mountaineers courses each year
• Flexible working environment, with up to 40% remote work for most employees
• Two free tickets to many  Mountaineers events
• Access to outdoor industry prodeals
• Discounted stays at our three ski-in, ski-out mountain lodges
• Four on-site climbing and bouldering walls (Seattle headquarters)
• Bring your dog to work days
• Free parking for your bike or car, and an office located right on a bus line, with alternative transportation reimbursement
• In-office shower for midday run, climbing session, or morning commute

Job Overview

Position Overview

The Mountaineers is seeking a relationship- and community-oriented Associate Director of Development to strengthen our culture of giving to help accelerate our fundraising and individual donor engagement programs. You’ll join a collaborative and dynamic development team of five to play a key role in achieving the organization’s annual $1.8M fundraising goal. Reporting to the Development Director and working closely with staff across our outdoor programs and publishing divisions, the Board of Directors, and external partners, the Associate Director of Development will cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of Mountaineers donors and prospects to secure major gifts ($2,500+), bequest commitments, and deepen donor engagement with The Mountaineers strategic priorities. This role will also oversee our grant calendar and lead the implementation of an annual plan for institutional grant-making donors at all levels. While all positions on the Development team work closely together on numerous projects, the Associate Director’s primary focus is major gifts, planned giving, and grants.

Objectives and Key Results

• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of ~100 major and planned giving donors and prospects, with an emphasis on securing gifts of $2,500 or more.
• Engage major gift donors and prospects in reviewing The Mountaineers strategic plan to identify the top donor-driven interests and priorities.
• Leverage the Director of Development, CEO, and other members of the Leadership Team to steward and grow a highly engaged donor community.
• Develop a keen understanding of The Mountaineers programs, goals, strategies, and financial needs to retain grant funders and seek creative opportunities for securing funding through foundation resources and corporate grant opportunities.

You will love this job if:

• You are a skilled relationship builder and feel at ease meeting one-on-one with our most engaged supporters.
• You find joy serving as a bridge between a donor’s desire to make a difference and the financial needs of The Mountaineers.
• You possess an ambition to create positive change by channeling a spirit of volunteerism, giving back, and paying it forward.
• You value a culture of accountability and enjoy partnering with your team to strengthen donor systems that support the entire donor cycle at scale.
• You love documenting your work almost as much as you love building relationships.
• You believe that time outside empowers people to lead healthier, happier lives, and are excited to be part of a fun-loving team that makes outdoor recreation more accessible and sustainable.

Key Responsibilities

Major Giving:

Responsible for developing and managing The Mountaineers major gift program, including supporting portfolio holders across the organization to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major gift prospects. This position maintains a portfolio of ~100 major donors and prospects to increase overall annual revenue received through gifts of $2,500 or more to The Mountaineers and Mountaineers Books.

• Meet fundraising goals through stewarding a community of current individual donors ($2,500 and above) and an evolving pool of donor prospects.
• Document all outreach, conversations, and commitments in Salesforce.
• Develop fundraising strategies for individual donors that integrate into the organization’s mission and priorities. When appropriate, execute donor engagement opportunities through donor events and campaigns.
• Establish an annual plan for The Mountaineers major giving program that contributes to and incorporates into the organization’s larger annual philanthropy plan. Build a three-year roadmap to achieve near-term and long-term success.
• Partner with Board and staff to share the story of how donor funds are utilized within individual programs and priorities. In partnership with the Development Director and CEO, build a menu of fundable, immediately implementable opportunities that are not currently in the budget and can be discussed with donors, if appropriate.
• Lead a monthly meeting to advise and collaborate with other relationship managers to maximize potential of current donor prospects.

Transformational Gift Planning:

Responsible for continued development and management of The Mountaineers planned giving program, including establishing best practices to engage planned gift prospects and moves management. Additionally, this role will lead efforts to expand and strengthen the organization’s gift acceptance policies to ensure seamless acceptance and utilization of transformational gifts.

• Lead a comprehensive gift planning program to include all appropriate planned giving vehicles.
• Determine top goals for The Mountaineers planned giving program, including measurable benchmarks and outcomes. Support the organization in answering, “How will we know this program is successful?”
• Collaborating with the Development and Communications team to develop strategic communications for planned giving prospects, leads and participants.
• Conceptualize, review, edit, and facilitate production of materials needed to steward and secure planned gifts.

Grant Management:

Oversee The Mountaineers annual grant calendar of 15-20 applications a year to achieve our $175,000 revenue goal, including scheduling, writing proposals, tracking grant progress and budgets, writing reports, and ensuring grant compliance.

• Partner strategically with Mountaineers Books Grant Manager to delegate writing materials for 10-15 applications throughout the year for the Associate Director of Development to review and submit.
• Work to grow philanthropic support from new and existing private and corporate foundation funding sources to support current programming and to plan and sustain new programming and organizational growth.
• Partner with the Development Director and Grants Manager to manage institutional funding relationships, ensuring strong cultivation and stewardship of all funders.

Admin Support:

• In partnership with the Development Director, conceptualize, review, edit, and facilitate production of materials associated with the strategic plan, engaging internal leadership to ensure best possible presentation of The Mountaineers.
• Serve as a key staff member in support of re-engaging a Development Committee of the Board.
• Participate in outdoor programs to connect directly with The Mountaineers impact story.
• Other duties as assigned.

Special Benefits

Benefits

This position is for a full-time, exempt employee. Salary range is $65,000-$75,000 per year, depending on experience. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, life, and long-term disability insurance, and paid sick, vacation, and holiday time. 401(k) retirement plan available after three months.

Additional benefits include:

• Free Mountaineers membership
• Opportunities to advance your outdoor skills with $1,000 toward Mountaineers courses each year
• Flexible working environment, with up to 40% remote work for most employees
• Two free tickets to many  Mountaineers events
• Free copy of each newly published Mountaineers Books title
• Access to outdoor industry prodeals
• Discounted stays at our three ski-in, ski-out mountain lodges
• Four on-site climbing and bouldering walls
• Bring your dog to work days
• Free parking for your bike or car, and an office located right on a bus line, with alternative transportation reimbursement
• In-office shower for midday run, climbing session, or morning commute

Minimum Requirements

Requirements

• Cultural competency and demonstrated ability to work with people of all races, ages, genders, abilities, and economic backgrounds.
• Five years experience in frontline fundraising including major giving and planned giving programs, strategic donor engagement, campaigns, or complex fundraising project management. Equivalent combination of relevant knowledge and skills may be a substitute for experience.
• Experience in developing project budgets and communicating financial information to general audiences.
• High ethical standards and ability to maintain confidential member and donor records.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, and relationship-management software such as Salesforce, Raiser’s Edge, or other similar CRM databases.
• Ability to pass a national criminal background and sex offender check.

Desired Qualifications

• Demonstrate commitment to supporting The Mountaineers Strategic Plan to lead innovation in outdoor education, engage a vibrant community of outdoor enthusiasts, and advocate on behalf of the natural world.
• Exemplary interpersonal and relationship-building skills, with proven ability to secure gifts of $2,500 and above.
• Demonstrated high level of emotional intelligence in both verbal and written communication, including the ability to communicate empathetically in all interactions.
• Proven project management success, with exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Self-motivated and able to work both independently and within a team.
• Outdoor experience and passion for outdoor activities significantly helps with understanding depth and breadth of organizational activities.

Cultivating an inclusive staff is central to The Mountaineers focus on advancing equity. Our core values are Adventure, Advocacy, Community, Education, and Volunteerism, and we believe a diverse and inclusive environment inspires unity, respect, and passion for our work and one another. We’re interested in hearing from people who can work with colleagues of varied experience and background. The Mountaineers is an equal-opportunity employer, and candidates from all backgrounds are considered, and as an organization that values equity and inclusion, we highly encourage people of color, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and veterans to apply.

Work Environment

This role is based in Seattle, WA, at The Mountaineers Program Center in Magnuson Park. Supporting a people-centric outdoor community, this position should prepare to have a regular presence in our Seattle-based program center, with opportunities to flex time in the office with a partial remote work schedule. The Mountaineers will provide a laptop computer for remote access. For remote work, The Associate Director of Development is expected to have a suitable remote work environment, including broadband internet access, to accomplish their job duties.

Physical Demands

• Ability to work evening and weekend hours, as necessary.
• Must have regular and reliable transportation for local travel and willing to travel when necessary. Occasional local travel expected.
• On events days (to support setup to tear down):
• Ability to be active and mobile for 4 or more hours continuously.
• Ability to work greater than a 10-hour day.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.