Development Director

Location: Denver, Colorado

Reports to: General Manager

Position Type: Full-Time

Salary: $90,000 to $115,000

Contact: [email protected]

*NOTE: Applications sent through LinkedIn will not be monitored. Please only apply through email.

News is a public good, and everyone deserves access to quality news and information whether they can afford to pay for them or not. These are the core values that have guided The Colorado Sun since we founded our statewide news outlet in 2018.

We have more than doubled the size of our staff in the past six years, became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and established ourselves as a trusted news source for thousands of Coloradans. We have a pile of awards, earned in competition with Colorado’s largest news organizations, that attest to the excellence we produce daily.

More than 13,000 Coloradans have joined our Sun community as paying members, and more than a thousand have stepped up as donors since our conversion to nonprofit in late 2023. The Sun serves about a million unique visitors to our website each month and more than 100,000 subscribers to our various free and paid newsletters.

Now, you can join the team at The Colorado Sun committed to serving our state and support more impactful, essential journalism. We need an experienced, mission-driven Development Director with vision, integrity and the drive to help us expand our team and ensure our sustainability well into the future. We are excited at the prospect of finding someone who is passionate about serving our large, diverse audience, adept at multitasking and works well with our talented team.

As The Sun’s first Development Director, this leader will focus on building a best-in-class development team and will be dedicated to nurturing existing revenue sources as well as identifying and developing new revenue streams, thereby ensuring the organization’s growth across 64 counties and sustainability well into the future.

Reporting to the General Manager, the Development Director will have strategic and operational responsibility for all Colorado Sun fundraising and membership activities. The Development Director will also work closely with our Membership Director and Publisher.

• Build, lead and manage the new revenue team, which includes the Membership Director
• Work with the Executive Committee and the Board to set a multi-year strategy and annual plans for aggressive revenue growth. Set clear success metrics and hold others accountable to achieving our fundraising goals
• Directly cultivate and steward a portfolio of major donors and prospects
• Develop additional creative funding streams including earned revenue
• Advance the field of nonprofit journalism and grow The Sun’s profile through collaboration with local organizations as well as state and national entities
• Help develop, coordinate and execute marketing efforts
• Rethink events and traditional fundraising approaches, while staying up-to-date on the journalism landscape for new ideas and use of tools and innovations to build and maintain sustainable revenue streams
• Think creatively about The Sun’s assets and capabilities to pilot new and innovative ways to translate those into revenue
• Partner with other organizations (including other nonprofit entities) to develop joint funding and sponsorship opportunities
• Keep journalistic integrity and the best interests of the organization at the forefront of revenue generation
• Represent The Sun at fundraising training, meetings and opportunities

The development director will have five years of professional experience in revenue-generating positions with a strong track record of meeting and exceeding goals — this experience could come from the fields of business development, sales, nonprofit fundraising, startups, marketing or new product development/management. We’re looking for an adaptable and reliable person, ignited by curiosity and interested in daily news. We need someone who is adept at multitasking, has strategic vision and the drive to see initiatives all the way from inception to deployment. You work well with others, have strong communication skills and are committed to inclusivity.

The minimum qualifications for Development Director candidates are:

• At least five years experience in development and fundraising in the nonprofit sector
• At least two years experience managing a team
• Excellent people skills, with experience collaborating in a multidisciplinary, diverse, and dynamic team
• Direct experience building and managing teams to achieve revenue targets monthly, quarterly and annually
• Personal qualities of integrity, credibility and a passion for The Colorado Sun’s mission

Ideal Development Director candidates also have some of these preferred experiences and attributes:

• Demonstrated results in designing, pitching and closing major business development opportunities or philanthropic gifts
• Solid understanding of the sales cycle and/or fundraising strategies, systems and processes
• Experienced in constructing, articulating and implementing strategic revenue plans
• Prior direct responsibility for cultivating, soliciting and stewarding prospects with a high percentage of new donor acquisition
• Experience developing and supporting annual budgets over $1 million
• Bachelor’s degree or exceptional professional experience

The salary range for the development director is $90,000 to $115,000, based on prior experience and skillset.

• The Colorado Sun offers our employees access to group medical, vision and dental benefits; family members can be covered through employee contributions
• The Sun also offers our employees a 401(k) retirement program, with a company contribution after one year of employment
• The Development Director will be based in Colorado
• The Sun provides paid vacation, holidays and sick/family leave

The Colorado Sun is an award-winning news outlet based in Denver that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state — our community — can better understand itself. The Colorado Sun is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Be Colorado’s most-trusted, equitable, free and accessible statewide news outlet.

News is a public good, and we seek to build Coloradans’ greater understanding of the state’s people, policies, and places through in-depth, nonpartisan coverage of everything from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and the environment.

The Colorado Sun produces investigative, watchdog, explanatory and long-form journalism to ensure that all Coloradans have access to the information they need to be informed citizens.

The Sun is a team of Colorado’s most experienced, award-winning and trusted journalists producing in-depth, high-quality coverage of our state. The Sun sheds light on rural and underserved communities and promotes greater understanding among diverse enclaves within Colorado. Our writers and photographers capture the spirit, culture and complexity of the people and institutions that define Colorado.

The Sun embraces our responsibility to provide coverage not only from far-flung communities, but for them whenever possible. Because all Coloradans deserve access to knowledge and information, The Sun shares our content with dozens of other news organizations across the state, collaborates with radio and TV colleagues and produces a podcast that serves, among others, members of Colorado’s blind and vision-impaired communities.

As an employer, The Colorado Sun strives to hire and retain a workforce that reflects the entire state, to encourage collaboration and to compensate people at levels that reward their expertise and talent.

The Sun does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information or veteran status in any area of its operations.

To apply for this position:

• Send an email to [email protected] with the subject line “Development Director position”
• Include your phone number in the email body.
• Put any cover letters or introduction messages in the body of your email.
• Résumés/CVs can be attached or included in the body of your email.
• We will be in touch soon!

*NOTE: Applications sent through LinkedIn will not be monitored. Please only apply through email.