Chief Development Officer

Department: Development

Position: Chief Development Officer

Reporting To: Chief Executive Officer

Location: Washington, D.C. area (remote considered for continental U.S. residents)

Travel: Up to 25% domestic travel to RAINN’s Washington, DC headquarters and client visits as needed

Compensation Range: $225,000 – $250,000 (commensurate with experience.)

About RAINN

RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, working to change the way the nation thinks about and responds to sexual violence. For more than 30 years, RAINN has helped over 5.5 million survivors and their loved ones through the National Sexual Assault Hotline and a comprehensive suite of victim services.

RAINN’s work is driven by three core pillars:

• Changing Minds (Prevention) — RAINN shares knowledge and shapes public understanding about prevention and response, inspiring a commitment to act.
• Changing Laws (Justice) — RAINN believes every survivor deserves justice and works to hold every offender accountable.
• Changing Lives (Healing) — RAINN gives survivors hope and provides the support and tools they need to heal.

This life-changing work is made possible through the generosity of individual donors, foundations, corporations, and partners who share RAINN’s vision of safer communities free from sexual violence. In 2025 alone, RAINN served more than 454,000 people through its victim service programs, helped pass 21 pieces of federal and state legislation, and maintained top nonprofit ratings from Charity Navigator, Candid, and the BBB, reflecting RAINN’s unwavering commitment to impact, transparency, and fiscal responsibility.

About the Position

RAINN’s Development team is the engine behind this mission, cultivating a community of compassionate champions through major gifts, digital fundraising campaigns, corporate partnerships, planned giving, and foundation support.

As Chief Development Officer, you will serve on RAINN’s senior leadership team and partner with passionate professionals and a dedicated board to inspire generosity, deepen donor relationships, and build the sustainable revenue needed to meet the rising demand for RAINN’s services.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Fundraising Strategy & Revenue Growth

• We are looking for someone to help spark our growth. Success by your team and you will mean that we are able to increase our capacity to meet growing demand and pursue new strategic priorities. This includes: 

  • Update, implement, and manage a comprehensive multi-channel development strategy to grow funding from major donors, individual donors, corporations, foundations, and planned giving.

  • Set and meet ambitious annual revenue goals and multi-year fundraising campaign targets.

  • Manage performance measures, dashboards, and reporting structures to constantly evaluate the effectiveness of fundraising efforts across all channels.

  • Represent RAINN to donors, prospects, fundraising volunteers, and the public, serving as a credible and compelling external ambassador for our work.

Major Donor, Corporate, Foundation and Government

• Manage and grow a robust major gifts program, personally cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding a portfolio of high-capacity donors and prospects.

• Expand RAINN’s prospect pipeline through proactive identification, research, and qualification of new donor opportunities.

• Identify new potential board members who have fundraising capacity; work closely with existing board members to help them meet give/get goals.

• Identify, cultivate and close new corporate partnerships.

• Lead the strategy of RAINN’s foundation and federal grants program, managing relationships with foundations and government funders and creating high-quality proposals and reports.

• Develop and steward planned giving and legacy gift opportunities to ensure long-term stability.

Digital Fundraising & Online Giving

• RAINN has robust digital fundraising and online giving channels. But with your leadership, we expect these to grow significantly. This includes:

  • Manage and grow RAINN’s digital and online fundraising programs, including monthly recurring donors, email campaigns, peer-to-peer fundraising, advertising, and emerging digital channels.

  • Manage our external digital marketing agency and collaborate with internal communications team.

  • Test, test, and keep testing, in order to maximize digital fundraising success. Leverage data and analytics to optimize performance and ROI.

Fundraising Operations

• Develop and manage the Development department budget.

• Provide accurate donation forecasting, revenue projections, and variance analysis.

• Ensure RAINN’s CRM (Virtuous) and other fundraising technology is fully leveraged to meet our needs and to support accurate tracking, donor stewardship, and strategic decision-making.

• Collaborate with Finance to ensure accurate gift accounting and compliance with donor restrictions and reporting requirements.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, mentor, and manage performance expectations for a team of development professionals covering individual gifts, digital fundraising, grants, and philanthropy.

• Provide strategic oversight and day-to-day direction for all development activities.

• Serve as a senior organizational leader, collaborating across departments to effectively fulfill RAINN’s broader mission and strategic priorities.

• Always act ethically and honestly. Internally and externally, you are known to be reliable, accountable, and trustworthy.

• Ensure full compliance with fundraising regulations, laws, donor accountability standards, and ethical codes of conduct.

Requirements

What it Takes

We are looking for an individual to lead the charge and successfully and impactfully champion our critical fundraising work.

• 12+ years of progressive leadership experience in a senior nonprofit development role overseeing a multi-channel revenue program.
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree a plus.
• Robust strategic thinking skills, with experience scaling programs.
• Proven ability to develop, implement, and manage successful long-term strategic fundraising plans, with demonstrated success in major gifts, institutional partnerships, and digital fundraising.
• Track record of personally cultivating and closing major gifts from individual donors, foundations, and/or corporate partners.
• Sound and fiscally responsible approach to financial forecasting, budgeting, and achieving revenue goals.
• Superior management skills with demonstrated success leading, mentoring, and developing high-performing development teams.
• Comfort and fluency in a technologically sophisticated fundraising environment, including CRM platforms, online giving tools, and data analytics.

CORE ATTRIBUTES

Core Competencies You Bring to The Table

Following are the attributes that will lead to your success in this role.

R- Results-Driven Leader

• Effectively identifies emerging opportunities and develops strategies to maximize organizational impact.
• Successfully translates vision into actionable strategies and implementation plans.
• Adept at using data to identify ways we can improve and create fundraising opportunities to bring those ideas to fruition.

A- Action-Oriented with Subject Matter Expertise

• Be a mission-driven, entrepreneurial leader who brings deep fundraising expertise, a builder’s mindset, and a genuine commitment to ending sexual violence.

I-Ingenuity, Innovation, and Integrity

• Thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial, and rapidly growing environment; navigates organizational growth and change with creativity and flexibility.
• Embraces technology and is excited to find new ways to use it to serve survivors.
• Strives for a high standard of excellence and integrity; brings an empathic and collaborative approach to working with others.

N- Nurturing Leadership

• Proven track record of hiring and managing large, diverse, high-performing teams.
• Serves as a strong mentor and coach, investing in team members’ professional growth and supporting them through change.
• Builds an inclusive culture and holds team members to a high standard of excellence and accountability.

N- Naturally Drawn to RAINN’s Work

• Demonstrates a passion for RAINN’s mission to prevent sexual violence, help survivors, and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice.
• Has a successful history of leading a trauma-informed program.
• Able to articulate a clear and inspiring vision for the team, build consensus, and motivate team members to achieve ambitious results.

RAINN's headquarters are based in Washington, DC. This position may be based regionally for someone whose residence is within the continental USA. Although this may be a remote role, it may require some periodic business travel throughout the continental US and to our DC offices for onsite meetings and workshops.

Remote Work Requirements

RAINN employees are required to have a home office setup with a dependable high-speed internet connection. This must be sufficient to support all job-related tasks, including accessing systems, communicating with teams, and providing uninterrupted hotline services or administrative support.

Work Requirements

• Be willing and able to travel to RAINN’s Washington, DC headquarters and visit clients as needed (up to 25% domestic travel).
• Possess or be willing to secure valid identification for domestic travel.
• Successfully complete a criminal background check administered by RAINN.
• Be willing to, at times, work a non-traditional schedule, which may include evenings and/or weekends.

RAINN offers competitive compensation and a generous benefits package that includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, life insurance, employee assistance, a 403(b) retirement savings plan, paid vacation, sick leave, paid holidays, including a bonus week, and free access to the building's fitness center. RAINN is based in Washington, D.C.

When you work at RAINN, you're joining a team of experts and professionals who stand up for survivors of sexual violence every day. Your job is important and so are you! RAINN will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, individual identity, genetic information, disability or protected veteran status. RAINN encourages all qualified candidates to apply.

EOE/M/F/D/V

The above is intended to describe the general content of and requirements for the performance of this job. It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of the essential functions, responsibilities and/or requirements.