Director of Development

Director of Development Humane Borders / Fronteras Compasivas Arizona-based | Full-Time, Exempt Reports to the Executive Director | Member of Senior Leadership About Humane Borders Humane Borders is a 26-year-old humanitarian organization founded in Tucson in 2000. Our mission is to save lives in the Sonoran Desert and to transform the border into a space of dignity, justice, equity, hope, and human understanding. We are best known for maintaining a network of permitted water stations across the Sonoran Desert, from Tucson to Yuma. Our work also includes forensic death mapping in partnership with the Pima County Medical Examiner, civil-initiative humanitarian field operations, and public education. We hold a 4.8 Charity Navigator rating, accept no federal funding, and operate in partnership with Pima County, faith communities, universities, and a broad coalition of volunteers and supporters. Humane Borders partners with Doctors Without Borders and received the Holbrooke Award in 2024 from Refugees International. Humane Borders is nonpartisan. Our work is grounded in a clear conviction: no one should die because they cannot access clean, safe drinking water. The Opportunity Humane Borders enters its second quarter-century at a pivotal moment. The conditions that have driven migrant deaths in the Sonoran Desert for three decades have not changed; in many respects they are intensifying. At the same time, the organization is sharpening its strategy, deepening its theory of change, and preparing to build the institutional capacity needed to meet this moment. The Director of Development is the senior leader Humane Borders will rely on to build the financial foundation for this next chapter. The role exists to do three things: Build financial resilience at scale. Design and execute a diversified development program spanning major and principal gifts, national institutional funders, sponsored activities, annual giving, and planned giving — so that Humane Borders' lifesaving work is sustained across political and economic cycles. Position Humane Borders for credible institutional growth. Connect a 26-year track record of humanitarian work to the Arizona statewide philanthropic community and to the national philanthropic conversation in immigration justice, humanitarian response, and civil society. Serve as a strategic partner to the Executive Director. Contribute to organizational strategy, resource allocation, and the case for support — as a member of the senior leadership team, not as an isolated fundraising function. This is a builder's role. The right candidate will inherit a respected organization with an inspiring mission, a 26-year track record, a 4.8 Charity Navigator rating, an engaged board, and a committed volunteer and donor community — and will have the runway and partnership to design a development program from a strong foundation. Position Summary Reporting to the Executive Director and serving as a member of the senior leadership team, the Director of Development leads all fundraising and revenue strategy for Humane Borders across Arizona and nationally. The Director designs and executes a comprehensive development program across individual major and principal gifts, national institutional funders, sponsored activities and partnerships, annual giving, recurring giving, and planned giving. The Director is the Executive Director's strategic partner on financial resilience and institutional positioning and is expected to contribute substantively to organizational strategy beyond the development function. The Director partners closely with the Board of Directors, staff, and the Outreach Coordinator on the relational ecosystem that surrounds Humane Borders' mission. Key Responsibilities Development Strategy & Revenue Architecture Design and lead a multi-year development plan with revenue targets across major and principal gifts, institutional funders, sponsored activities, annual giving, and planned giving. Own annual revenue targets in partnership with the Executive Director and Finance lead; report progress monthly to leadership and quarterly to the Board. Build a diversified funding mix that reduces concentration risk and strengthens organizational resilience across political and economic cycles. Develop and maintain a compelling, credible, dignified case for support that translates Humane Borders' mission and theory of change into fundable language. Contribute to organizational strategy, resource allocation, and leadership council deliberations as a member of senior leadership. Major & Principal Gifts Identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of individual major donors and high-capacity prospects across Arizona — including the Phoenix metro and Tucson — and nationally. Build a principal-gift pipeline of multi-year and transformational commitments. Partner with the Executive Director on the highest-touch donor relationships; prepare the ED for cultivation conversations, asks, and stewardship. Design and implement a donor stewardship architecture that builds long-term loyalty through dignified acknowledgment, impact reporting, site visits, and personal outreach. Maintain a disciplined donor pipeline — tracking each major-gift prospect through clear stages of cultivation and solicitation, with regular reporting to the Executive Director and Board. National Institutional Giving Build and execute a strategy for foundation, donor-advised funds, government, and corporate funding aligned with Humane Borders' priorities. Identify and pursue the national funder universe relevant to humanitarian, immigration justice, and civil society work. Lead the research, writing, submission, and stewardship of grant proposals and reports in coordination with program and finance staff. Maintain a grants calendar and ensure timely, compliant submissions and reporting. Build durable relationships with program officers and institutional funders over time. Sponsored Activities & Strategic Partnerships Develop a strategy for corporate sponsorship, event sponsorship, and program-specific partnership funding, with values-aligned filters that protect Humane Borders' mission integrity and nonpartisan posture. Cultivate institutional relationships with faith communities, universities, allied organizations, and binational partners that strengthen both mission and donor pipeline. Identify partnership opportunities that compound across donor cultivation, programmatic impact, and public legitimacy. Annual Giving, Recurring Giving & Planned Giving Lead annual appeals across direct mail, email, and digital channels, including the cadence Humane Borders is currently establishing. Grow the recurring donor program; convert one-time donors to sustained giving. Build and grow a planned giving and legacy program. Own donor records, giving histories, acknowledgments, and reconciliation in Neon CRM. Use data to refine segmentation, messaging, and channel mix. Board Partnership & Development Committee Partner with the Executive Director and Board Chair to launch and staff a Board Development Committee. Support Board members in donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship; equip them with talking points, prospect briefings, and engagement tools. Provide regular dashboards, progress reports, and strategic analysis to the Board and Executive Director. Help shape realistic and substantive expectations for Board fundraising engagement. Communications Partnership Partner with the organization's communications function on fundraising messaging, donor appeals, the annual report, impact stories, and campaign content. Ensure all development-facing communications align with Humane Borders' brand voice, nonpartisan posture, and ethical storytelling standards. Operations, Systems & Analytics Own development operations: pipeline management, donor stewardship workflows, grants tracking, and reporting. Build lightweight, well-fit systems appropriate to a small humanitarian organization; avoid overbuilt infrastructure. Establish and report against meaningful KPIs that support executive and board decision-making. Who You Are Required Minimum 7 years of progressive nonprofit development experience, with demonstrated success across major gifts, institutional giving, and annual fund management. Proven track record of meeting or exceeding ambitious fundraising goals and of growing nonprofit revenue meaningfully over time. Demonstrated experience with major gifts at scale, including individual gifts at the five- and six-figure level. Demonstrated experience with institutional giving, including foundation, government, or corporate funders. Ability to operate as a senior strategic partner to the Executive Director, contributing to organizational strategy beyond the development function. Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to craft compelling, dignified, donor-facing narratives. Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in politically charged or contested environments while maintaining a disciplined, nonpartisan posture. Experience with donor CRM platforms; familiarity with Neon CRM is a plus. Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and stakeholder relationships. Deep commitment to human rights, humanitarian principles, and the mission of Humane Borders. Preferred Existing national philanthropy relationships and networks in humanitarian, immigration justice, civil society, or adjacent funding ecosystems. Demonstrated experience with corporate sponsorship and event/program partnership funding. Demonstrated experience with planned giving and legacy program development. Experience supporting board members in development roles and helping build a board fundraising culture. Familiarity with the Arizona philanthropic community, including the Phoenix metro and Tucson markets. Bilingual in English and Spanish. Experience working with faith communities, immigrant-serving organizations, or border and humanitarian organizations. AFP membership or CFRE certification. Compensation & Benefits Base salary: Commensurate with experience. Performance-based bonus opportunity tied to organizational milestones and balanced-scorecard KPIs, approved annually. Employer-supported health insurance contribution. Paid time off and holidays. Annual professional development budget. Results-oriented work environment with the support of a committed staff, board, and volunteer community. Opportunity to help shape the next chapter of a respected, 26-year-old humanitarian organization at a pivotal moment in border policy and humanitarian response. Working Conditions Humane Borders is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. The Director of Development may work from wherever they perform their best work, provided they are based within 150 miles of the Tucson office to facilitate development activities, donor engagement, and in-person meetings with senior leadership and the Board. This radius includes the Phoenix metro, Tucson, and the broader Southern Arizona region. We are seeking a senior professional partner, not a position requiring constant in-office presence. The Director is trusted to manage their own work environment in service of results. Regular travel within Arizona and periodic national travel for conferences, funder meetings, and donor visits is expected. Some evening and weekend work is required for events and donor engagement. The role may include occasional visits to remote desert water station sites; reasonable accommodations will be provided. To Apply Please submit a cover letter and resume to ofuentes@humaneborders.

org with the subject line:

Director of Development Application - [Your Name]. In your cover letter, we encourage you to tell us why this role at this moment matters to you, and what you would want to build during your first eighteen months at Humane Borders. Application review begins immediately and continues until the position is filled. Humane Borders is an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage applications from people of color, immigrants, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, members of border and Indigenous communities, and others from communities historically underrepresented in nonprofit leadership.

Pay:

$66,042.20 - $79,534.70 per year

Benefits:

Paid time off

Work Location:

Hybrid remote in South Tucson, AZ 85713