Who We Are

The Marshall Project is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to covering the U.S. criminal justice system.

We were awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2016 and 2021. We have also been honored with the Goldsmith Prize, multiple National Magazine Awards, and an award for General Excellence from the Online Journalism Awards. We are not advocates — we follow the facts and do not pander to any audience — but we have a declared mission: to create and sustain a sense of urgency about the criminal justice system.

We do not generally cover breaking news, although we curate the reporting of other news outlets in our morning newsletter. Our work includes investigative and explanatory projects and shorter pieces aimed at highlighting stories that other news organizations miss, underestimate or misunderstand. To ensure our work reaches a larger audience, we partner with other media outlets; we have worked with more than 200 newspapers, magazines, broadcasters and online sites.

We are seeking a Chief Development Officer who is ambitious, experienced, and creative. The position sits on our executive leadership team and the candidate will serve as a thought partner on strategy and execution of the organization's fundraising plan at a critical time in TMP's future. They will be responsible for guiding the growth and expansion of our funding, through thoughtful stewardship, aggressive prospecting, and strategic leveraging of the current network of The Marshall Project. The Chief Development Officer is a central player in building a sustainable and successful organization that produces quality journalism, continues to grow its audience, and has a measurable impact on the system. This is a job for an entrepreneur, an inspiring, strategic and transformational leader with strong communication and management skills.

The Chief Development Officer will lead a team of high-performing fundraising professionals and must have excellent people, project, and time management skills. The team has responsibilities both for national and local fundraising and manages The Marshall Project's revenue strategy in new markets. This position will require someone to balance their own responsibilities to the leadership team, board, funders and donors, and their team.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

External Leadership and Donor Engagement - Guide and direct all fundraising efforts, including major gifts from individuals and foundations and a digital membership program - Build a growth plan, engaging both national donors and those based in cities and regions where The Marshall Project seeks to establish news operations - Guide and oversee an exceptional donor stewardship program, including event and committee participation as well as Board and Donor Relations, and maintain relationships with top donors and prospects - Work to develop a foundational donor data infrastructure in Salesforce to translate our strategy into clear segmentation, tracking and reporting systems that can scale with our growth - Review marketing materials and top-level grant proposals and reports, articulating a persuasive case for support

Team Management - Oversee, inspire and lead a team of development professionals responsible for major gifts, mid-level supporters, membership, grant-writing, and operations - Assess and build out the development team's organizational structure, including hiring for current vacancies, defining role scope and identifying gaps in capacity or expertise to advocate for the team's needs with senior leadership - Establish clear performance metrics, annual goals and accountability structures and oversee professional development plans and strengthen fundraising competencies across the team - Foster a collaborative, mission-aligned, respectful and high-performing culture - Ensure that all deadlines are met, acknowledgements are sent and potential supporters are engaged

Organizational Leadership - Work in coordination with the CFO to set annual budgets and fundraising goals - Collaborate with teams across the organization to leverage insights from editorial, product, and audience departments to reach donors - Work with the CEO to plan board meetings, work with select board committees, build strategy and execute board development activities, and deepen board members' engagement in our activities and our mission - Attend industry conferences and Marshall Project events across the US and collaborate with others in the nonprofit media world to share experiences and learning among a dynamic cohort of independent journalism organizations

Who You'll Work With

The CEO, in articulating the case for The Marshall Project broadly and building its support base.

The Chief Financial Officer, to build budgets that are both ambitious and realistic, and that ensure the smooth financial operations of The Marshall Project overall.

The Chief Strategy Officer, to coordinate our efforts in marketing and branding and in earned revenue opportunities to deploy her talents as a representative of the organization in developing our local and national networks.

The Publisher of The Marshall Project Inside, to build support for our unique journalism products for incarcerated and justice-affected audiences.

The Board of Directors, helping them to operate as ambassadors for the organization.

The Editor-in-Chief and other editorial staff, to leverage their expertise with our donor base and to help them understand the operations of a nonprofit media outlet, while respecting the division of the business and editorial sides of the house that safeguards our journalistic integrity.

The development team, which they will lead and manage. The team includes:

• Senior Development Writer
• Director of Major Gifts & Strategy, East
• Director of Major Gifts & Strategy, West
• Membership Manager
• Development Operations Manager

Required Skills and Experience

• At least 12 years' experience in development and fundraising, including experience managing, building and supporting teams, especially if geographically dispersed.
• Demonstrated experience driving measurable revenue growth with success meeting fundraising targets of $17M+ annually.
• Proven track record of identifying, personally soliciting and closing major gifts, including in the six- and seven-figure categories. They should be familiar with the operations of a successful nonprofit board and have experience in managing a fundraising team and board engagement with the organization and its mission.
• Knowledge of the philanthropic landscape, ideally within journalism, criminal justice, democracy or social justice sectors preferred
• The successful candidate will also bring a creative approach to the position and the organization. This attribute will be critical to identifying new potential donors, devising unique approaches to outreach and engagement, and elevating the work of The Marshall Project beyond its current audience.
• B.A. degree required, and familiarity with the tools and systems commonly used in nonprofit fundraising. Knowledge of and experience with Salesforce is preferred.
• Prior experience in a unionized environment is preferred.

Compensation and Benefits

This job is full-time, with a competitive salary and benefits including: 100% employer-paid medical, employer subsidized vision and dental insurance; matching traditional and Roth 401k (immediate vesting). Voluntary benefits include: Health and Dependent Care FSA, commuter benefits, pet insurance, short and long term disability insurance, employee and dependent life insurance, AFLAC accident, hospital indemnity, and critical illness coverage, legal benefits, personal excess liability insurance, and employee discount marketplace. We also observe 17 days of paid time off each year (in addition to office closure between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2), and provide paid parental leave.

Annual Salary Range: $225,000 - $250,000

We are headquartered in New York City, and although this position is fully remote, applicants must reside in the United States and possess the necessary authorization to work here. Remote work outside of the U.S. is not allowed under any circumstances.

We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to diversity. We welcome qualified applicants of all races, ages, ethnicities, physical abilities, genders and sexual orientations, including people who have been incarcerated or otherwise involved with the criminal justice system.

We do not expect every candidate to be equally skilled in all these areas, and this is not a complete list of all relevant qualifications applicants might bring to the job. Please tell us about your other assets not mentioned here that may be valuable to this role. Reaching talent across a range of backgrounds and experiences is deeply important to us. If you do not have the exact combination of skills listed here, but are still interested in this role and/or in The Marshall Project, we'd love to hear from you.

How to Apply

To apply, please click this link. Applications for this position will be managed by our executive search partner. All applications should be submitted through their application portal.